The Tampa Bay Lightning paid Evgeni Nabokov $1.55 million this summer to keep the team afloat on nights like these. Instead, he didn’t even make it through the first period, as the Minnesota Wild chased him with four goals on Saturday.
Nabokov, 39, allowed four goals on just 8 shots, getting the hook 17:15 into the contest. Ben Bishop made 42 saves in a win against the Winnipeg Jets last night, but he won’t get much rest today.
Three different Wild players found the net for the first time in 2014-15 thanks to Nabokov’s generosity:
NHL.com’s Dan Myers believes that three of those tallies were “softies.”
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Michael Russo points out some other interesting numbers:
4-1 #mnwild after 1, chases Nabokov for 2nd time in 28 starts, 1 goal from each line, 4 goals in 1st period ties a team record
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 26, 2014
Update: Things weren’t so much better for Bishop, as the Wild ultimately won 7-2.