5 goalies to be thankful for this season
Goaltending has arguably never been better in the NHL, and several teams have their netminders to thank for helping them jump out to strong starts.
The Montreal Canadiens are thankful for the play of backup Mike Condon, especially in light of Hart and Vezina Trophy winner Carey Price aggravating his injury Wednesday night.
Here are five more goalies to be thankful for this season:
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
The Rangers rely heavily on Lundqvist's stellar play, despite being tied with the Dallas Stars for the league's second-best record. They're one of the worst puck possession teams in the NHL, and their league-high PDO suggests a regression may be inevitable.
Lundqvist has been tremendous early on, going 12-4-2 with a 1.94 GAA, a .939 save percentage, and two shutouts. He leads the league in GAA and save percentage among qualified starters, as well as total saves made, and he ranks second in saves attempted.
Those last two categories are the most telling: Lundqvist has the best peripheral numbers in the league while facing a high volume of shots, and that's definitely something to be thankful for.
Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
The Capitals signed Holtby to a five-year, $30.5-million extension over the summer, essentially betting that the 26-year-old's career-best campaign of 2014-15 wasn't a mirage.
Holtby is 13-4-0 with a 1.95 GAA (second-best among qualified NHL starters) and a .924 save percentage so far in 2015-16, so general manager Brian MacLellan should be thankful for the fact that he was able to sign his franchise goaltender for such a reasonable price.
Martin Jones, San Jose Sharks
The Sharks also rolled the dice in the offseason, landing Jones in a deal with the Boston Bruins after the former backup was sent there by the Los Angeles Kings in the Milan Lucic trade.
Jones was tabbed as the Sharks' new starter, having never played more than 19 games in a season, but he's looked more than capable so far.
The 25-year-old is 11-6-0 with a 2.14 GAA, .925 save percentage, and three shutouts in 18 contests, during which he established a new franchise-record shutout streak by holding opponents off the board for the equivalent of nearly four games.
Jake Allen, St. Louis Blues
The Blues have to be thankful that Allen has played his way into the No. 1 role, putting an end to his timeshare with veteran Brian Elliott.
Allen is 10-4-2 with a 2.10 GAA and .928 save percentage, a league-high three shutouts, and he's allowed only nine goals in his last four games while earning three wins.
If he continutes to provide stability along with highlight-reel saves in the crease, Allen should have no problem surpassing his career high of 37 appearances.
James Reimer, Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs don't have much to be thankful for these days, but Reimer's early-season success has been a pleasant surprise when plenty of pain was expected.
Reimer recently posted the best 10-game stretch by a goaltender in franchise history, and he's taken control of the Leafs' No. 1 job with a 2.07 GAA, .934 save percentage, and a record of 7-3-4 in 15 games.
Much like Allen and Jones, Reimer hasn't proven he can handle the grind of 40 games or more in an NHL season, but he should have every opportunity to to do so if he continues to play at this level.
(Some statistics courtesy: War-On-Ice, Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com)