This Day in Hockey History – December 6, 1988 and 2011 – Zero to Hero to Zero

Dec 6, 2019

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For a goaltender, the whole point of the job is to block all shots and not allow any goals by the opponents. Usually, like on December 6, 1988, accomplishing this results in celebration. Goalie Greg Millen set a St. Louis Blues record when he earned them three consecutive shutouts. However, on at least one occasion, December 6, 2011, allowing zero goals only earned goalie Mike Murphy a loss and a very brief NHL career.

1988

Millen and the Blues were on a roll. The last goal he had allowed was on November 29, 1988 with 1:25 remaining in the game. They then shut out the Islanders on December 1 and the Maple Leafs on December 3.

For the December 6th game, The Arena in St. Louis hosted 10,466 fans and the Minnesota North Stars. The Blues scored three goals while Millen made 23 saves to shutout the North Stars. With 12:36 remaining in the second period, the Blues set a new franchise record for longest time without allowing their opponents to score. At the end of the game, Millen’s total time without allowing a goal amounted to 181:25. An NHL goalie had not had three consecutive shutouts since the 1971-72 season (when Tony Esposito did it).

The St. Louis Dispatch set the scene. “As the final horn sounded, Millen paused in the goal crease, leaned over, then banged his stick on the ice twice. The Blues players rushed to congratulate him with defenseman Dave Richter giving him a bear hug.” Millen told the press, “I hate to sound like a tape recorder. The guys did a heck of a job in front of me, blocking shots, clearing shots. Any time something like this happens, it’s a tribute to the team – the guys did all the little things again. I think a lot of all these guys. I wanted to share it with them.” Blues captain Bernie Federko commented, “This is something real special. He should be real proud of himself.”

2011

In December 2011, rookie Mike Murphy (drafted in 2008) had been called up from the AHL Charlotte Checkers when the Hurricane’s backup goalie was injured in practice. At the Scotiabank Saddledome mid-way through the third period, after 51 minutes of play, the Hurricanes found themselves trailing the Calgary Flames 6-3. Coach Kirk Muller pulled Cam Ward from the net, and the new No. 70 replaced him.

Murphy had a little while to take in the game as his teammate Eric Staal scored. As the final minute and a half approached, the coach traded Murphy out for an extra forward. Unfortunately, Calgary’s Jarome Iginla took advantage of the empty net at 18:51. After Murphy returned to the net, he made his first two NHL saves. His teammates did their best to tie up the game when Chad LaRose scored at 19:28 and Staal hit the net again with just five seconds remaining. Counting the tallies shows that the Hurricanes fell one short, losing 7-6.

By the way the NHL counts, Iginla’s goal ended up being the game-winner. That gave Murphy credit for the regulation loss, even though he was not even in the net at the time. He became the first NHL goalie to earn a loss before even allowing a goal. In the 8:37 he played, Murphy had a perfect save percentage. Remaining optimistic, Murphy told the press, “I’m the backup goalie, so you go in and do what you can for the team. You don’t like that your team is losing. Cam Ward is such a great goalie and great person, I’ll take a loss for him any day.”

Murphy only ended up playing in one other NHL game, for 37 minutes on December 9. He made seven saves against the Winnipeg Jets to keep his 1.000 save percentage. Even without any goals-against, he left the NHL with a record of 0-1-0.