Glass ceiling: 32-year-old rookie leads Blackhawks past Oilers
EDMONTON, Alberta -- Hollywood couldn't come up with a better underdog story than 32-year-old rookie Jeff Glass's first act.
On Friday night at Rogers Place, Glass finally made his NHL debut more than 13 years after he was drafted by Ottawa. He made 42 saves, leading the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Patrick Kane scored the winner 50 seconds into overtime.
Glass wasn't the only Hawk to enjoy a first. Jordan Oesterle, a former Oiler, scored his first career NHL goal.
In 2005, Glass won gold with Canada at the World Junior Championships, a team that included future NHL stars like Patrice Bergeron, Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf and Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook.
Then, Glass disappeared off the North American hockey radar. He bounced around the minors and made 218 appearances in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League.
But Glass was called up from the Blackhawks' farm team in Rockford earlier in the week when Chicago's No. 1 goalie, Corey Crawford, went down to injury.
The Oilers greeted him with a first-period barrage. Glass stopped the first 16 shots he faced, including a breakaway attempt from Leon Draisaitl. But, at 14:26, on shot No. 17, Jesse Puljujarvi beat Glass on the power play.
With 54.7 seconds left in the first, the Hawks tied the game, Ryan Hartman swatting home a rebound off a shot from Kane.
Glass kept it at 1-1 when he stopped Milan Lucic at point-blank range late in the first. He began the second by stopping reigning NHL MVP Connor McDavid on a break.
The Hawks took the lead at 14:06. On the power play, Alex DeBrincat snapped a shot through Cam Talbot's pads after a nice pass from Nick Schmaltz. Oesterle scored on the power play at 8:28 of the third, his shot coming off the bar, off Talbot and in.
The Oilers rallied with two late goals. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made it 3-2 as his shot deflected off Seabrook with 2:19 left. Then, Draisaitl scored off a scramble with 54 seconds left.
NOTES: The Oilers activated D Oscar Klefbom from injured reserve on Friday. To make room on the roster, the team placed veteran D Eric Gryba on waivers. ... The Blackhawks activated D Cody Franson from injured reserve Friday, but had to place C Artem Anisimov on IR. Anisimov was knocked out of Wednesday's game in Vancouver with an upper-body injury. ... The Oilers scratched D Yohann Auvitu, D Brandon Davidson and LW Anton Slepyshev. ... The Blackhawks scratched D Gustav Forsling, D Jan Rutta and LW Patrick Sharp. ... Blackhawks alumnus Fred Sasakamoose, the first Canadian indigenous player to appear in the NHL, was honored before the game. Sasakamoose was named to the Order of Canada on Friday.