BEST NET-MINDING DUOS

Nick De Cicco

The first 30 games of this 2022-2023 NHL regular season brought some incredible action between the red lines and within the crease. We are going to analyse the breathtaking performances from the greatest goaltending duos of the season so far.

Jeremy Swayman & Linus Ullmark

The Big Bad Bruins are one of the largest surprises in the league to have ample success in the early goings. This Boston team is the first to achieve 50+ points and stands alone in first place in the standing so far. The team has the lowest goals against per game and highest save percentage with 2.16 GA/G and .927 SV%.This accomplishment could not be possible with the outstanding metminding executed by Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman.

From a statistics standpoint, Ullmark has 18 wins in 20 games played, leading the goals against per game category with 1.89 and a save percentage close to .940. Swayman’s numbers aren’t as impressive as his netminding counterpart, but he has played solid through 10 starts with 6 wins. Both goaltenders have played excellently for their team and this immediate success after the departure of Tukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak is a sight to see.

Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov

The Toronto Maple Leafs had high expectations going into the season with a consistent lineup on the offensive and defensively. The departure of Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek left the Buds with a depleted team between the pipes.

When Murray arrived in Toronto, he was constantly backed by Leafs management and optimistic hockey fans. A changing defensively-oriented mindset would help Matt Murray achieve a 2.34 GA/G, .925 save percentage through his first 12 starts and earned a historic shutout against the Dallas Stars. Matt Murray has definitely proved the doubters wrong and GM Kyle Dubas looks like a genius.

Despite the terrible month of October that the entire team had, Samsonov looked strong. The overall struggles with injury and poor performances helped Ilya develop into a better goalie. He now has 9 wins in 12 games, .929 save percentage and 1.98 GA/G as a member of the blue and white.

Frederik Andersen, Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov.

The Carolina Hurricanes have been dominating the Metropolitan division with strong goaltending between three goalies. Andersen was expected to be the starter after his exit from the Maple Leafs, but injuries have given opportunities to a rebounding Antti Raanta and youngster Pyotr Kochetkov.

Frederik Andersen has only started 8 times this season and accumulated 5 wins with a 2.72 GA/G. The limited number of games played has limited Andersen’s true potential from the incredible season he had last year.

Antti Raanta hasn’t fared much better with an offseason recovery that staggered his start to the season. Raanta has only played in 9 games with a 2.75 GA/G and a .891 save percentage to show for his performances on and off the stats sheet have not been impressive enough to surpass the excellence from Kochetkov.

Pyotr Kochetkov has taken the league by storm while backing his Hurricane teammates to the top of their division. This 23-year-old has only one regulation loss in 15 games and has 10 wins. The month of December has been great for the young goaltender while racking up 5 straight wins against strong teams like New Jersey, Pittsburgh and Seattle. Kochetkov has attained a 1.94 GA/G, .928 save percentage and 3 shutouts that propels him pretty high in the goalie leaderboard of the NHL.

Hockey in the NHL is not an individual sport by any means and these extraordinary goaltenders have proven the need for a partner or two between the pipes.