For Carolina Hurricanes goalie Scott Darling, Sunday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights was the perfect opportunity. In his first start since the team’s league-mandated bye week, Darling had a chance to give his team a boost in the back half of a back to back against one of the league’s top teams. With the Canes coming off a win the night before in front of Cam Ward, here was Darling’s chance to show that he too could help the team win. In theory, anyway.

Just under 13 minutes into the game, after surrendering his third goal on eight Golden Knights shots, Darling found himself in what has become an all-too-familiar position: on the bench, watching Ward man the crease for Carolina.

The Canes acquired Darling over the summer from the Chicago Blackhawks in order to fix their long-time goaltending woes, trading a third-round pick to Chicago for his rights and signing him to a four-year deal worth $4.15 million per season, hoping he could provide the league-average goaltending that could have gotten the Canes into the postseason the last two years. 

He hasn’t brought that, not even close. Darling has struggled mightily, going 9-13-6 with a .892 save percentage and 3.02 goals-against average. Of goalies with at least 20 starts in the league this year, that saver percentage ranks dead last. The Canes once again find themselves near the bottom of the league in team save percentage in 27th at .895. Darling’s been vastly outperformed by Ward, the man he was supposed to replace as the starter.

This wasn’t supposed to be this way. The move was, at the time, lauded by fans and national media alike as one that would get the Hurricanes the goaltending performance they needed to make the playoffs. Darling had performed extremely well as a backup for the Blackhawks, with a career .924 save percentage and 2.38 goals-against average coming into this season.

It simply hasn’t worked out that way. Darling has given up soft goals this year, a few of the variety an NHL goalie has no business giving up, and simply has not sniffed his Chicago performance.

This isn’t how anyone thought this would go. It isn’t how the Canes’ fan base that has struggled through eight years of no playoffs, many due to bad goaltending, thought it would go. It isn’t how head coach Bill Peters, who had seen his teams finish in the bottom five of the league in team save percentage in each of his first three seasons, thought this would go. It isn’t how Francis thought it would go when he made the move to get Darling. And it certainly isn’t how Darling, who worked his way up through multiple minor professional leagues, battling adversity on and off the ice, thought it would go in his first opportunity to be a starting NHL goalie at age 29.

Darling’s struggles have been as surprising as they are disappointing for the Canes. And yet, 47 games into the season with the Canes currently sitting three points below the playoff cut line in the Eastern Conference, with better goaltending almost certainly making up that difference, here we are.

So, it’s easy to sit here and say that the Canes should move on from Darling and find him a way out of Raleigh. It’s a much harder thing to do. It’s also probably not what the team should do.

First and foremost, Darling isn’t going anywhere. With his performance this season and contract, a trade’s not happening. And, despite his apparent willingness to do what’s necessary financially to help the team win, shelling out over $8 million total over the next six years to buy out Darling after one year is probably not what new majority owner Tom Dundon has in mind.

Darling is here to stay for at least the rest of this season and next. And really, there’s no reason he can’t turn it around. The ability and potential that prompted the Hurricanes to make him their man in net is still there. He’s shown it in flashes this season. With this year’s result still on the line, he could easily turn his game around and help the Hurricanes into the postseason.

With a position that’s as mentally taxing as any in professional sports, it’s reasonable to think Darling’s struggles this year stem more from between his ears than anywhere else. What the team needs to do, and reportedly already is doing, is help Darling overcome that and be the goalie they know he can be.

Chip Alexander of the News and Observer reported after Monday’s practice that Peters planned on sitting down to talk with goalie coach Mike Bales and Darling, a good idea to start helping him figure out what’s going wrong.

Whether it’s more of those talks, a chat with Francis, a former NHL player (and hockey hall of famer), or a long sit down with Ward, who should know more than anyone in the organization about the ups and downs of being an NHL goaltender to offer advice and encouragement, the Canes need to, and probably already have begun to, do everything they can to help Darling find his way.

While the Scott Darling era in Raleigh has started poorly, that doesn’t mean it has to end that way. After only 27 games started as a Hurricane, it’s far too early to give up on him. Darling and the Canes are in this together. They need to find a way to move forward and find a solution in the best interest of both the player and the team together.