Goalie stocks have fallen quickly during this year’s NHL playoffs.
Where have all the goalies gone?
One year after a rookie won the Stanley Cup, beating a journeyman in the final, goaltending continues to be one of the biggest focal points in the playoffs -- and not always for the right reasons.
On some fronts, you could see this coming before the playoffs even began.
The Philadelphia Flyers entered the post-season with uncertainty as to who their No. 1 goalie was. Goaltending, as we all know, has been an issue in Philadelphia for years and this season is certainly no exception. The Flyers puck-stopping situation remains as muddy as ever with three stoppers, including recently recalled Michael Leighton who took them to the final last year, but spent most of this season in the minors.
Would the Flyers go with veteran Brian Boucher who had supplied them with decent goaltending this year? He was 6-6 in the playoffs last season. The answer was no. Even though his play was not very good down the stretch of the regular season, the Flyers elected to start rookie Sergei Bobrovsky against the Buffalo Sabres.
Goalie Bob allowed just one goal in the opening game of the series, but that goal was enough for the Sabres to win the game 1-0. The Flyers rebounded to take Game 2, 5-4, but Bobrovsky was pulled after allowing four goals on seven shots.
Enter Boucher who looked much more relaxed and confident making 20 saves on 21 shots to beat the Sabres that night. He was similarly calm in winning Game 3. Even though the Sabres evened the series with another 1-0 win, Boucher will continue to play. If he stumbles though, expect to see Leighton, who played just one NHL game this season get another shot.
Which brings us to Ryan Miller in the Buffalo net. Here is a guy who, when he's on his game, (which is most of the time,) is one of the best goalies in the NHL. Yet in Western New York he has come under heat for not winning every game, despite the fact he plays for an offensively-challenged team. With so many teams having question marks in goal, you'd think Sabres fans would be thanking the heavens for giving them Miller.
The Washington Capitals hold a 3-1 series lead over the New York Rangers, thanks in a large part to the play of Michal Neuvirth. Like the Flyers, the Caps entered the playoffs with plenty of uncertainty in net and are also carrying three goalies. When the regular season concluded, neither Neuvirth, Semyon Varlamov or rookie Braden Holtby had done enough to separate himself from the pack. The Caps settled on Neuvirth mainly because he won the organization back-to-back Calder Cups in the American League with the Hershey Bears. Thus far Neuvirth has rewarded his team with solid play. But you have to wonder, if he suddenly goes south, who do the Caps turn to? Varlamov has won 10 playoff games the past two years, but Holtby was arguably the team's best stopper down the stretch.
Following Thursday night's humiliating 5-0 home loss in a game that could have sent the defending Stanley Cup champions packing, Vancouver Canucks fans are on suicide watch today largely because of the play of Roberto Luongo. After allowing four goals in 21:26, Luongo was replaced by Corey Schneider who played solidly. It marks the second straight game in which Luongo was pulled and he has allowed 10 goals in those two starts. The Canucks have already stated Luongo will start Game 6 in Chicago. Yikes!
After dominating the regular season goalie stats, Boston's Tim Thomas was shaky in the first two games of the playoffs - two home losses to the Montreal Canadiens. The unorthodox Thomas played much better as the Bruins evened the series with two road wins of their own and he'll have to continue to play well if the favoured Bruins are to advance to Round 2. Can he do it?
San Jose's Antti Niemi, who won a Cup with Chicago last season, is not exactly money in the bank. The Sharks lead the Los Angeles Kings 3-1, but Niemi has been pulled once.
The Phoenix Coyotes were eliminated in four straight by the Detroit Red Wings and their goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov, did little to enhance his reputation as a guy who gets it done in the regular season, but can't win in the playoffs. An unrestricted free agent this summer who has already indicated he won't follow the team to Winnipeg, Bryzgalov isn't likely to get the big bucks he'd hoped for thanks to a 4.36 goals-against average and .879 save percentage in the playoffs.
It's not all doom and gloom between the pipes. Detroit's Jimmy Howard is perfect in four starts. However, he wasn't challenged much in the first round so it remains to be seen how he'll react when there's real pressure on him. Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury continues to sparkle as his team plows forward without its best two skaters while the Rangers Henrik Lundqvist has been great even though his club is on the verge of elimination.
Some have argued goaltending isn't as important in the playoffs as it once was. I'll bet if you asked NHL coaches and general managers you'd get a different story.
