Mario Lessard

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| played_for = AHL
Springfield Indians
New Haven Nighthawks
NHL
Los Angeles Kings

| position = Goaltender

| catches = Left

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 9

| weight_lb = 177

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1954|6|25|mf=y}}

| birth_place = East Broughton, Quebec, Canada

| draft = 154th overall

| draft_year = 1974

| draft_team = Los Angeles Kings

| wha_draft = 128th overall

| wha_draft_year = 1974

| wha_draft_team = Quebec Nordiques

| career_start = 1977

| career_end = 1984

}}

Mario Lessard (born June 25, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender.

Born in East Broughton, Quebec, Lessard began his National Hockey League career with the Los Angeles Kings in 1978, the team he would play his entire NHL career with. Lessard recorded four shutouts in 1978–79, tied for second best in the league. Lessard also was an NHL second team All-Star in 1981 and appeared in the 1981 NHL All-Star Game.

Lessard may be best known as the Kings goalie in the Miracle on Manchester playoff game in April 1982 in which the Kings rallied from a 5–0 deficit to beat the Edmonton Oilers, 6–5 in overtime. Early in overtime of that game, Lessard mishandled the puck 40 feet in front of his net as he attempted to beat Glenn Anderson to the puck and stop a breakaway; with the net wide open and defenceman Mark Hardy trying to act as goalie, the Oilers Mark Messier shot the puck over the open net. The Kings scored two minutes later to win. After the game Lessard lamented that his mistake nearly blew the amazing comeback. He retired after the 1984 season.

Career statistics

=Regular season and playoffs=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:75%"

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! align="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! align="center" rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! align="center" colspan="9" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" | Regular season

! align="center" rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! align="center" colspan="8" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" | Playoffs

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Season

! Team

! League

! GP

! W

! L

! T

! MIN

! GA

! SO

! GAA

! SV%

! GP

! W

! L

! MIN

! GA

! SO

! GAA

! SV%

1969–70

| Sherbrooke Castors

| QMJHL

| 15

| 3

| 5

| 0

| 560

| 63

| 0

| 6.76

| .831

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1970–71

| Sherbrooke Castors

| QMJHL

| —

1971–72

| Sherbrooke Castors

| QMJHL

| 17

| —

| 1020

| 72

| 2

| 4.24

| .895

| 3

| 0

| 3

| 133

| 24

| 0

| 10.83

| .784

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1972–73

| Sherbrooke Castors

| QMJHL

| 37

| —

| 2180

| 161

| 0

| 4.43

| .880

| 6

| —

| 360

| 24

| 0

| 4.00

| .881

1973–74

| Sherbrooke Castors

| QMJHL

| 36

| —

| 2140

| 180

| 0

| 5.05

| .860

| 4

| —

| 240

| 24

| 0

| 6.00

| .892

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1974–75

| Saginaw Gears

| IHL

| 59

| —

| 3186

| 171

| 4

| 3.22

| —

| 17

| 10

| 7

| 1016

| 64

| 2

| 3.78

| —

1975–76

| Saginaw Gears

| IHL

| 62

| —

| 3323

| 187

| 3

| 3.38

| —

| 12

| 7

| 5

| 722

| 31

| 1

| 2.58

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1976–77

| Fort Worth Texans

| CHL

| 4

| 1

| 3

| 0

| 192

| 11

| 0

| 3.44

| .896

| —

1976–77

| Saginaw Gears

| IHL

| 44

| —

| 2489

| 144

| 0

| 3.47

| —

| 18

| 12

| 6

| 1059

| 52

| 1

| 2.95

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1977–78

| Springfield Indians

| AHL

| 57

| 30

| 19

| 6

| 3295

| 204

| 1

| 3.71

| —

| 4

| 1

| 3

| 239

| 10

| 1

| 2.51

| —

1978–79

| Los Angeles Kings

| NHL

| 49

| 23

| 15

| 10

| 2860

| 148

| 4

| 3.10

| .892

| 2

| 0

| 2

| 126

| 8

| 0

| 3.81

| .890

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1979–80

| Los Angeles Kings

| NHL

| 50

| 18

| 22

| 7

| 2836

| 185

| 0

| 3.91

| .869

| 4

| 1

| 2

| 207

| 14

| 0

| 4.06

| .880

1980–81

| Los Angeles Kings

| NHL

| 64

| 35

| 18

| 11

| 3746

| 203

| 2

| 3.25

| .893

| 4

| 1

| 3

| 220

| 20

| 0

| 5.45

| .837

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1981–82

| Los Angeles Kings

| NHL

| 52

| 13

| 28

| 8

| 2933

| 213

| 2

| 4.36

| .856

| 10

| 4

| 5

| 583

| 41

| 0

| 4.22

| .868

1982–83

| Los Angeles Kings

| NHL

| 19

| 3

| 10

| 2

| 888

| 68

| 1

| 4.59

| .843

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1982–83

| Birmingham South Stars

| CHL

| 8

| 4

| 2

| 0

| 405

| 28

| 0

| 4.15

| .876

| 11

| 6

| 3

| 637

| 35

| 0

| 3.30

| —

1983–84

| Los Angeles Kings

| NHL

| 6

| 0

| 4

| 1

| 266

| 26

| 0

| 5.86

| .838

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1983–84

| New Haven Nighthawks

| AHL

| 5

| 1

| 3

| 1

| 281

| 27

| 0

| 5.77

| .830

| —

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | NHL totals

! 240

! 92

! 97

! 39

! 13,529

! 843

! 9

! 3.74

! .875

! 20

! 6

! 12

! 1,136

! 83

! 0

! 4.38

! .867

{{cite web |url=http://hockeygoalies.org/bio/lessard.html|title = Lessard's stats |publisher=The Goaltender Home Page|accessdate=2017-08-09}}

External links

{{icehockeystats}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20111008093806/http://www.colintimberlake.com/mario-lessard-nhl-goalie-los-angeles-kings/ Mario Lessard: Training Inspiration]

Category:1954 births

Category:Living people

Category:Birmingham South Stars players

Category:Canadian ice hockey goaltenders

Category:Fort Worth Texans players

Category:Ice hockey people from Chaudière-Appalaches

Category:Los Angeles Kings draft picks

Category:Los Angeles Kings players

Category:Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States

Category:National Hockey League All-Stars

Category:New Haven Nighthawks players

Category:Quebec Nordiques (WHA) draft picks

Category:Saginaw Gears players

Category:Sherbrooke Castors players

Category:Springfield Indians players

Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen