Jason LaBarbera Emerging as a Premiere NHL Backup Goaltender

The Phoenix Coyotes wouldn’t have achieved anything if it weren’t for their goaltending.

Notice how I didn’t say Ilya Bryzgalov in that last sentence. While you can give Bryzgalov credit for the majority of the Coyotes' wins this season, you can’t forget about the emergence of backup goaltender, Jason LaBarbera.

LaBarbera, 30, signed as a free agent during the offseason after playig for the Vancouver Canucks. LaBarbera wasn’t the only Canuck to relocate to Phoenix during the offseason. LaBarbera reunited with former Canuck teammates Shaun Heshka and Taylor Pyatt.

Heshka was traded to the Coyotes on Jun. 27 for a seventh-round draft pick, as Pyatt signed a one-year deal with the Coyotes back in September. LaBarbera has emerged as the best acquisition out of the former Canucks who signed two-year deals with the Coyotes back in July.

Little was known about LaBarbera heading into the season, but he would make his presence felt immediately. While Bryzgalov has appeared in 49 games this season, which ranks him fifth in the NHL in games appeared, it was LaBarbera who came into games where Bryzgalov was either pulled or given the night off.

LaBarbera has appeared in 12 games this season with a record of 5-4-1 and an impressive 2.29 GAA. Perhaps his best game of the season occurred back on Dec. 17 when he posted a season-high 38 saves in a 2-1 shootout win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

LaBarbera has been extremely effective in shootouts this season, as three of his five victories this season have occurred in a shootout. Last night, LaBarbera only gave up one goal in the first period against the Chicago Blackhawks, as the Coyotes won a shootout for the Coyotes to set a season-high six straight victories. The other time LaBarbera won in a shootout was against his former team, the Vancouver Canucks, back on Dec. 29.

The Coyotes now have themselves a dual threat in net in Bryzgalov and LaBarbera. The days of seeing the Phoenix Coyotes on the calendar as an easy victory are over, as the Coyotes are currently 35-18-5 this season.

The Coyotes are tied with the Blackhawks for most home victories with 21 this season, and look to bypass the Blackhawks with a home victory against the Dallas Stars tonight.