Why goalie tandems have taken over the NHL — even in the playoffs

Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour’s decision to pull Frederik Andersen in favor of Brandon Bussi in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final was initially seen as a move to rest Andersen after he allowed four unanswered goals in the second period against the Vegas Golden Knights.

But, it was just the latest example of why it’s becoming more difficult for NHL teams to get through an entire postseason with just one goaltender.

Traditionally, teams had a clear-cut starter and a backup. The starters often played 60 to 70 games in the regular season, while playing every minute in the playoffs barring a lopsided score line, with the backups taking on the rest.

Fewer clear-cut starters now exist. The Utah Mammoth‘s Karel Vejmelka was the only one who reached the 60-start threshold this season, while 18 other goaltenders played 50 or more. The backups used to play 10 to 20 games, but are now typically playing more than 30.

Carolina initially went into the season with Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov as its tandem before Kochetkov underwent lower-body surgery in December that ended his regular season, and led to Bussi being promoted from the AHL. Bussi played a team-high 39 games, while Andersen played 35.

Andersen never started more than two consecutive games in the regular season, but made 15 straight starts in the playoffs before Brind’Amour turned to Bussi for Game 4. Brind’Amour made Kochetkov the backup, with the intent of giving Andersen a night off. Bussi made 18 saves in Game 4 to help the Hurricanes even the series at 2-2, and another 23 in Game 5 to give the Canes a 3-2 edge.

Inconsistent performances and injuries led to Vegas needing four goaltenders to get through the regular season. Akira Schmid led the team in starts (34) and wins (16), yet he’s been a healthy scratch this postseason. Adin Hill, who helped them win a Stanley Cup in 2023, has been on the bench backing up Carter Hart.

The 27-year-old Hart began playing in December once he was reinstated by the NHL after he was one of the five 2018 Canadian world junior hockey players who were acquitted of sexual assault in July 2025. Hart started 18 times in the regular season, but has now started 22 consecutive games through Game 5.

After Bussi replaced Andersen, nine of 16 teams used multiple goalies this postseason, including six that advanced to the second round.

Those six teams used their goalies differently. The Buffalo Sabres had both of their goalies playing heavy minutes at various points. The Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild made changes to find a spark. Meanwhile, the Anaheim Ducks and Montreal Canadiens turned to their backups so their starters could reset after a difficult game.

“I think when you get to the playoffs and you add up the number of games that you are going to play over the course of the year, the number grows,” Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “I think that’s what you’re seeing a little bit around the league right now is some teams are used to it all year, so, you don’t see a reason not to continue.”

DALLAS STARS COACH Glen Gulutzan told ESPN in April that his time as an Edmonton Oilers assistant allowed him to learn quite a bit on how to manage a tandem.

That knowledge base increased with the relationship he developed with goaltender Mike Smith, who was part of three playoff runs in Edmonton.

“There are times when an extra practice day or one reset with the goalie coach and a good work day on some video can do wonders for a goalie,” Gulutzan said. “So if you’re going through a series and you think your goalie needs a little bit of a reset, it’s a privilege to have another goalie that can win you a hockey game.”

During Gulutzan’s last two seasons with the Oilers, he worked under Kris Knoblauch and attained a greater appreciation for all the moving parts that came with managing two goalies on a Stanley Cup Final run.

During the Oilers’ first Stanley Cup Final run in 2024, they largely relied on Stuart Skinner but were forced to make a change by Game 4 of the second round, going to Calvin Pickard for two games before Skinner returned to win the final two of the series. Skinner played in 23 games that postseason, while Pickard played in three.

In the 2025 playoffs, Knoblauch used more of a true two-goalie approach. Skinner lost the first two games in the first round, then Pickard won the next four straight. Pickard played the first two games of the second round, but his injury in Game 2 brought Skinner brought in as a replacement. Skinner started 11 straight games, until he was replaced by Pickard in Game 4 of the Cup Final. Pickard had two more starts, before the Oilers returned to Skinner for Game 6.

Gulutzan learned from Knoblauch how important it was to remain in communication with their goalies. Those conversations were even more vital when it came to letting Skinner know that there was a way back for him, despite the fact that Pickard was starting.

“It’s such a long run that sometimes, it’s hard to ride one [goaltender] the whole time,” Gulutzan said. “What I learned through that whole process is that if you are going to go on a two-and-a-half-month run, you might have to use somebody else just from fatigue and a little momentum and maybe even if there are injuries.”

Under Jared Bednar, the Avalanche have alternated between the more traditional approach and tandems. During the 2024-25 season, they traded for Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood to create arguably the NHL’s premier tandem. In 2025-26, the “Lumber Yard” helped the Avs finish with the best regular-season record in the league.

Bednar said there has been more adoption of tandems, due in part to the fact there are not many goalies like Tampa Bay Lightning star Andrei Vasilevskiy who are capable of handling more than 60 starts per season.

Vasilevskiy, who won the Vezina Trophy this year as the NHL’s best goalie, has made more than 50 starts in nine of the past 10 seasons. His lone non-50 start season was in 2020-21, when the NHL played a truncated 56-game schedule; he started 42 of them for Tampa Bay. Only three-time Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck has started more games since the 2017-18 season than Vasilevskiy.

“It’s the comfort of sort of repeating what you’ve done in the regular season,” Bednar said. “If you’ve got into the playoffs, you’ve been a good team. If you’ve advanced in the playoffs, you’ve been a good team. And if you have used both guys the whole way in order to get you there, then, I think to a certain extent, you might need both guys to keep advancing.”

Wedgewood started 43 games this season, while Blackwood made 36 starts. Bednar used Wedgewood to start the playoffs, backstopping a first-round sweep against the Los Angeles Kings, but was pulled in Game 3 of their second-round series, and Blackwood started Game 4. Blackwood won that game, but was pulled after the first period of Game 5 with the Avalanche coming back to win the game and take the series with Wedgewood back in net.

Bednar stuck with Wedgewood in the conference finals against the Golden Knights only to turn to Blackwood when they faced an 0-3 series hole. Blackwood stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced, but the Avs were swept.

“The playoffs is a different animal,” Bednar said before the start of the conference finals. “It’s the mental fatigue and the stress of playing, the travel, back and forth on a regular basis. You’re not getting a weeklong, a 10-day-long homestand or things like that either. Fatigue is a factor — both mental and physical — and it’s hard to play your best if you’re fatigued in either one of those.

“I think that’s why you’re seeing more teams use two guys even if it’s for a game or two.”

Tortorella said that coaches are honest about the trust they have in using a two-goalie system.

“We have a guy, Carter, who’s playing well,” Tortorella said ahead of the conference finals. “But Hilly, he’s a Stanley Cup winner, right? We have trust in him. We haven’t gone there. We felt Carter has played that well and we’ve stayed with him. It’s not like you’re trying to fix something that isn’t broken. But you also have the opportunity to go there. I don’t think coaches and teams are afraid to because they just have that type of trust.”

GULUTZAN WAS HIRED by the Stars for several reasons. Among them was how he was part of an Oilers staff that coached the team to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals, with both of them coming at the expense of the Stars in the conference finals.

Those experiences with Smith — along with how he watched Knoblauch navigate the Skinner-Pickard tandem — gave him a foundation.

“I think with any relationship — anyone, goalies, players, whoever it is — you gotta talk,” Gulutzan explained. “You gotta tell them, ‘This is what I am thinking. I just want to be truthful. Here’s what I am thinking.’ Then the player feels comfortable enough to tell you what they are thinking.”

Gulutzan said that the relationship among head coach, goalie coach and the goalies themselves is foundational. That way, there’s already an established dynamic in place in the event there needs to be a difficult conversation.

Such as if Gulutzan needed to pull one goalie in favor of the other if it meant winning a playoff game.

His arrival came months after the Stars fired Peter DeBoer, who guided them to three straight Western Conference finals. DeBoer’s firing came in the aftermath of the Stars being eliminated by the Oilers in Game 5, in which goaltender Jake Oettinger was pulled after allowing two goals on the first two shots.

Following the loss, DeBoer’s relationship with Oettinger was under the microscope. The coach had a year left on his contract at the time of his firing, while Oettinger was about to enter the first year of an eight-year contract worth $8.25 million annually.

Oettinger, who has made more than 54 starts for four straight regular seasons, told ESPN in April that being a goaltender in today’s NHL means learning how to be comfortable with not being perfect.

“I think after my first year, I think got pulled in the playoffs and I didn’t really realize how every game is kind of its own entity,” Oettinger said. “It’s not like I could let in 10 goals in Game 1 and it’s all about Game 2. What I really like about the playoffs is that it’s good and bad because you can play your ass off and 10 minutes into the next game, you get the hook. That’s the blessing and the curse with the position.”

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Jake Oettinger makes big-time save late in the 2nd period

Wedgewood said the need for multiple goalies has increased because the game has become more east-to-west. There are sequences when an opponent will have quite a bit of time in the offensive zone, which makes it more challenging to defend. He cited that there are different body movements that can add up, along with how the NHL schedule has changed with international tournaments returning to the calendar.

“I think just the torque on the body and the way the game is played now, it’s not just four guys because now it’s a 20-man roster,” Wedgewood said. “Even if you give me those games where you get less than 25 shots, you’re still up and down, probably close to 100 times shuffling constantly.”

So often, the world at large believes a goalie’s workload can be measured in shots and shots alone. It’s not. There are other items that serve as a barometer, with their movements being among them.

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right. The first few steps of the famed Konami Code is also a likely movement pattern that a goalie could follow even if they don’t face a shot. Wedgewood said that a goalie could have 60 up-and-down movements along with turns and reads that begin to add up.

“The mechanical side is also in play,” Wedgewood said. “I think that obviously contributes to the fact that micro movements that are actually exertion would also be a big separator nowadays.”