Considering Frederik Andersen’s iron man streak, it’s been an even longer time coming, but Ilya Bryzgalov is finally getting the first start of his second tour with the Anaheim Ducks tonight.
By facing the Ottawa Senators tonight, Bryzgalov starts for the Ducks for the first time since Nov. 7, 2007; the team points out that 2,599 days have passed since that last happened. Perhaps such a gap in time explains the horrible/awesome/horrible-awesome pun the team’s Twitter feed trotted out to mark the occasion.
Ilya Bryzgalov last started for the #NHLDucks on November 7, 2007, . That's a span of 2,599 days. #BackInBryzness
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) December 20, 2014
If any team has a reason to see the upside of the 34-year-old, it would probably be the Ducks (or maybe the Arizona Coyotes).
Bryzgalov showed some promise despite sparse work (70 regular season games played) during five seasons with Anaheim in his previous stay, as the Russian goalie played especially well in two playoff spurts (.944 save percentage in 11 playoff games in 2006 and a .922 mark in five games played during the 2007 championship year).
Bryzgalov already made one appearance for Anaheim this season, as he allowed two goals on seven shots in about 15 minutes of relief work against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 16.