Video: Mikko Koskinen Makes A Trio of Epic Saves

The first period of last night's playoff-style duel between the Edmonton Oilers and St. Louis Blues was a penalty parade as the teams swapped back and forth between the powerplay, penalty kill, and 4-on-4 action. Just as the Blues began their second powerplay of the sequence, one truncated by a minute of 4-on-4 play, Ivan Barbashev tipped a shot-pass from David Perron past Mikko Koskinen and into the back of the net. The Oilers' bench quickly called for a review and the goal was eventually deemed offside as Colton Parayko was a split second too quick entering into the zone.

Good news for the Oilers as the score remained knotted at zeroes, bad news because it meant the Blues were going right back onto a powerplay that Barbashev's goal would have nullified. On that ensuing man advantage, a similar play was executed by the Blues, this time a shot-pass by Vlad Tarasenko went right onto the tape of Brandon Saad, who deflected it on net. What followed was a flurry of saves by Mikko Koskinen, each one more impressive than the last.

🥅 M I K K O 🥅#LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/LgfBf1cWzu
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 15, 2021

First, he robs Saad off of the deflection, then stretches out to stop the first rebound chance with a toe save, and then closes out the play with a goal-line paddle save on the second rebound chance which he then corralled and held for a whistle. Koskinen exited last night's game with a 9-1 record on the season, a 2.74 GAA, and a .915sv%. Mikko is hosting a bit of a personal redemption tour to start the season, and it couldn't have come at a better time for the Oilers. What a sequence!

Koskinen finished his night with a 4.00 GAA and an .897 save percentage. It was also his best game of the year.

Stats don’t lie often, they did tonight.
— Jack Michaels (@EdmontonJack) November 15, 2021