Ex-Leaf James Reimer a road warrior for Carolina Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C.—For much of his first season with the Carolina Hurricanes, James Reimer has had two jobs: Keep the puck out of the net by any means necessary, and keep the crowd as quiet as possible.

The veteran goalie has played in 11 games for the Hurricanes, nine on the road, where silence is golden. One recent effort that stands out was a 3-2 victory Saturday over the Tampa Bay Lightning in an environment — Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. — that has been a harsh place for the Hurricanes.

Reimer had 36 saves. For him, “any means necessary” meant flopping around on his belly, jabbing up his left leg in desperation to kick away a shot by the Lightning’s Yanni Gourde, who was left muttering after the first-period stop, the puck flying up and into the netting.

“I was just swimming around and the puck was bouncing around and luckily it went off a limb,” the former Toronto Maple Leaf laughed. “Not exactly textbook. Just throwing up a prayer and a leg, I think.”

Reimer had plenty of textbook saves. After a nine-shot first period, the Lightning had 29 in the final two periods and 15 attempts in the game that missed the net.

Only one Tampa Bay player, Tyler Johnson, got the puck past Reimer, with a top-shelf shot in the third. The other Lightning goal came when Hurricanes defenceman Dougie Hamilton deflected a puck in the net trying to break up a play in front of the crease.

Johnson had tried to score earlier, getting in some quick whacks at the puck after Reimer stopped it. Reimer quickly pushed back, rising up to confront the pesky Lightning forward and giving him a shove.

“Just the heat of the game,” Reimer said, laughing again. “Sometimes, too, it’s a wily, old tactic. Sometimes, if your legs are getting a little tired, if you get in one you get a little adrenalin and it gives you a little boost, too.”

The Hurricanes traded for Reimer on June 30, the day before NHL free agency began, realizing goalie Curtis McElhinney would be signing elsewhere. Turns out, McElhinney signed with the Lightning.

For much of the game, a sellout crowd had little to cheer. The Hurricanes scored three times in the first, then maintained the lead in the second period before Tampa Bay finally made a push in the third to get within 3-2.

Then it got loud.

While Reimer’s unorthodox kick save made ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10, he once had both the puck and Nino Niederreiter’s stick launched at him — friendly and unfriendly fire. His best save might have been stopping a two-on-one rush in the second, quickly exploding from right to left to knock away a shot by Ondrej Palat.

“He kept us in that game. We probably shouldn’t have won it but he made some massive saves,” Hurricanes defenceman Jake Gardiner, also an ex-Leaf, said Monday. “That’s something he’s capable of doing.”

And the kick save?

“Incredible,” Gardiner said. “Fun to watch.”

Gardiner and Reimer were teammates with the Leafs before Reimer was traded to the San Jose Sharks in the 2015-16 season and then signed with the Florida Panthers.

“You want a goalie who’s confident and relaxed,” Gardiner said. “You want someone you’re comfortable in knowing that if you do screw up, he’s probably going to make a save. We have two goalies who can do that.”

The Hurricanes are banking on Petr Mrazek and Reimer giving them the consistency in net that Mrazek and McElhinney provided for Carolina’s playoff run last season. Mrazek has started 18 games and Reimer 10 in the Hurricanes’ 16-11-1 start, with Mrazek getting 11 games at PNC Arena and Reimer two.

Within his last four starts, Reimer has been the winning goalie at the Minnesota Wild, Detroit Red Wings and then the Lightning. He also made 32 saves in a 2-0 road defeat on Tuesday against the Boston Bruins, who have the highest point percentage in the NHL.

Reimer, 31, now has a 5-5-0 record, improving his goals-against average to 2.58 and save percentage to .918 after stopping 113 of 121 shots across his last four starts. And embracing his role as the support goalie, the road goalie.

“Obviously, it’s fun to play at home and have the crowd on your side and what not,” Reimer said. “At the same time, on the road it’s just business. On the road, it’s just your team against the world, right? So you dial it in as a group and you know you have to bring your game and you have to execute.”

After winning his first two starts — beating the Washington Capitals in overtime, then Florida, both on the road — Reimer lost four in row. It was a rough patch, with a disappointing loss at home against the New Jersey Devils and another at Ottawa. But the win Saturday against Tampa Bay, a day after the Hurricanes were shut out 3-0 by the Nashville Predators, was timely, needed.

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour clearly has no qualms using Reimer in any situation.

“He’s been around, he knows how to prepare for everything,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s one of the advantages of having a veteran guy.”