Hurricanes' Ward continues to earn starts with win over Predators

Cam Ward isn't done backstopping the Carolina Hurricanes to victory.

Seemingly replaced as the team's No. 1 netminder after the acquisition of Scott Darling from the Chicago Blackhawks this past offseason, Ward has been taking advantage of his spot starts as of late, most recently stopping 28 of 29 shots in a win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday.

For the season, Ward is now 7-2-1 with a .911 save percentage, and he's clearly not ready to abdicate a crease he's stood tall in for quite some time.

Those aren't Vezina Trophy numbers, but Ward is giving the Hurricanes a better chance to win than Darling, whose record stands at 8-10-6 with an .896 save percentage.