Szabados becomes first woman to record shutout in men's league
Shannon Szabados made history on Saturday by becoming the first woman to record a shutout in a men's professional hockey league.
Szabados turned aside all 33 shots to lead the Columbus Cottonmouths to a 3-0 victory over the Huntsville Havoc in a Southern Professional Hockey League game. A two-time Olympic gold medalist with Canada, Szabados received a congratulatory tweet from Hall of Fame netminder Grant Fuhr for her accomplishment.
1st Pro Shutout! #3-0 #33saves #VsHunstville pic.twitter.com/D57KLndtNT
— Shannon Szabados (@ShannonSzabados) December 27, 2015
The 29-year-old Szabados, who practiced with forward Nail Yakupov and the Edmonton Oilers last season, rebounded from yielding seven goals in her previous contest to improve to 3-5-3 with a 3.58 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage on the season.
@ShannonSzabados congrats well done and there will be many more
— Grant Fuhr (@grantfuhr) December 27, 2015
Szabados became the first female goaltender to win an SPHL game when the Cottonmouths skated to a 5-4 overtime victory over the Fayetteville FireAntz on Nov. 21, 2014.
The SPHL is a 10-team professional league based in the southeastern United States.