Poke checks are a crapshoot. Either a goalie comes flying out of the crease and masterfully knocks the puck away from the player on the breakaway, or else they goof and miss, leaving a wide open net. Jaroslav Halak's technique is interesting to say the least, but at least it resulted in Ben Eager not scoring a goal:
I can't recall seeing a pokecheck for quite some time where the goalie not only loses his stick, but also goes sliding into center ice like a participant in an intermission puck bowling game.Hey, you know what? Whatever works, and whatever keeps a puck from going into the net. Blues fans can't complain, and it gave the team a bit of a fire under their collective butt, as Kevin Shattenkirk tied the game a few minutes later after some shifts of significantly more up-tempo play.
Thank you to our very own Fred Murtz for the video. If you're not following him on YouTube, well, why not?