In his first game since being activated from injured reserve, Pee Dee goaltender Sebastien Laplante made 24 saves in a 7-0 win against Columbia on Saturday. It was an ECHL record-tying third consecutive shutout for Laplante, who before being placed on injured reserve on November 21 made 28 saves in a 2-0 win at Florida on November 19 and had 13 saves in a 2-0 win against Columbia. The league record for consecutive shutouts was set by Darryl Paquette of Hampton Roads in 1996-97 and tied by Andrew Allen of Trenton in 2002-03.
Selected in the ninth round (277th overall) by Los Angeles in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Laplante has not allowed a goal in 180:00 which is 56:03 shy of the league record of 236:03 set by Paquette from March 23-April 2, 1997. Wheeling's Dany Sabourin, who leads the league with five shutouts, had a shutout streak of 214:37 from October 30-November 11, during which he was 4-0-0 with two shutouts. Allen did not allow a goal for 199:40 from February 5-15, 2003.
During the streak, Laplante has improved to 6-2-0 while lowering his goals-against average from 3.88 to 2.30 while raising his save percentage from .841 to .901. Laplante and teammate Nick Boucher each have three shutouts, tying them for second in the league with Long Beach's Chris Madden and Atlantic City's Jake Moreland.
Pee Dee leads the league with six shutouts, one shy of the team record of seven shutouts in 1999-2000. Wheeling, which set the league record with 11 shutouts in 2003-04, is second in the league with six shutouts.
courtesy of ECHL.com