This hasn’t been a particularly memorable season for the Carolina Hurricanes and Cam Ward might want to just put the campaign behind him. However, even if this season wasn’t one of Ward’s best, his performance on Thursday was certainly memorable.
Ward turned aside all 40 St. Louis Blues shots he faced to earn his 200th career win and 20th career shutout.
“It means a lot to me,” Ward said. “To be able to win 200 games with this organization is something I’m proud of, but I don’t want to stop now.”
He gained a bit of momentum in the first period by killing off Carolina’s Chad LaRose double minor high sticking penalty. LaRose would later redeem himself by scoring the game-winning goal, but he wasn’t the only Carolina player to end up in the sin bin. Ward had to endure five St. Louis power-play opportunities over the course of the game, but he shut them down every time. You can check out the game highlights below.
Ward is the first goaltender to ever win 200 games as a member of the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes franchise. He’s also just the 71st netminder to reach that milestone in the history of the NHL.