NHL playoffs 2018: Legend of Andrew 'Hamburglar' Hammond grows as Avalanche force Game 6

Brandon Schlager

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NHL playoffs 2018: Legend of Andrew 'Hamburglar' Hammond grows as Avalanche force Game 6 image

The Predators are the Presidents' Trophy winners and defending Western Conference champions. By most accounts, that was good enough to qualify them the favorites to repeat as such, the deepest team in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoff field. Best of luck to any poor soul that should stand in their way, especially the Avalanche, this year's de facto No. 16 seed.

What could stop them now?

Enter Andrew Hammond. Yes, that Andrew Hammond, aka the "Hamburglar," whose miraculous 20-1-2 run to conclude the 2014-15 season led the Senators down a warpath directly into the playoffs, against steep odds. Facing down a 3-1 series deficit, it's perfect serendipity then that the Avalanche should turn to this unlikely folk hero in a last-ditch attempt to stage a comeback.

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But that's exactly how it went in Friday's Game 5, when Hammond surrendered just one goal (which was debatable) on 45 shots in his first playoff start since 2015. The Avalanche channeled that momentum, scored twice in the final five minutes of regulation, and extended their season at least one more game.

Hammond, acquired as a throw-in to the Matt Duchene blockbuster earlier this season, is Colorado's third-string goalie, called into action only after two unfortunate injuries to Semyon Varlamov and Jonathan Bernier. He appeared in just a single NHL game during the regular season, a 31-save loss to the Flyers in March.

"You never know when you're going to get your chance," Hammond said on the Sportsnet broadcast. "I've played two games since basically the start of January, and at times it felt like that day would never come. ... You try and make the best of it."

All night Friday, Hammond frustrated the Predators and turned away wave after wave of their relentless offensive attack. It felt like one of those nights a goalie simply can't be beat.

Then, with 9:42 remaining in a scoreless regulation, Nashville's Nick Bonino seemed to ruin the storybook ending.

Streaking to the net, Bonino was positioned perfectly to field a rebound off Hammond's left pad. Except, he couldn't collect the puck cleanly and it caromed of his right skate, in stride, just past Hammond's outstretched pad and over the goal line. Referee Eric Furlatt, stationed on the opposite side of the crease, immediately waved off the goal, scored, he thought, via distinct kicking motion. 

The officials conferred to review the play, and eventually overturned the call on the ice, handing the Predators a 1-0 lead and the Avalanche fewer than 10 minutes to overcome the gut punch. Five minutes later, Gabriel Landeskog tied the game, and Sven Andrighetto netted the go-ahead winner with 1:28 remaining. P.K. Subban got caught way out of position to spring the 2-on-1 that completed the comeback.

In NHL said its review determined the puck deflected off Bonino's skate and entered the Colorado net in a legal fashion, citing Rule 49.2, which states, "A puck that deflects into the net off an attacking player's skate who does not use a distinct kicking motion is a legitimate goal."

Let's not get distracted, though. The controversy, which could have become yet another replay headache for the NHL, nearly erased the latest chapter in Hammond's stranger-than-fiction story. Because of him, Game 6 will go on on Sunday (7 p.m. ET) in Colorado.

The Predators, who know full well how little seeding matters this time of year, still have the benefit of talent on their side and two games left for it to win out. But if we learned anything three years ago, it's not to underestimate the propensity of a red-hot goalie called the "Hamburglar" to steal a game or two to make things interesting.

Brandon Schlager

Brandon Schlager Photo

Brandon Schlager is an assistant managing editor at The Sporting News. A proud Buffalo, N.Y. native and graduate of SUNY Buffalo State, he joined SN as an intern in 2014 and now oversees editorial content strategy.