Michael Hutchinson looked like a player who wanted to savour every last moment in his surprising return to the big stage. And ensure there will be another one.
Banished to the minors at the start of the year with question marks swirling about if or when he'd get another shot at the National Hockey League level, Hutchinson took to the ice at Bell MTS Place Tuesday night in what he hopes will be the start of a redemption story.
And what a compelling first chapter he wrote.
The 27-year-old capped off a long day of travel – even missing the morning skate as he made his way from Utica, New York where he played in the American Hockey League All-Star game just 24-hours earlier -- by stopping 23 of the 24 shots he faced as the Winnipeg Jets beat the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 to kick off a 10-game homestand.