Thomas Greiss loses skate blade at important Game 4 moment (Video)

New York Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss had to briefly exit his team’s 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lighting at a crucial moment because of an equipment issue. 

Greiss, who had been one of the more pleasant surprises for the Islanders this spring with starter Jaroslav Halak injured, lost a skate blade right around the time teammate Casey Cizikas took a tripping penalty on Ondrej Palat early in the second period.

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The issue couldn’t be fixed at the bench, which meant backup Jean-Francois Berube had to enter the game at the start of the important situation.

Greiss had to be helped to the door that led to the Islanders locker room because he couldn’t get traction on his skate without a blade. Fortunately for New York, Berube, a 24-year-old rookie, only faced two Lightning shots on goal and stopped them both. He played 4:47 before Greiss returned for the rest of the game. Berube’s prior appearance was April 2 against Pittsburgh. 

Greiss eventually allowed two goals after the problem, one in the third period and another in overtime, as the Lightning came back to win Game 4 and take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Greiss, who has a 2.32 goal-against average and .928 save percentage finished the game stopping 20 of 22 shots on goal. 

In all likelihood the issue probably didn’t matter much in the outcome, but a goaltender without a skate blade isn’t something you see every day. And you hardly see something like that happen in such a crucial spot of an important game.

Islanders fans were probably wondering why their goaltender was being helped off the ice by two teammates and were likely relieved when he returned.

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