Goaltender Cristobal Huet must have expected to play more regularly when he quickly signed with the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent last July. In just his fifth start in 11 games Saturday night, however, the 33-year-old veteran gave his team nearly two games’ worth of saves in a 4-3 shootout win in Columbus.

The French-born Huet stood up to 51 Blue Jackets shots -- including seven in overtime -- and saved 48 of them. Huet stopped three more in the shootout to play a critical role in his second win since joining the Hawks. Both his shots faced and saves were career single-game highs.

Huet signed a four-year deal with Chicago, and presumably not to share time in goal. In his fifth NHL season in 2007-08, he set a career high with 32 wins between Montreal and Washington. He ranked sixth in the league with a .920 save percentage and 10th with a 2.32 GAA. After joining the Capitals in a February trade, Huet went 11-2-0 with a 1.63 GAA and .936 save percentage.

It seemed incumbent Nikolai Khabibulin, in the final year of the multiyear deal he signed in 2005, was on his way out. The Blackhawks ran him through waivers, but a trade never came to pass in the weeks leading up to training camp. Perhaps there will be more of a trade market for him some point in the season, but until then, Huet and Khabibulin share the Chicago net.

On Saturday, Huet became the fourth goaltender to face as many as 50 shots in a game this season. He shares more than that with the three others:

50+ Shots Faced in a Game, 2008-09

Goalie. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Opponent. . . . . . . . . . . Sh. . . . . . .Score
Cam Ward, Car. . . . . . vs NYI on 10/25. . . . . . . . . .60. . . . . . . .4-3
J.S. Giguere, Ana. . . . vs Mon on 10/25. . . . . . . . . 51. . . . . . . .6-4
Cristobal Huet, Chi. . . vs Cls on 11/1. . . . . . . . . . .51. . . . . . . .4-3 (SO)
Tomas Vokoun, Fla. . . .vs SJ on 10/24. . . . . . . . . . 50. . . . . . . .4-3

All four goalies in the 50-shots club have posted victories -- all in a one-week span.