Carolina Hurricanes: 5 players to be thankful for

RALEIGH, NC - NOVEMBER 22: Sebastian Aho #20 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates his first-period powerplay goal against the New York Rangers with teammates Jordan Staal #11, Teuvo Teravainen #86 and Justin Faulk #27 during an NHL game on November 22, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

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RALEIGH, NC – NOVEMBER 19: Cam Ward #30 of the Carolina Hurricanes deflects the puck away from the crease during an NHL game against the New York Islanders on November 19, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

109. . Goalie. . Cam Ward. 3. player

Scott Darling saw his worst performance of the season come in the loss to the Rangers. The Canes are trying to move on from the Cam Ward era in Raleigh, but he’s actually proving that he’s the better goalie this season.

Ward has a 3-2-0 record through five starts with a save percentage above .920. Meanwhile, Darling has a save percentage flat at .900, which is not acceptable for a starting goalie that the Canes invested so much into over the off-season.

The experience factor and the fact that Ward helped the Canes win the only Stanley Cup in franchise history while winning the Conn Smythe in the process should help Darling along through this rough patch.

However, we have to look at Ward as the goalie in the better situation through 20 games. He’s been a very solid backup to Darling, and even eclipsed him in almost every relevant area for goalie stats.

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