Corey Crawford and 3 other NHL goaltenders carrying their teams right now

Exceptional goaltending can cure a lot of what ails a hockey team. You can get outshot by 20 and still win if the last line of defense holds up. Many teams that exceed expectations do so on the backs of goaltenders who pave over the mistakes of their teammates.

Corey Crawford used to be viewed in a much different mold, but now he’s that kind of goaltender. The Chicago Blackhawks’ decline as an all-around over the past few years has been easy to see anywhere but in the standings. Crawford is the main reason for that.

It’s been no different to open the 2017-18 season, where the Blackhawks are 6-5-1 thanks largely to Crawford’s .941 save percentage. He’s been their best player and the prime reason why the rails haven’t totally fallen off in Chicago yet. If this team eventually figures it out, Crawford will deserve a lot of credit for keeping the boat glued together over rough season.

The underlying numbers suggest that, other than Crawford, the Blackhawks aren’t much more than an average team (at best). They’re 21st in 5-on-5 Corsi and 29th in 5-on-5 shots on goal differential, per Corsica. They’ve had a solid penalty kill, but their power play has been inconsistent. This is no longer the old Hawks teams that dominated possession and steamrolled opponents.

Instead, the Blackhawks are grinding through wins behind Crawford right now. He made 35 saves in a 3-0 win over the Flyers for his first shutout of the season Wednesday. In starts where he’s allowed two or fewer goals, the Blackhawks are 6-1. When he’s allowed three or more, the team is 0-3.

Crawford may not be commonly considered one of the NHL’s best goaltenders, but he’s once again being leaned on heavily by the Blackhawks to win games. They couldn’t really ask much more of him, particularly now that Scott Darling has been replaced by unproven Anton Forsberg as the backup goalie.

The Blackhawks are being carried by Crawford right now. He’s not the only one, either. With that in mind, here’s a look at a few other goaltenders pushing their teams to greater heights early this season.

Quick has been the best goalie in the NHL so far this season with a league-leading .942 save percentage over 10 starts. The main difference between him and Crawford is the Kings are actually playing well in front of their goaltender, too, so they’ve pushed out to a 9-2-0 start this season.

Few goaltenders in the NHL can be as divisive as Quick, who has won two Stanley Cups but also posted a middling .915 save percentage over the previous five seasons. He’s also very gifted athletically and looking more like the stud who put up a .929 regular season save percentage and won the Conn Smythe in 2011-12.

According to Corsica, Quick leads the NHL in Goals Saved Above Average, or GSAA, at 14.19, which means he’s prevented 14 more goals than you’d expect from an average netminder. Crawford, at 11.91 GSAA, is the only other goaltender above nine so far this season.

Quick may not keep up this level, but he’s playing as well as he has in years. That’s a big part of why the Kings suddenly look like contenders again.

Goaltending was a huge problem for Winnipeg last season, so the team signed veteran Steve Mason as a free agent over the summer. He’s been a disaster to open the season, however, with a 0-3-1 record and .872 save percentage in four starts.

Thank goodness for Hellebuyck in that case because the young netminder has been a revelation. The Jets don’t have a regulation loss (6-0-1) in his seven starts, in which he’s posted a .940 save percentage and allowed two or fewer goals six times.

In front of Hellebuyck, the Jets have the second-worst 5-on-5 Corsi in the NHL and their offense, which looked to have huge potential, has stumbled to being 21st in goals for. The potential with the likes of Patrik Laine, Mark Scheifele, and others is still there, but the emergence of Hellebuyck is the biggest reason the Jets are tied for second in the Central Division.

There are many reasons for New Jersey’s hot 9-2-0 start, but the rebound performance from Schneider is the biggest. He’s back in form with a .921 save percentage through eight starts after dipping to just .908 in 60 appearances last season. It appears that was an aberration given his career rate of .922.

Yes, consistency has eluded Schneider so far this season. He allowed 13 goals over a three-game span in the middle of October where the Devils went 2-1 thanks to an offense that’s come back to life behind Taylor Hall. But he also bounced back with a 37-save shutout against the Canucks on Wednesday, and it’s fair to say New Jersey wouldn’t be where it is now without its starting netminder returning to his old form.

“We’ve been scoring a lot of goals,” Schneider said after beating Vancouver. “But it felt like it was time to spin a game like this and get my teammates some help.”