Yahoo Sports Ex-Red Wings Goalie Turning Season Around
Goaltending is voodoo.
Many hockey minds make this claim. Because of the mental intensity of the position, this stance makes sense. Goalie performance can fluctuate year to year, adding to its volatility.
Former Detroit Red Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic knows that very well.
He went from a career year with the Carolina Hurricanes to being the starting goalie for the Red Wings. In his first year with the Red Wings, he posted a record of 20-24-9, which went along with a 3.31 goals against average (GAA), a .901 save percentage (SV%), and four shutouts.
While he was impressive, putting together four shutouts, his performance everywhere dipped. This was likely due to the change in teams. The Hurricanes are known for playing solid defensively, but the Red Wings are not.
Happy Birthday, Alex Nedeljkovic! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/0Smznmj6vs
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 7, 2025
Nedeljkovic is starting to heat up this season after a bumpy start. In his last five games, he has had three quality starts. A quality start is a game where a goaltender registers a save percentage at or higher than the league average.
His latest quality start came at the expense of the Edmonton Oilers. Last night, Nedeljkovic stopped 40 of 43 shots to back-stop the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-3 victory. That gives him a .930 SV% on the night.
As previously stated, his season has been bumpy. He now has a 7-6-4 record, accompanied by a 3.21 GAA and an .891 SV%.
Nedeljkovic has a contract paying him $2.5 million for the rest of this season and next.
It's good for the former Red Wings goalie to be experiencing some good voodoo at the moment.
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