Despite his struggles, Cam Ward deserves to be the starting goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes if he continues his hot streak.
One of the Carolina Hurricanes’ problems this season has been shaky goaltending. Cam Ward has had a very up and down season, posting a .900 SV% and a 2.56 GAA in his twenty-five games played. Eddie Lack’s statistics are even worse with a .876 SV% and 3.34 GAA throughout twelve games played. Both goaltender’s statistics are well below the league averages of .915 SV% and 2.47 GAA.
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Up until now, Cam Ward has received a large majority of the starts for the Hurricanes. It is hard to say that he has been anything other than inconsistent thus far in the season.
On December 8, Ward gave up four goals on eight shots against the Dallas Stars in the first period. This was rock bottom for him, and Bill Peters finally made the decision to give Eddie Lack a real shot at earning the starting job.
Ward was pulled after the first period of the game against Dallas and Eddie Lack came in. The Carolina Hurricanes had their best comeback performance of the season, scoring four goals in the third period to tie the game 5-5. However, it was all for nothing because Lack let in a very soft goal between his legs with nineteen seconds left in regulation that sealed the deal. Lack gave up two goals on twelve shots.
It wasn’t a great performance by Lack, but it was a lot better than what Ward displayed. After that game Bill Peters chose to start Eddie Lack in three straight games for the first time this season.
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In Lack’s first start of the three game stretch he picked up a win over the Anaheim Ducks and allowed just one goal on thirty-two shots. This was by far the best game of his season, and for a moment it seemed that Lack could go on a run and possibly take the starting job away from Ward.
Lack picked up a win against the Arizona Coyotes and a point in the standings in an overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in his next two starts. However, he gave up four goals in both games on a total of sixty shots for a below average .867 SV%.
Despite the low save percentages, they weren’t terrible performances from Lack by any means. It was actually a huge improvement for him and should help his confidence going forward.
However, the fact remains that you simply are not going to win many games when you allow four goals. Lack benefitted from the fact that the Hurricanes scored an astonishing fourteen goals in his three starts, giving him a lot of confidence in his team to score another goal if he gave one up. This is a luxury that simply is not going to be there on a consistent basis. Goalies need to have the ability to steal wins on occasion, and Lack simply has not displayed the ability to do that thus far with the Hurricanes.
I am not saying that Lack is a bad goalie because he isn’t. He was nothing short of amazing with Vancouver last year and was a huge reason why they made the playoffs. He just isn’t having that same success with the Hurricanes for whatever reason.
Cam Ward was given the start against the Florida Panthers on December 18, his first start since his brutal performance against Dallas on December 8. He allowed just one goal on seventeen shots, but received a loss courtesy of a shutout-effort from Roberto Luongo.
Bill Peters made the decision to start Ward the very next night against Pittsburgh. Ward made his coach look really good by stopping thirty-seven of thirty-eight shots (.974 SV%) and carrying his team to a 2-1 victory.
In the Hurricanes most recent game and last game before the Christmas break, Ward started his third straight game and allowed two goals on twenty-one shots in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals. The first goal he gave up was due to a lively rebound and the second goal was a tip off the opposing player’s skate which Ward had no chance of stopping. Neither goal was completely his fault and he ultimately played a very solid game against the best team in the league. When you hold guys like Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom to only two goals you are giving your team a chance to win.
Overall, in the past three games Ward has only given up four goals on seventy-six shots which equates to an impressive .947 SV% average. Obviously, this is a huge improvement from when he gave up four goals on eight shots and his overall play this season. He should be feeling pretty confident after his recent performances and hopefully that will continue.
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So, the question at hand: which goalie gives the Canes the best chance to win moving forward? The answer is Cam Ward, especially if he continues to play like he did prior to this Christmas break. The Carolina Hurricanes should stick with him as the starter for as long as he keeps giving his team a chance to win games.