Islanders: Top 3 Thomas Greiss performances since 2015-16

That Poke Check vs Sidney Crosby

The Poke Check. When you think about Greiss and the 5,081 regular season saves he made for the Islanders there’s one that comes to mind. That poke check on Sidney Crosby as he was in on a breakaway with the score tied 2-2 in overtime back in November of 2018.

With the game on his stick, just about everyone thought Sidney Crosby would end the game. Until Thomas Greiss lunged at him with his stick in a move that surprised everyone, including Crosby.

Greiss would add an incredible glove save on Phil Kessel seconds later to push the game to the shootout. There, he’d stop Malkin, Crosby (again), and Kris Letang for the win.

Unlike the Carolina game, the Isles weren’t totally outplayed here. But the game should have ended with Crosby on the breakaway. It was a bad giveaway by Barzal in the O-zone that lead to Crosby’s break. The Isles should have paid for that mistake, but Greiss bailed them out. As he’s done countless times before.

One of the Best

Thomas Greiss leaves Long Island as one of the best shot-stoppers to play for the franchise. He’s fifth in franchise history for games played (193), fifth for wins (101), sixth in shutouts (10), first in save percentage (0.915)*, and fifth in goals-against average (2.70)*. All stats from NHL.com.

*For goalies who played at least 50 games.

As The Athletic’s Arthur Staple said, that’s not bad for a guy who arrived to be the backup goalie. Good luck, Thomas!