David Rittich was the First Star of Tuesday’s 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils and as a result, he earned his second Iron Man mask of the season.
Rittich denied 31 of the 32 shots and energized the New York Islanders on several occasions as they went into the holiday break on a winning note.
“He made a few good saves for us in the third period,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “Even in the first [period], I thought he kept us in the game.”
Rittich’s big saves came against some of New Jersey’s top threats. He saved each of Timo Meier’s seven shots, as well as breakaways from Jack Hughes and Connor Brown. These moments sparked chants of his name from the Islanders faithful.
“Yeah, that was awesome,” Rittich said. “When you’re saving a breakaway, it gives a little extra boost to your team.”
That was Rittich's second win in the last three games, and third straight game in which he made at least 30 saves. The 33-year-old goaltender improved to 8-3-2 on the season.
“He’s been seeing the puck so well this season,” Anders Lee said. “They had a good push in the third, and he made some really good plays that he backed us up on.”
Ilya Sorokin was the most recent Iron Man mask recipient before Rittich.
