Kraken down Rangers after signing one-day-only amateur backup goalie
Published in Hockey
Michael Matyas planned to run a few errands on Sunday. Then the NHL came calling.
Matyas, who played 14 college hockey games a decade ago, lived the everyman’s dream this weekend. He served as backup goaltender for the desperate Kraken, who signed him to a one-day contract for their game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Heartrates increased, imaginations ran wild and TV cameras panned to Matyas, 32, sitting on the Kraken bench midway through the first period. Starting Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer remained sprawled on the ice, clipped by Rangers forward Filip Chytil. Was Matyas headed in, in his Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves gear, to stare down some of the league’s top talent?
Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson skated over to Matyas for a helpful quip: “Hope you’re ready.”
Grubauer shook off the contact and stayed in the game, later joking that he was surprised the league didn’t stick him in concussion protocol, clearing the way for Matyas’ big break.
“I would have given it my all,” Matyas said.
Matyas works in institutional sales and finance — “basically bond sales and trading.” Since starting a family and moving to New Jersey earlier this year, he hasn’t gotten many chances to put on the pads. The last organized game he played in was back in March.
He grew up playing with fellow Calgary native Brennan Baxandall, now the Kraken team manager, who called around 7:30 a.m. asking Matyas what his schedule was. Once it was confirmed the Kraken needed him, Matyas grabbed his green Alaska-Anchorage bags and hailed an Uber.
He dressed in record time, throwing on a hastily-made No. 1 Kraken jersey — No. 31 was always his number of choice, but that belongs to Grubauer — and stepped right out onto the MSG ice for warmups. Matyas had an incredibly rare vantage point for the Kraken’s 7-5 win over the Rangers.
“The blood was pumping, for sure,” he said.
Seeking their first win at Madison Square Garden, Kraken erased a two-goal lead, helped by Oliver Bjorkstrand’s pair of goals. Brandon Tanev, Eeli Tolvanen, Vince Dunn, Shane Wright and Yanni Gourde also scored for the Kraken. Grubauer made 32 stops.
“He played fantastic,” Matyas said. “He had a bunch of really key saves.”
Would-be starting goalie Joey Daccord fell ill overnight and was ruled out for the game. Coach Dan Bylsma indicated Daccord was unable to keep food down. Grubauer was ready to fill in, but he needed a backup, whose name Bylsma was “not quite sure of yet” just a few hours before puck drop.
Minor-league affiliate Coachella Valley, with its more obvious potential recalls, was in the middle of a weekend series in San Jose. A 1 p.m. EST start loomed and the Kraken had to get creative.
Every NHL team maintains a list of emergency goaltenders who reside in their respective club’s home market, to be signed by home or away teams in dire straits. Matyas once backed up for the Philadelphia Flyers in a preseason game, but is no longer on EBUG lists.
The Kraken signed Matyas to an amateur tryout contract. ATO contracts may only be used for one day “under emergency conditions” with no “salary, bonus (of any kind) or any other form of compensation.” So Matyas will go home with some Kraken swag and fond memories.
He got to keep a stick he borrowed from Daccord. The one he’d been using, barely hanging on from his college days, was held together with tape.
His last recorded college action was Feb. 15, 2015, when he appeared in relief for the Seawolves.
The Rangers were without their usual starting goalie as well. Igor Shesterkin became the highest-paid goalie in the NHL on Saturday after signing an eight-year, $92 million contract. His wife went into labor and Jonathan Quick went out in his place against the Kraken. Quick made 15 stops.
Bjorkstrand’s first goal, which came on the power play, briefly evened the game at 1. The Rangers went ahead 3-1 and the game looked to be slipping away from the Kraken. Then Tanev buried a shovel pass from Mitchell Stephens, who earned his first point as a member of the Kraken. Tolvanen tied the game at 3 a minute and a half later.
With 36 seconds remaining before the second intermission, Tolvanen tapped a clean Wright faceoff win back to Montour, who uncorked a blast tipped by Bjorkstrand. In his past nine games, reigning Kraken All-Star Bjorkstrand has five goals and seven assists.
Dunn clanged one in off the goal post for a 5-3 Kraken lead a minute into the third period. Wright appeared to seal it with his seventh of the season, a redirection from Tolvanen (one goal, two assists).
The Rangers got two quick ones and made it a one-goal game with five minutes left in regulation. Gourde’s empty netter gave Seattle its first victory at New York.
The Kraken secured six of eight possible standing points on a treacherous four-game road swing against several of the Eastern Conference’s top teams. They beat Carolina and both New York teams at home and dropped a one-goal game at New Jersey.
Matyas was singled out by Bylsma during postgame celebrations. Then it was back to real life.
“Reality is gonna hit here,” Matyas said. “Getting home, I’m sure my wife’s gonna hand off the baby, and I’ve got to go to work first thing in the morning.
“But it was a fantastic experience.”
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