Going into this season, the Carolina Hurricanes were considered Stanley Cup contenders.
At the time, it was hard to disagree with that sentiment. The club has a great offense, plays well defensively, and has enough depth in goal to overcome injuries.
As it turns out, hockey pundits and fans alike may have been premature with their positive outlook on this team. The Hurricanes are fourth in the Metropolitan Division and 14th in the league with a record of 16-12-3.
Their record is not bad. What is an issue for this team, however, is their goaltending.
As of this writing, the team is 22nd in the league in goals allowed. They have given up 99 goals in 31 games, and while the team’s goaltending is not the only reason why this is the case, it is certainly a glaring issue for this hockey club.
For starters, their main goaltender, Frederik Andersen, has only started six games due to a blood clot issue. Andersen, 34, did not exactly play well in those games, as he is currently 4-1 with a 2.87 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage.
While Andersen has been cleared to resume skating, it is not yet known when he will be able to play in a game. As such, the Hurricanes will still be without their starter for at least the next month.
The team’s backup, Antti Raanta, has been awful this season. He has played so poorly that he was put on and then cleared waivers to be reassigned to the American Hockey League (AHL).
Raanta, 34, is 6-5-0-1 with a 3.61 goals-against average, a .854 save percentage, and one shutout. While he would come up with a big save here and there, he has been mostly inconsistent this season as he has allowed a lot of soft goals, given up a lot of bad rebounds, and generally does not look comfortable between the pipes.
The team’s third goaltender, Pyotr Kochetkov, has not been any better for the Hurricanes. Kochetkov, 24, is currently 6-6-0-2 with a 2.62 goals-against average, a .894 save percentage, and one shutout.
There are games where Kochetkov looks like he can be a stud in this league. He will make big saves, control his rebounds, be smart in playing the puck, and not allow soft goals.
Unfortunately for both Kochetkov and the Hurricanes, those games are few and far between. More often than not, Kochetkov has been yet another Hurricanes goaltender who has been inconsistent this season.
In looking at everything mentioned above, the three Hurricanes goaltenders have save percentages below 90 percent and their goals-against averages are not great either. They are having difficulty coming up with timely saves and have been one of the main reasons why their team is not where they should be.
To try and solve their goaltending issue, the Hurricanes have done two things. They recently signed Aaron Dell to a free agent tryout, and they also called up Yaniv Perets from the ECHL.
No one knows if anything will come of those moves. Right now, it is about trying to fix an issue that has been detrimental to their hockey club this season.
There is no doubt that the Hurricanes need to start getting consistent goaltending. Both the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference are extremely tight this season, so the last thing they want to happen is to fall out of a playoff spot.
ITR 32: The Final Countdown – Inside The Rink
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