What could have been a big night for the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden came to a halt when Scott Darling mishandled the puck.
Possibly the worst goal of the season for the Carolina Hurricanes was given up in a Nov. 22 loss to the New York Rangers at PNC Arena. Mika Zibanejad of the Rangers fluttered in a dump into the Canes zone and the puck managed to get past the glove of starting goalie Scott Darling. That led to a 6-1 win for the Rangers over the Canes.
With Zibanejad out of the lineup for the Rangers in the Dec. 1 meeting with the Canes, one team would be missing its leading scorer. Yet, that did not stop Darling from giving up a real head-scratcher by misplaying the puck on the penalty kill and letting David Desharnais tally his third of the season in a wide open net.
David Desharnais (3) with an assist from Scott Darling pic.twitter.com/MHvBM2MGTB
— Right Wing, Shoots Left 🇨🇦🏒🥅🌈 😷💉💉 (@HILITINGHOCKEY) December 2, 2017
It didn’t help that Michael Grabner would score to give the Rangers the 2-1 lead early in the second period, completely shifting momentum.
There’s a possibility that Darling gets two of the biggest gaffes of the season of any goalie. The goal he gave up to Zibanejad is easily one of the worst in recent memory.
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It’s been a rough start to the season for Darling, to say the least. He can’t seem to get comfortable between the pipes for the Canes in the starting role. Both Darling and Cam Ward have been up and down. Yet, the Canes need Darling to step up and show he’s an NHL starting caliber goalie. He’s showed sparks, but things like this keep happening as well.