Michael Leighton

Michael Leighton is a Canadian goalie on the Philadelphia Flyers.

He was drafted by Chicago in 1999, and joined the Blackhawks in 2002. He had a shutout in his first game, but played only 42 games in Chicago before being traded to Nashville. He played one game as a Predator before being moved to Philadelphia in 2007. He saw limited backup duty in Philadelphia before being picked up by Montreal and traded to Carolina in the 2007 offseason. In 2008, while playing in the AHL, Leighton set a league record with 98 saves in a 5 overtime game. In 2009, with the Flyers’ goaltenders falling to injury at a record pace, Leighton was traded to Philadelphia, where he saved their season in the middle of the winter, posting a 16-5-2 record with a 2.48 GAA. However, he was injured down the stretch, and Brian Boucher took over the starting job and backstopped the Flyers all the way to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. In the Semifinals, Leighton was called upon when Boucher was injured in Game 5, and won Games 5, 6 and 7 to help the Flyers become just the 3rd NHL team to come back from 3-0. He then posted 3 shutouts in five games against the Montreal Canadiens and helped the Flyers reach the Stanley Cup Finals. He struggled against the more talented Blackhawks in the Finals, and the Flyers fell in six games. Leighton was re-signed by the Flyers in the 2010 offseason.