No safe bets: NHL playoff preview.
They are the last line of defence in every game, but never are their great saves or soft goals magnified and scrutinized the way they are during the playoffs.
It’s a hockey truth that flashy offence is what attracts fans, but it’s good defence and great goaltending that win championships.
And in the end, if a team doesn’t have great goaltending, it won’t be the last club standing when the Stanley Cup is awarded.
This year’s NHL playoffs include the defending Vezina Trophy winner, Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, as well as Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings, winner last season of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the post-season.
Eight of the league’s top 10 goalies based on save percentage, led by Ottawa’s Craig Anderson, will suit up.
So will eight of the top 10 in shutouts, a five-way tie for the lead at five apiece, and nine of the top 10 in goalsagainst average.
The Chicago Blackhawks, authors of a 36-7-5 record as the NHL’s best club, will be backstopped by Corey Crawford and Ray Emery. Chicago’s netminders posted a league-best 2.02 GAA and a .923 save percentage, which trailed only Ottawa’s .933 and Boston’s .925.
Canada’s four teams in this season’s playoffs offer no shortage of storylines in net. From west to east: ❚ Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo, a oneman soap opera because of his seemingly untradeable contract, might see more action than was expected. Cory Schneider is day-to-day. ❚ Toronto’s James Reimer was nicely ventilated by four Montreal Canadiens shots Saturday, then yanked in favour of backup Ben Scrivens, in his final regular-season start. How much does that dent Reimer’s confidence? ❚ Ottawa’s Anderson, the NHL’s best goalie based on save percentage (.941) and goals-against average (1.69), might be in the hottest post-season spotlight. Can he carry the Senators, who quite improbably qualified for the playoffs, on his back? ❚ Montreal’s Carey Price, often called his team’s best player by coach Michel Therrien, wasn’t among the NHL’s top 10 in goals against, save percentage or shutouts. Price can be brilliant or less than that; if he’s the latter, strong backup Peter Budaj is ready.
Sixteen times in its 47-year history goaltenders have won the Conn Smythe. On four occasions, the award has gone to netminders on teams that didn’t win the Stanley Cup: Detroit’s Roger Crozier in 1965-66; Glenn Hall of St. Louis, 1967-68; Philadelphia’s Ron Hextall, 1986-87; and Anaheim’s Jean-Sebastien Giguere, 2002-03, who in 21 playoff games had a glittering .945 save percentage and five shutouts.
Ken Dryden, of the Canadiens, won the Conn Smythe in his team’s 197071 championship, the season before he captured the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie.
There have been momentous goaltending playoff performances through the decades, three Hall of Famers among them: ❚ As Toronto embarks on its first post-season in nine seasons, it can look back on its most recent Stanley Cup of 1967, backstopped by greybeards Johnny Bower, 42, and Terry Sawchuk, 37. ❚ The Canadiens’ most recent title, won in 1993, featured an unprecedented 10 overtime victories without a defeat. Patrick Roy was the winner in all 10. Roy had a goalless streak of 96:39 along the way, winning the Conn Smythe.
Over the next two months, we will marvel at the work of a goaltender who’s been here before, seemingly immune to the pressure of being beaten by the single puck.
Or we will be dazzled by someone who rides onto hockey’s grandest stage almost unannounced and defines his career with a performance for the ages.