The Carolina Hurricanes are making a change in net.
After dropping the first two games of the Eastern Conference Final against the Boston Bruins with Petr Mrazek, coach Rod Brind’Amour has decided to go with Curtis McElhinney for Game 3 of the series on Tuesday night.
Ever since Sunday’s 6-2 loss in Boston there had been plenty of discussion as to whether or not the Hurricanes should make a switch. Even though Brind’Amour acknowledged it was a possibility he refused to admit whether or not he was actually going to do it, even as recently as the morning skate on Tuesday.
But after McElhinney led the Hurricanes out on to the ice for warmups before Game 3 it became clear a change was going to happen.
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McElhinney picked up three wins for the Hurricanes in their Round 2 series sweep against the New York Islanders (McElhinney started two of the games, after picking up his first win in relief of an injured Mrazek) and will be making his third career postseason start.
The two goalies split the playing time throughout the regular season, so it’s not like the Hurricanes aren’t used to playing in front of both goalies.
In his first three appearances in these playoffs McElhinney has a .947 save percentage, stopping 71 of the 74 shots he has faced.
After giving up 10 goals in the first two games of the series, Mrazek’s save percentage has dipped down to .894 in the playoffs.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.