The Goaltending
For the first time as a head coach, Rod Brind’Amour pulled his goalie in favor of replacement. While you can’t lay the brunt of the blame at Petr Mrazek’s feet, he had an off night. Still, his record and GAA aren’t anything to sneeze at, thought his sub-.900 save percentage is less than ideal. Even then, Mrazek has done a good enough job of keeping his team in the game and giving them a chance to win, and that is the most important thing.
Then you look at James Reimer’s numbers and it gets a bit funny. His record sits at 500, his GAA is pretty much in line with his platoon mate, but his save percentage is considerably better. Reimer has faced more total shots (147 vs. 112) and his advanced stats (goals against %, goals saved above average) are better than Mrazek’s.
Both goalies have shown some incredibly solid stretches mixed in with some weak goals. Again, it’s still very early in the year and Mrazek’s last start against Anaheim did a number on his stats. We haven’t seen the best that the goalies have to offer but, as the season wears on, the Hurricanes are going to need just that in order to keep pace in the Metropolitan Division.