Hockey may be a team sport, but the most vital position is the goaltender. Here are NHL four teams who need solid goaltending if they want a playoff chance.
A good goaltender can be the difference between the good NHL teams and the great ones. All major Stanley Cup contenders have one similarity and that is a superstar netminder. The Washington Capitals have Braden Holtby, the Pittsburgh Penguins had Marc-Andre Fleury and now Matt Murray, and the Tampa Bay Lightning have Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Teams have won the Stanley Cup with a mediocre defense (Penguins) and mediocre offense (Los Angeles Kings), but they have never stood a chance if they didn’t have a good goalie.
There are four teams in the NHL who have great teams outside the net but need their goalie to perform if they want a chance at the playoffs, and potentially the Stanley Cup.
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1. Philadelphia Flyers – Brian Elliott
The Philadelphia Flyers acquired James van Riemsdyk this summer and now have both a deadly power play, as well as superstar scoring talent in the likes of Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux.
Shayne Gosthisbehere and Ivan Provorov lead a strong defense that can also jump into the play when necessary. The last piece of the puzzle is Brian Elliott.
Both Michal Neuvirth (groin) and Alex Lyon (lower-body) are injured for at least the next three weeks so they are out of the question. A lot of talk is circulating around top prospect Carter Hart, but he will likely not see consistent NHL time until next season.
Elliott played 43 games last season and had a .909 save percentage. He was injured in February last season with a “core muscle injury” which made the Flyers trade for Mrazek. He’s back on the ice but he is still recovering.
The Flyers need him to to be the same player he was with the St Louis Blues if they want a chance to make a deeper run in the playoffs.
2. St. Louis Blues – Jake Allen
The St. Louis Blues have a great team. With the addition of Ryan O’Reilly and Tyler Bozak, this team is almost a contender. All they need is Jake Allen to pull through and have a pretty decent season. He’s played over 30 games in four seasons and his save percentages have been .913/.920/.915./.906. If he doesn’t repeat what he did last season, the Blues are in for a long, long run.
3. Carolina Hurricanes – Scott Darling
Ever since they won the Stanley Cup over ten years ago, the Carolina Hurricanes haven’t seen consistent goaltending. They have one of the best young defensive cores in the league with players like Justin Faulk and Dougie Hamilton. They need Scott Darling to really pick it up this year.
Last season, he played 43 games with the Canes and had an .888 save percentage. Carolina has to the tools up front to make it to the playoffs, now all they need is their goalie to settle down and be consistently average.
4. Dallas Stars – Ben Bishop
The Dallas Stars have one of the most potent first lines in hockey with Alexander Radulov, Jamie Benn, and Tyler Seguin. John Klingberg is a top defenseman in the NHL, and Ben Bishop has proven himself to be a #1 starter in the league. Now all they need to do is get Bishop to stay healthy.
When he is playing, his numbers are great. Last season, he played 53 games and had a .916 save percentage and a 26-17-5 record. He only played 53 games because of a knee injury.
In the offseason, the Stars also acquired Boston Bruins’ backup Anton Khudobin. He was solid for the Bruins when Tuukka Rask was struggling and if the two of them can have healthy, solid seasons, the Stars could be ready for another playoff hunt.
If these goalies can figure their games out, it will relieve a lot of stress from the defensemen and give these good teams a push into the greatness category.