Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
ELMONT, N.Y. — Connor Ingram's heart dropped.
The Utah Hockey Club goaltender had skated behind his net to collect a puck sliding along the boards. It was supposed to be a routine play; one that he's made countless times.
The puck, though, never got to him. An odd bounce off the boards pushed the rubber toward Ingram's now empty goal.
Uh-oh.
"It is the most lonely feeling in the world being behind that net, looking through the net and seeing that wide open net," he told reporters after the game.
The good news? The puck hit off the post.
The bad? It went right to New York Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri, who had a clean look at the back of the net.
Utah's Sean Durzi slid headfirst through the crease, and Ingram hurried back and threw his body across the goal. Somehow, someway, Ingram kept the biscuit out of the basket; he made the improbable save.
"I don't think I even turned the corner by the time I dove," he said. "There's nothing you can say about it — it's just pure desperation."
The Superman-like save was just one of a few highlight-reel saves by Ingram in Utah's 5-4 win over the Islanders.
This save from Connor Ingram. 😳 pic.twitter.com/uOeuKqenuC
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 11, 2024
In the first period, he was able to withstand multiple flurries in front of his net. In the third, he was the backbone of Utah killing off a double-minor penalty, surviving four minutes a man down. He made 21 saves as Utah improved to 2-0.
"He's really good," head coach André Tourigny said. "I don't know what else to say; he's unbelievable."
Not that Ingram would say that.
Heck, before Thursday, he may not have believed he could have made such a sprawling save. In fact, he more or less had said that exact thing.
"Being boring," he said when asked about his biggest strength. "I'm not a guy who's fast enough to get around and play that way in this league, so I've got to know what's going on before it happens. And I think my greatest strength is just being where I need to be and make it easier."
Turns out, he's plenty quick, too.
"That was save of the year early on," forward Josh Doan said of Ingram's sprawling recovery. "He's a guy that we have full trust in; and when you have trust in your goalie like that, it makes the game a little bit easier. Thankful for him to keep us in it early, and he did his job the rest of the way."
As for the boring comment ... well, that's just fine by Tourigny.
"I love boring," he said. "When you're older, you like boring."
Tourigny probably would have preferred things to be a little less exciting at the tail end of Thursday's contest, too. Utah gave up two tiebreaking goals and survived a lengthy penalty kill.
"It gave us a lot of energy, no doubt about it, when you kill it," Tourigny said. "It was a key moment. The game was on the line, and guys came up big."
On Tuesday following Utah's inaugural wins, dozens of reporters swarmed around Ingram, jockeying for position — then more came into the room.
"No way!" he said
"It's not my kind of thing," he said of the heightened attention around that first game. "It's a lot of cameras. You couldn't go anywhere without a camera in your face. And that's not what I'm about."
His play, though, is demanding that type of attention.
"He's an awesome dude, and we're all so happy for him, and so happy to see what he's doing," Doan said.
