It was another eventful week for Canadian goalies.
Carey Price and Corey Crawford maintained their strong play while Roberto Luongo and Mike Smith had weeks to forget.
But it wasn’t just Luongo and Smith who struggled, as it was a rough week for the two Toronto Maple Leafs goaltenders as well.
James Reimer was shelled last Monday by the Columbus Blue Jackets and Jonathan Bernier was underwhelming in losses to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens.
Have they done enough to remain in contention for one of the three spots available Canada’s roster?
Every Monday we’ll rank Canada’s Sochi goaltending options based on how they’ve played recently. Will Steve Yzerman go with the stalwarts—or will someone ride a hot glove hand all the way to Russia?
1) Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens: Price is far and away the top option for Canada at this point. The Habs netminder has wins in his past four starts and has only allowed six goals during that span.
2) Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks: Based on his performance this season, Crawford has done enough to jump past Mike Smith and Roberto Luongo. Crawford has been as good as any Canadian with four straight wins and a save percentage above .960 in each of his last four games. But is that enough in Yzerman’s mind?
3) Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks: Luongo was lit up against his former coach, Alain Vigneault, and was pulled after just 20 minutes. Outside of the one disastrous start, he’s been fairly consistent over the past month and should garner consideration for one of the backup jobs behind Price.
4) Mike Smith, Phoenix Coyotes: Smith is expected to land one of the three available positions but he must pick up his play over the next month. The Coyotes goalie hasn’t won a start since Nov. 16, and has allowed four goals (not a total) in three of his last four appearances.
5) Josh Harding, Minnesota Wild: Harding obviously hasn’t been able to maintain his mind-blowing start to the season. He reportedly sustained a lower-body injury on Saturday, but is still expected to start on Monday. As good as he’s been this season, he remains a long shot for the Olympic squad.
6) Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes: Did Brian Burke jinx Ward? Since Burke claimed Ward should start for Canada, the Hurricanes netminder responded by allowing 11 goals over his next three contests with a save percentage of .867.
7) Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins: It was another inconsistent week for Fleury. He responded with a shutout over the Tampa Bay Lightning after being pulled early in the comeback victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hot and cold is typical for Fleury, and that’s why he remains so low on the list.
8) Ben Scrivens, Los Angeles Kings: Man, that was an ugly mistake on Saturday, but Scrivens’s play has not dropped off since taking over for the injured Jonathan Quick in Los Angeles. A ton of credit has to go out to goalie coach Bill Ranford, who has made noticeable tweaks to Scrivens’s style that has drastically improved his positioning.
9) Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals: The Capitals goaltender bounced back after a dud with two straight wins. He had 35-plus saves in both the victories and has mostly recovered from a rough start to the 2013–14 campaign.
10) James Reimer, Toronto Maple Leafs: Coming into last week, Reimer was the league leader in save percentage but that number drastically declined after a tough showing against the Blue Jackets. It’s hard to hold Reimer responsible for any regression as it’s a tough task for any netminder to sustain their play behind the Leafs’ pourous defence group.