VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Penguins 19-year-old rookie goalie Marc-Andre Fleury nearly stole the game, but an emergency backup goalie from the University of British Columbia nearly stole the show for the Canucks on Tuesday night in Vancouver's 4-3 overtime victory over Pittsburgh at GM Place.
Before Fleury turned back 33 shots in his final NHL game before joining Team Canada's preparation camp for the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Helsinki, Finland, the Canucks were in a desperate search for a backup goalie because No. 1 goalie Dan Cloutier had pulled his groin in the early skate Tuesday morning.
Chris Levesque was only supposed to keep the seat warm at the end of the bench. But when Pittsburgh right winger Konstantin Koltsov collided with Vancouver goalie Johan Hedberg as both were racing for a loose puck just inside the Canucks blue line with a little more than a minute left in the first period, the 23-year-old arts student came closer to facing NHL shots than Martin Brodeur does on some nights.
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