Obscure Vancouver Canucks goalie made the NHL's best save this season
In a forgettable Vancouver Canucks season, this was one of the crazier games.
Early in the year, the Canucks ended up in a shootout against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. It was a wild contest, punctuated by an 8-5 win for Florida.
Despite the Canucks giving up eight goals in that game, the most obscure goalie to play for them this season ended up making one of the saves of the year.
Canucks’ netminder Jiri Patera played his first game for the Canucks back on Nov. 17, 2025. He was originally signed to the organization the year prior, but injuries limited him to just seven AHL games in 2024-25.
Long-term injuries to a Canucks goaltender, you say? Sounds like Patera fits right in.
Despite allowing seven goals on 40 shots in the game, the Canucks’ depth netminder made one of the best saves you’ll ever see.
Late in the first period, Patera did everything he could to keep the Canucks in an early track meet. As Panthers winger Mackie Samoskevich received the puck in a dangerous area, he shot the puck at what appeared to be a yawning cage.
Unfortunately for him, he was thwarted by Patera’s glove.
Patera’s epic robbery was recently tabbed as the best save in the NHL this season by Sportsnet.
That save helped the Canucks maintain a 2-1 lead at the time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a sign of things to come.
The Panthers scored four unanswered goals after Patera’s save, taking a 5-2 lead. Vancouver stormed back with three unanswered goals to tie the game at five, with two of those goals coming off the stick of Elias Pettersson.
Florida ended up scoring two more goals on Patera in the final frame, along with an empty-netter, to give them a win in one of the NHL’s highest-scoring games this season.
That game would stand as Patera’s only start of the season, as Nikita Tolopilo would fill in for the rest of the time that Demko missed. When Patera was called up in November, Tolopilo was battling an injury of his own.
The Canucks have an interesting offseason decision to make on Patera. Tolopilo is waiver-eligible next season, leaving the Canucks with an eerily similar pickle to the Arturs Silovs situation. Do they trade Tolopilo for pennies on the dollar? Do they roster three goalies? Or, do they try to trade Kevin Lankinen, who has a no-move clause?
Trading Demko doesn’t seem like a realistic option, considering the fact that his $8.5 million contract next season is one of the richest for any goaltender in hockey.
If the Canucks do roster three goalies, they may want to retain Patera for AHL depth. But, the Czech netminder may want to seek out a new team, where he wouldn’t be fourth on the depth chart.
Patera quietly had a strong season in the minors, with his .910 save percentage ranking 10th among AHL goalies. He was also just named to Czechia’s preliminary squad for the World Hockey Championships.