Leighton gets NHL win

Journal Staff Sarnia’s Michael Leighton earned his first NHL victory since 2011 when backstopped the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Nov. 27. The journeyman goalie, 35, told NHL.

Journal Staff

Sarnia’s Michael Leighton earned his first NHL victory since 2011 when backstopped the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Nov. 27.

The journeyman goalie, 35, told NHL.com he’s looking to prove he can still play in the league.

“It’s been a long road and it’s good to be back in the NHL. It’s good to get a win,” he said.

Leighton, who was born in Petrolia and grew up in Sarnia, was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1999 and since then has played for six NHL teams, eight AHL teams and spent one season in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League.

He is a four-time American Hockey League all-star and became that league’s all-time shutouts leader, surpassing Hockey Hall of Famer Johnny Bower’s six-decades-old AHL record, when he earned his 46th career AHL shutout in 2015.

The recent win with Carolina was Leighton’s 36th in the NHL and came in his 107th game.

The one-time Lambton “AAA” puckstopper has played in just four NHL games over the past seven seasons, including one last year in which he played two periods for the Blackhawks.

“I’ve had some opportunities in the past five or six years and I really haven’t taken advantage of it,” he said. “[This] was a good start.”