Veteran goaltender Cam Talbot has emerged as the Red Wings’ early-season surprise, outperforming presumed starter John Gibson and forcing coach Todd McLellan to decide whether to stick with the hot hand or rotate starts.
The emerging standout for the Red Wings in the early part of the season isn't someone fans expected.
It isn't one of their youngsters, although they're slowly improving. It isn't one of their recent adds, although they helped lift the team to a win on Monday.
It's been veteran goaltender Cam Talbot, who has won both of his starts to begin the season with just five goals allowed with 58 saves on 63 shots. His 38-save performance on Monday, single-handedly kept the Red Wings in the game as they were barely able to muster up 15 shots on net.
Much of the offseason debate centered on who would emerge as Detroit’s starting goaltender, with John Gibson widely considered the favorite to claim the job. However, Talbot has started two of the first three games of the season for Detroit and has done nothing but improved his chances at getting more starts. Not to say that Gibson is out of the picture just yet.
We recently broke down the season opener and noted that Gibson’s performance was strong, with little fault on his part for the goals allowed. He gave up five goals and was pulled but it was difficult for any goalie to be forced to make the saves Gibson would've had to make. A breakaway on the first goal and a two-on-one rush for the second goal aren't exactly Gibson's fault and he should still be given a chance at the starting netminder job.
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However, it may be out of his control as Detroit head coach Todd McLellan could very well opt to keep going with the hot hand. Another option could be McLellan and the coaching staff looks at the numbers for who is better in a certain matchup. Whoever starts Wednesday against the Florida Panthers will be a very telling sign as to who gets an edge in this position battle that seemingly hasn't ended just yet.
Talbot has a 10-6-1 record with a 2.59 goals against average and a .924 save percentage in 17 appearances while Gibson has a 4-8-3 record with a 3.29 average and a .918 save percentage in 16 appearances versus the Panthers. The smarter play would be Talbot again but McLellan may want to get another look at Gibson after the defense has made some adjustments and has improved since the season opener.
Since joining the Red Wings, Talbot has a 23-19-5 record with a 2.89 average and a .902 save percentage in 50 appearances, meaning the coaching staff may know what the median looks like for Talbot and they can expect a regression coming over the next few starts.
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