Is Goaltending what Ails the Carolina Hurricanes?
Being a goaltender is perhaps the hardest job in hockey.
Not only are you facing 100mph bullets of vulcanized rubber for 60 minutes a night, but you also usually end up carrying the burden of team performance as well, whether it's justified or not.
Good games, bad games, it always seems to find its way back to goaltending.
So for the Carolina Hurricanes, who have been struggling with inconsistencies all season, how much of their issues are actually on the goaltending?
Let's start by taking a look at the numbers.
Right away, the evidence is pretty damning.
The Hurricanes have the league's worst team save percentage at 0.867 which is 0.032 lower than league average, yet the are allowing the least amount of shots against per game at just 25.0.
In terms of the analytics, according to naturalstatttrick.com, the Canes lead the league in expected goals percentage (60.05) which is nearly 10% higher than their actual goals for percentage (51.46).
And finally, according to moneypuck.com, the Hurricanes have a goals saved above expected total of -14.4 goals.
So case closed, right? The problem is bad goaltending.
Well... not entirely.
If you look at the numbers alone, you'd be forced to admit that the goaltending is the key problem for Carolina, but I'm not so sure I agree with that.
Because honestly, how many games have the Hurricanes lost solely because of their goaltenders?
I can pinpoint two, maybe three, games in which the Hurricanes' netminding cost them points. Beyond that, they've gone as the team's gone.
The goalies have been subjected to a lot of wide-open shots, odd-man rushes, blown coverages and things of that nature which has made their jobs extremely difficult.
And if you're only giving up 25 shots, but five of them are essentially backdoor tap-ins, that's an 0.800 save percentage.
To me, the issue right now isn't bad goaltending. It's a lack of consistency in front of the goalies.
I don't care what the numbers say. What I've watched in 25 games this season tells me that the netminders aren't the reason for a lot of these losses.
They've had some strong games and some bad games. They've only been as inconsistent as the team in front of them has been.
So if I were to give them a grade, I'd say a C+ maybe even a B- before this recent stretch.
It's been passable.
In my opinion, the Canes are not a goaltender away right now. A new goalie doesn't fix the issues plaguing the team.
But that doesn't mean targeting a goaltender wouldn't help.
Because, while it's been passable, the one thing this current tandem hasn't been able to do, is steal a game.
A high-end goalie could make the stop when the man-to-man system has a breakdown or steal a game when the team has an off day.
They could give Carolina more time to iron out their flaws and perhaps settle everybody in just a bit more in those games where the bounces just aren't coming.
So while I don't agree that the goaltending is the problem, getting someone who is able to steal a game could still be a real difference maker for this team.
But rolling the dice on a goaltender is opening up a whole 'nother Pandora's box because who's even out there that is a) available, b) a guaranteed upgrade and c) won't cost you an arm and a leg.
In the end, perhaps my problem with this whole debate is more with the semantics of the conversation rather than anything else as I don't believe that simply labeling the Hurricanes' problems as bad goaltending is fair nor accurate, as they've been level with the rest of the team performance-wise this season.
TLDR: In my opinion, the Canes' goalies haven't been bad, they've been passable at the very least, but aiming for something more than just passable is perhaps the wisest move.
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