Antero Niittymäki Antero Pertti Elias Niittymäki ( ; born June 18 , 1980 ) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently a member of the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League . He has previously played for the NHL ' s Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning , as well as in the SM - liiga and the American Hockey League . At the 2006 Winter Olympics , while playing for Team Finland , he was voted the MVP of the entire tournament . Playing career . Early career . From 1995 to 2002 , Niittymäki played for TPS in the SM - liiga ( Finnish elite league ) , playing in the junior SM - liiga prior to 1999 . In 2000 he won the Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy for Rookie of the Year , and led TPS to their second straight SM - liiga championship . Niittymäki was the Philadelphia Flyers ' 6th round pick ( 168th overall ) in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft . " I didn ' t even know I got drafted . I found out the next morning . I was really surprised , " he said in an interview in November 2003 . Even if he had opted to go immediately to the United States to play hockey , compulsory military service kept Niittymäki in Finland until January 2001 . From 2002 to 2005 , Niittymäki played for the Flyers in the NHL and the Philadelphia Phantoms , the Flyers ' American Hockey League affiliate . While in the AHL , Niittymäki made his name known . He was named the Sher - Wood AHL Player of the Week for the week ending on November 23 , 2003 after posting a 0 . 41 GAA and . 984 SP . He played for PlanetUSA in the 2005 AHL All - Star Game . The Phantoms organization gave out Antero Niittymäki bobbleheads on February 27 , 2005 and Niittymäki figurines on March 3 , 2006 . Niittymäki scored a game - winning , empty net , overtime , shorthanded , unassisted goal on April 11 , 2004 versus the Hershey Bears . The game ended 3 – 2 , with Niittymäki recording 32 saves as well , which finished the 12 – 0 Philadelphia season sweep of the Bears . The Phantoms won the Calder Cup in 2005 after sweeping the Chicago Wolves . Niittymäki received the Jack A . Butterfield Trophy for being the MVP in the Calder Cup Playoffs . He had a 1 . 75 GAA and 15 wins , three of which were shutout s . NHL . Niittymäki played 3 games for the Flyers in February 2004 . He was allowed to play after Robert Esche was injured and Jeff Hackett was forced to retire because of vertigo . He won all three games , posting a 1 . 00 GAA , against the Washington Capitals , Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils . His starting stint ended after the Flyers acquired Sean Burke from the Phoenix Coyotes . Upon Esche ' s recovery , Burke took over the backup job and Niittymäki was sent back down to the Phantoms . Niittymäki started the 2005 – 06 season as the Flyers ' backup goalie for Esche . On October 14 , 2005 , Niittymäki let in a questionable goal immediately after a faceoff on the Pittsburgh Penguins ' side of center ice . He was watching a JumboTron replay when Maxime Talbot softly shot at him and scored . While Esche was on the injury list , Niittymäki got the opportunity to start with Jamie Storr being his backup goalie . Niittymäki started seventeen consecutive games while Esche was unable to play . He recorded his first NHL shutout and assist / point during this time . He was named the NHL Defensive Player of the week for the week ending on January 8 , 2006 . The 2006 – 07 NHL season revolved around injuries for Niittymäki . He suffered a torn labrum injury to his left hip during training camp . Doctors decided to try giving him cortisone shots to postpone surgery , which would have sidelined him for 6 – 8 weeks . The first shot allowed him to get back on the ice for the start of the season , but by late December he needed another shot . Despite this , he managed to take over the starting goaltender position from Esche . However , Philadelphia acquired Martin Biron and he was given the starting position for the rest of the year . Niittymäki finally had hip surgery in summer 2008 . He continued play backup goaltender for the Flyers for the next two seasons ( 07 – 08 and 08 – 09 ) , setting a franchise record for most saves in a game in January 2008 . The 2009 NHL offseason marked the first time in Niittymäki ' s NHL playing career that he was an unrestricted free agent . After the Philadelphia Flyers acquired goaltenders Ray Emery and Brian Boucher , Niittymäki signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning as a back - up goalie for Mike Smith , however , he became the starting goaltender due to his performance on top of fellow goalie Mike Smith ' s injuries . Niittymäki started his 2009 – 2010 season with great success ; after his first ten games , he led the league in both save percentage ( . 939 ) and goals against average ( 1 . 93 ) . Niittymäki won four straight games in February 2010 , something that had not occurred for Tampa Bay since two and a half years prior , when the team won five straight in the 2007 – 08 season ( November ) . On March 25 , 2010 Niittymäki won his 20th game in the season and the Tampa Bay Lightning ' s 500th franchise victory , while setting his second NHL franchise record for most saves in a game . Niittymäki extended his lifetime winning streak against the Atlanta Thrashers on March 6 , 2010 to an impressive 17 - 0 - 0 . He has the longest streak of such amongst active goalies , alongside Detroit Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood , who is 17 - 0 - 0 lifetime against Tampa Bay . On the first day of free agency in summer 2010 , Niittymäki replaced long time San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov because of salary cap considerations . Niittymäki played strongly at the beginning of the season , earning the Sharks Player of the Month award in October . However , he sustained another lower body injury , resulting in him missing 17 games , during which Antti Niemi solidified his standing as the starting goaltender . In his second year in San Jose , an injury forced him to mis the first months . Upon his return , Thomas Greiss , who had been backing Niemi retained his role as the Sharks backup goaltender , and Niittymaki was waived . After clearing waivers , he was sent down to the team ' s AHL affiliate , in Worcester . On February 6 , 2012 , the San Jose Sharks placed Niittymaki on waivers , and he was loaned to the Syracuse Crunch after he cleared waivers on February 7 , 2012 . International play . Niittymäki was named to the Team Finland for the 2006 Winter Olympics after Kari Lehtonen and Miikka Kiprusoff had to pull out due to injuries . Despite being a relative unknown with little top - level experience , he put in a stellar performance and was named the MVP of the tournament after posting 3 shutouts in 6 games , leading Finland to the silver medal . Niittymäki played for Finland in the 2006 IIHF World Championships until the last game of the qualifying round against Canada , in which he got injured and was replaced by the team ' s reserve goalie Fredrik Norrena . In the 2010 Winter Olympics Niittymäki was selected to the team as Finland ' s third goalie , behind Miikka Kiprusoff and Niklas Bäckström . However he did not see any action during the tournament . External links . Interviews Statistics