So far in the Stanley Cup playoffs, there has been a pretty stark contrast in goalie numbers between the two Conferences.
Eastern Conference: 2.04 GAA, .931 save %
Western Conference: 3.26 GAA, .893 save %
If you rank the starters in order of save percentage, here's the breakdown based on their conference:
1. East
2. East
3. East
4. East
5. East
6. East
7. West
8. East
9. West
10. East
11. West
12. West
13. West
14. West
15. West
16. West
Even more surprisingly, the top 3 goalies out West in save percentage thus far are Corey Crawford, Ray Emery and Jimmy Howard. The big name puckstoppers (Luongo, Bryzgalov, Rinne, Quick, Niemi) have been absolutely lit up to the tune of a combined 3.77/.880.
I'm not sure if this can be attributed to poor goalie play or a more wide-open style of play or just standard variance over a 1,000 shot sample. There have been some softies, but there have been also been a lot of shooters making their shots as well.
The argument can be made that the Eastern goalies as a group are slightly better, but I don't really see the gap as being all the large. During the regular season, the Eastern playoff starters combined for a .9209 save percentage while the Western starters were at .9205.
It seems inevitable that the tide will eventually turn for the Western netminders (and defensive units), but it has certainly made for an unusually high-scoring first round of the playoffs.
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3 comments:
Seems as though the West is shaping it up a bit in the 2nd round.
I've been pretty impressed with Howard in the 2nd round. I was pretty convinced that his good numbers in the 1st round were more a result of the advantage Detroit had at 5 on 5 against Phoenix but he has carried a high level into the 2nd round against a much better SJ team.
The other 3 in the West have also seemed to have regained their form. Niemi has been very strong for SJ and its quite the goalie show we have with Van-Nash. Luongo has been very good to great and Rinne is really putting on a show.
Boy this place has become a ghost town.
Any plans to write something about where Timmy's season ranks in history?
I can't think of a time in recent memory where a player has put together one reg season + playoff year with so much personal and team success.
Sv % leader and NHL record
Most likely the Veznia
Conn Smythe
Stanley Cup
Thoughts?
Hello. Hope to see you comment on the goalies' performance in the 2011 playoffs. Thanks!
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