This article is part of our Crashing the Crease series.
So far this season, 102 new players have joined the NHL ranks. Of those debuting players, eight have been goaltenders. St. Louis' Pheonix Copley faced six shots at the big-league level last year, but the Alaska native will be included here since he didn't make his first NHL start until Saturday. Here's how the nine fresh faces have fared:
Detroit's Jared Coreau (5-1-2) and San Jose's Aaron Dell (5-2-0) are tied for the lead in wins, which would also be shared by Nashville's Juuse Saros if his one start last season didn't make him ineligible for the purposes of this exercise. Coreau has been the beneficiary of some excellent luck, first getting his opportunity due to Jimmy Howard's MCL sprain and then accruing a solid record despite a lackluster 2.79 GAA and .904 save percentage. With Howard nowhere near a return and Petr Mrazek struggling to the tune of a 3.13 GAA and .895 save percentage, Coreau should continue to get opportunities for a middling Red Wings team looking to scrap its way into the playoffs. Dell has been more deserving of his strong record with a 1.84 GAA and .933 save percentage, but will continue to see very limited opportunities as long as 27-year-old starter Martin Jones stays healthy.
Bruins backup Zane McIntyre is third in appearances with seven, but has yet to notch his first victory behind Tuukka Rask. Conversely, Philadelphia's Anthony Stolarz is yet to experience defeat with a 2-0-0 record in four appearances. The
So far this season, 102 new players have joined the NHL ranks. Of those debuting players, eight have been goaltenders. St. Louis' Pheonix Copley faced six shots at the big-league level last year, but the Alaska native will be included here since he didn't make his first NHL start until Saturday. Here's how the nine fresh faces have fared:
Detroit's Jared Coreau (5-1-2) and San Jose's Aaron Dell (5-2-0) are tied for the lead in wins, which would also be shared by Nashville's Juuse Saros if his one start last season didn't make him ineligible for the purposes of this exercise. Coreau has been the beneficiary of some excellent luck, first getting his opportunity due to Jimmy Howard's MCL sprain and then accruing a solid record despite a lackluster 2.79 GAA and .904 save percentage. With Howard nowhere near a return and Petr Mrazek struggling to the tune of a 3.13 GAA and .895 save percentage, Coreau should continue to get opportunities for a middling Red Wings team looking to scrap its way into the playoffs. Dell has been more deserving of his strong record with a 1.84 GAA and .933 save percentage, but will continue to see very limited opportunities as long as 27-year-old starter Martin Jones stays healthy.
Bruins backup Zane McIntyre is third in appearances with seven, but has yet to notch his first victory behind Tuukka Rask. Conversely, Philadelphia's Anthony Stolarz is yet to experience defeat with a 2-0-0 record in four appearances. The 2012 second-rounder is back to toiling in the minors for now with both Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth healthy. Philadelphia's logjam in net might allow Stolarz to slip through the cracks in the looming expansion draft, so don't be surprised if his 1.79 GAA and .938 save percentage pique Las Vegas' interest.
Alex Nedeljkovic stopped all 17 shots in relief of Cam Ward last Tuesday, but the 2014 second-rounder has since been demoted back to the AHL. Fellow Hurricane Jorge Alves is a 37-year-old equipment manager that saw the ice briefly in an emergency situation and is unlikely to do so again. Antoine Bibeau has posted a 1.98 GAA and .927 save percentage while winning one of his first two starts, but finds himself back in the minors with the Maple Leafs having claimed veteran backup Curtis McElhinney off waivers.
While Copley and Colorado's Spencer Martin both made their first career starts over this past week, neither was able to emerge victorious. Martin flubbed his second chance as well, and has now allowed eight goals in two appearances while Copley gave up five in his lone outing. Both the Blues and Avalanche have had extensive issues in net this year, but neither of these goaltenders appears to be the answer to their problems.
None of the guys discussed above managed to make it into this week's top performers, three rising or three falling, but here's who did:
Top Performers
Matt Murray, PIT - Murray held the Canadiens, Hurricanes and Bruins to exactly one goal each on a total of 93 shots during his three-game winning streak over the past week before finally surrendering three to the Blues in Tuesday's loss. He has won four of six appearances since returning from a lower-body injury and owns a 17-5-1 record overall. Former starter Marc-Andre Fleury seems to have been relegated purely to a backup role by the youngster's success.
Ryan Miller, VAN - Miller allowed three goals in a road loss to the Blackhawks on Sunday, but was brilliant in holding the Predators and Panthers to one combined goal on 65 shots in consecutive home victories earlier in the week. The veteran has the most profound home-road split in all of hockey, with an excellent 12-4-1 record, 1.98 GAA and .933 save percentage at Rogers Arena and a putrid 2-7-2 record, 3.27 GAA and .902 save percentage anywhere else. It's safe to expect a drop-off in production with eight of Vancouver's next 10 games coming on the road.
Martin Jones, SAN - Jones has allowed exactly two goals in each appearance of his current four-game winning streak. While two of those wins have come over the Central Division cellar-dwelling Avalanche, facing weak competition is a common advantage for arguably the best goaltender in the league's weakest division. With victories in six of his past seven appearances, Jones has clearly reversed course from his preceding three-game losing streak.
Three Rising
Henrik Lundqvist, NYR - After a horrific stretch that saw him give up 26 goals in six games, Lundqvist has looked more like his usual self in allowing four total goals in consecutive wins over the Maple Leafs, Red Wings and Kings. Lundqvist has been the goaltender of record in 10 straight games, and should continue to receive a heavy workload until Antti Raanta (lower body) is back to full health. If the Swede can keep up this level of play, Raanta's return won't impact his playing time much.
John Gibson, ANA - Gibson's rise has been going on for quite a while now, as he is 8-1-2 with a 1.49 GAA and .950 save percentage in his past 12 appearances. While he left his last appearance Saturday against the Wild with an upper-body injury and ceded the crease to backup Jonathan Bernier on Monday, the young netminder appeared to be fine in practice Sunday and should be free to continue his ascent uninhibited by injury moving forward.
Thomas Greiss, NYI - Greiss' 44 saves weren't enough in Sunday's 3-2 overtime loss to Philadelphia, but that effort, coupled with back-to-back shutouts in his previous two appearances, still gave the German a stellar .098 GAA and .971 save percentage over his past three starts before Tuesday's 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets. He has allowed two or fewer goals in 10 of his past 12 outings despite backstopping a defensively challenged Islanders team, and should continue to serve as the team's top netminder given his recent play and the lack of alternatives.
Three Falling
Chad Johnson, CGY - Johnson allowed four goals on 21 shots last Thursday to Nashville, then dropped off even further in giving up three goals while making only one save before being pulled Saturday against Edmonton. He completed the terrible trifecta Tuesday by allowing five more goals on 20 shots to the Canadiens for a grand total of three losses and a .733 save percentage. The only bright spot for Johnson is that alternative Brian Elliott has been almost as bad with seven goals allowed on 54 shots for an .870 save percentage this past week, but those numbers just show how inept the Flames defense is regardless of who mans the crease.
Cam Ward, CAR - Ward's heavy workload finally caught up to him over the past week, as he gave up 11 goals in two games before finally getting a day off for the first time in 21 games Saturday. That break didn't do the veteran much good, though, as he proceeded to allow six goals in his next start Monday. Ward's three game losing streak came against three elite opponents in the Blue Jackets, Penguins and Capitals, but things won't get any easier playing in a division with four of the league's eight best teams.
Ben Bishop, TAM - Bishop came back from a lower-body injury with back-to-back wins, but has since cooled off with seven total goals allowed in consecutive losses to the Ducks and Coyotes. The hulking veteran should continue to get plenty of playing time with backup Andrei Vasilevskiy faring even worse of late, though the Russian's strong performance in Tuesday's win over the Blackhawks could be the beginning of a turnaround.
