Sabres' journeyman Michael Houser wins NHL debut
The Buffalo Sabres battled back on Monday night, just like Michael Houser has done his entire life.
The Sabres erased a two-goal deficit to beat the New York Islanders 4-2, earning Houser a win in his first NHL game. He was sensational while stopping 35 of 37 shots.
"It's so exciting," an emotional Houser said postgame, according to WKBW's Matthew Bove. "I've worked my whole life for this."
"It's so exciting, I've worked my whole life for this, for it to happen and just to play a game is really special but to win, winning is always the goal, that's why we play is to win the game and I'm happy we were able to do that." - Michael Houser
— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) May 4, 2021
🥺🥺🥺 pic.twitter.com/Y94moH3N4r
The journeyman netminder wasn't drafted, and he's spent the bulk of his nine-year pro career in the ECHL, appearing in just one AHL game since 2016-17.
Houser was also born with bi-lateral clubbed feet and needed multiple correctional surgeries.
The 28-year-old has been on the Sabres' taxi squad for much of the 2021 campaign, but he hadn't appeared in a game yet. His last professional outing came with the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones on March 7, 2020.
Houser added he was tired after the contest due to not being in game shape, but he'll be thrust right back into the crease again on Tuesday night against the Islanders, interim bench boss Don Granato said, per The Athletic's John Vogl.
Buffalo is dealing with multiple absences between the pipes, as Linus Ullmark, Carter Hutton, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen are all injured, and Dustin Tokarski is dealing with a family matter.