Garret "Sparks" Maple Leafs to victory with historic shutout in NHL debut

The Toronto Maple Leafs got the spark they needed in goal.

With James Reimer injured and winless Jonathan Bernier relegated to the bench, twenty-two year old Garret Sparks was given his first NHL start by head coach Mike Babcock and he made the most of his chance.

Sparks turned aside 24 shots and became the first Maple Leaf in history to record a shutout in his NHL debut as the homeside downed the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Monday.

“I’m sure it will hit me at some point,” he said of his performance.  “It just hasn’t hit me yet.”

It certainly wasn’t a trial by fire to start the game as he only faced one shot in the first ten minutes and eight through the opening 20.

“It allowed me to soak it in and not have to do anything too challenging right off the bat,” he said of his initial workload.  “Once I make a few saves, I am usually good.  It was nice, we came out hard and we got one early and that makes the game a whole lot easier.”

Leo Komarov opened the scoring at 6:45 on the power play with his first of two goals, he would add an empty-netter with 1:01 remaining in the third period.

He now leads the team with 10 goals this season.  Nazem Kadri also scored for the Maple Leafs.

The first real test that Sparks faced was with 3:32 remaining in the opening period where he kicked out  Jordan Eberle’s wrist shot from 35 feet and then got to the top of the crease to stop and freeze the Andrej Sekera’s point shot.

He was busier in the second where the Oilers registered 13 shots and benefited from two shots that went off the post - the first from Justin Schultz and the second from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Sparks came up big with a minute remaining in the period on Leon Draisatl’s backhand and then stretched out from his stomach to nudge the puck away from Taylor Hall who had an open net on the rebound.

“After I came out of the first unscathed, I wanted to have a good second and I got a couple of lucky posts there.”  he said.  “The guys in front of me tonight, they kept everything to the outside and they kept it manageable and I really have them to thank for it.”

The emotion was heightened for Sparks as his parents had made the trip from Illinois and watched as he was named the first star of the game.

“We had to make a lot of sacrifices just to get me through minor hockey and there’s been some bumps and bruises along the way,” he said.  “I’ll never be able to repay them no matter how much I end up making in this game or not making and I owe everything to them.”

After playing junior hockey in the OHL with the Guelph Storm, Sparks was drafted in the 7^th round by the Maple Leafs in 2011.

Since then, he split time with the Toronto Marlies and Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL - the latter being one of hockey's furtherst outposts from the bright lights and big stage of Toronto.

It was no surprise then that he was also thinking of two other goalies who were longshots to make the NHL in Mike Condon of the Montreal Canadiens and Scott Darling of the Chicago Blackhawks.

All are ECHL Alumni and were either late draft picks (Darling, Sparks) or in the case of Condon - weren’t drafted at all.

They taught at the GGSU goalie camp in the offseason.

“I’m sure there are a couple of messages waiting from them, I have them to thank as well, they have been great role models,” said Sparks who like his peers - recorded a victory in his first game.  “I definitely talked to them prior to this game and got their feel on things and it’s a luxury not many guys have to be able to have a support system like that.”

Darling was the first of the group to make his NHL debut in Oct. 2014. and he went on to win the Stanley Cup last spring, filling in for Corey Crawford in 5 playoff games.

Meanwhile Mike Condon got his first taste of action in early this season and has earned the mantle of go-to goalie in Montreal with Carey Price out for six weeks ….and now Sparks has a little history to bring to the table the next time they reconvene.

“Good for the kid,” said Babcock, who will go with Sparks in the Maple Leafs next game on Wednesday provided Reimer is still injured. “Life is about opportunity and how your respond to that opportunity.”

Follow Neil Acharya on Twitter: @Neil_Acharya