Isaiah Saville
Anchorage’s Isaiah Saville is riding a searing heater with a stretch in which he has tormented ECHL shooters.
The rookie goaltender out of West High subbed in to start the second period Friday night for the Savannah Ghost Pirates, who were trailing 3-0 in an eventual 4-0 loss to visiting Orlando. Saville snuffed 24 of 25 shots. That’s par for the course lately.
In Saville’s last five appearances, he has gone 2-2-0 with a 1.28 goals-against average and .963 save percentage.
For the season, the 22-year-old is 3-2-3, 1.90 and .948. He ranks second on the circuit two steps below the NHL in both goals-against average and save percentage.
Saville signed his first pro contract with the Vegas Golden Knights last spring after three seasons of NCAA Division I college hockey at Omaha. He lit up the American Hockey League, one step below the NHL, by going 6-1-0, 2.05 and .929.
In his combined two seasons in the play-for-pay game – he is technically still a rookie in both the AHL and ECHL — Saville is 9-3-3, 1.98, .940. That makes him look like a steal of a fifth-round draft pick – Vegas selected him 135th overall in 2019.
Speaking of masked men from Alaska, North Pole’s Pheonix Copley is back up in the NHL.
The LA Kings have made the following roster moves:
– Recalled Pheonix Copley (G), Tobias Bjornfot (D), and Samuel Fagemo (F) from the @ontarioreign
– Loaned Rasmus Kupari (F) and Jordan Spence (D) to the @ontarioreign— LA Kings (@LAKings) December 1, 2022
The Los Angeles Kings this week summoned the 30-year-old, one of just three Alaskans to tend goal in the NHL, from nearby Ontario (Calif.) of the AHL. The Kings promoted Copley after Cal Petersen, in the first year of a three-year, $15 million contract, cleared waivers and was sent to Ontario to try to repair his leaky game. Petersen has gone 5-3-2 for the Kings this season, but his goals-against average (3.75) and save percentage (.868) are problematic.
Copley, whose lifetime numbers in the NHL are 16-9-3, 2.98, .900 for the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals, served as Jonathan Quick’s backup in Los Angeles’ 5-3 win over visiting Arizona on Thursday. Petersen on Friday began to get back on course with 27 saves Friday in Ontario’s 3-1 win over visiting Colorado.
Copley is under a one-year contract with Los Angeles that pays him $825,000 whether he plays for the Kings or in the minors. At Ontario this season, he has gone 6-4-1, 2.48 and .913.
For trivia purposes, the other two Alaska goalies to play in the NHL are Anchorage’s Jeremy Swayman, currently with the Boston Bruins, and Anchorage’s Ty Conklin, who was the first Alaska to tend goal in the world’s best league and is retired.