Rough Start Week 1 Goaltending Analysis
The NHL started a little over a week ago now and there are some goalies who haven’t had the start they needed to be successful. To be fair, all of these goalies have only played two or three games so it’s way too soon to predict they will not turn their game around within the next week or month to get back on track for a good season.
First, noting some of the successful goaltenders before getting into the analysis. We were very impressed with Jaroslav Halak’s performance against the Arizona Coyotes, pitching a 35 save shut out with some amazing saves. Carter Hart is currently 2-0 with a huge shut out against the New Jersey Devils, facing 25 shots which were huge chances for the Devils that Hart came up big on. One goalie who has really shown his worth is Darcey Kuemper who has posted a .945 save percentage and a 1.54 goals against average through out back to back losses and is the highest rated goaltender without a win. We are very excited to see who shines after the season gets settled in.
Moving on to the critical analysis of some struggling goaltenders, we wanted to start by taking a look at a surprisingly low stat line with Sergei Bobrovsky who is #44 in the save percentage rankings. Bob is currently 1 and 2 on the season going 1 and 1 against the very strong Tampa Bay Lightning and taking a loss against a hot Carolina Hurricanes team. Looking specifically at the game against the Hurricanes which severely dropped his stats, Bobrovsky ended up letting the 2nd shot in off of a broken point shot rebound for a not so hot start. The 2nd goal came in on shot 7 with an insane tip from Teravianen that had to be reviewed for high stick but was called a good goal. Goal 3 arrived at shot 9 and 10 that started with a breakaway save that was turned around for a backdoor chance to Dougie Hamilton that went upstairs short side. The final and fourth goal came at shot 13 on the power play which was tipped in front through a screen to make it 4 to 0 with a little over a minute in the 1st period where Bob was benched before the start of the 2nd. Breaking it down, it’s very hard to put the blame on Bobrovsky for the poor performance from the Florida Panthers in this thrashing of a game. All the goals were grade A chances that came in small waves from the Hurricanes that Florida just could not catch up on. I would not be worried about Sergei Bobrovsky this season.
The next goalie we wanted to look at is Martin Jones who is currently at #45 in save percentage. Jones started off the season with back to back games against the Vegas Golden Knights who came off of last season with a point to prove against the San Jose Sharks. Jones has yet to record a win during his first three starts this season in which he has been pulled one time in the second game with Vegas. There isn’t very much to talk about in terms of if it was his fault or not but in the series with Vegas, the Sharks let up 3 shorthanded goals in a single game which should be an indicator as to who’s to blame for their current record. Martin Jones shows at times that he can be a strong goaltender for this team but has not been the help they need to turn momentum over, especially when down a goal or two. The San Jose Sharks have a lot to figure out and so does Jones if he wants to have any chance of making playoffs this year. He is in a similar boat as Bobrovsky but has a little more to blame in his own crease.
Finally, we take a look at the #50 goaltender in the league with a hurtful stat line, Johnathan Quick who currently wears a .750 save percentage and a 7.18 goals against average. I wanted to fully breakdown the two games he has plays, goal by goal, to figure out how this is even possible.
Game 1 against the Oilers. The Oilers strike early a whole 57 seconds in to the game when McDavid throws a puck off of a defensemen’s stick and straight in to the net, bad luck and bad start, 1-0 Oilers. Just to mention it, Mike Smith let in the worst two goals I have ever seen back to back, not even 10 minutes in to the game. Goal 2 arrives 10 minutes in on an Oilers power play with a McDavid shot and rebound goal from the Real Deal James Neal, 2-2. Watching this game back, what are the Kings even doing? What are the Oilers doing? Poor efforts and bad mistakes from both teams with no goaltending to turn it around. Goal 3 comes similar to the 2nd, Kings are up, Kings are tied. McDavid picks the puck out the corner right away from reaching Kings defenders for a pass out to Draisaitl and then backdoor to Kassian, 3-3. Entering the 3rd period, both goaltenders have below a .90 save percentage and the Kings take the lead off of a very broken play which results in a very nice bat in goal, Kings up 3-4. You would never guess, goal 4 comes in less than 2 minutes later on yet another one timer from the Oilers with no defense from the Kings to be found, 4-4. Kings make another push on their powerplay to go ahead 4-5 only a few minutes later where Mike Smith is nowhere to be found. What do you know 2 minutes later… high slot one time chance and Nurse buries it on Johnny Quick to tie it up 5-5. Only 3 minutes pass before the dagger comes at 6:32 in the form of Real Deal James Neal with a pass from yet again, Connor McDavid. Apparently, Johnathan Quick and The L.A Kings left the building between periods and allowed the Edmonton Oilers to drag themselves through this harsh game. The summary of this game is nothing other than the Kings having no defensive core and the Oilers have a handful of shooters who can disassemble their opponent if given the chance. On top of that, Quick flew in at a .806 save percentage saving 25 of 31 shots while Mike Smith gave up 2 free goals and finished saving 27 of 32 for a .844 save percentage.
If you haven’t seen this gong show… Check it out below!
We now arrive at Game 2, upon first look, you think to yourself… maybe the Quick sorted out some things in the 5 days between these games and will come out better against the rising Vancouver Canucks! The L.A Kings without Quick are fresh off of a win against the Calgary Flames the night before and have momentum in their favor, Let’s take a look. Quick starts the game with some routine stops before 6 minutes in, Quinn Hughes sends a laser through almost no visible traffic and top cheese, 1-0 Canucks. Goal 2 is only around 45 seconds later against another one time slot chance in to the same corner. Notice a trend here? 2-0 Canucks. The Kings make it out of the first period 2-0 tied in shots at 10. Markstrom at the other end made some great saves to keep the score at 0. The 2nd starts and we see a way too familiar play (see photo below) from the Kings with Petterson burying a goal 3 minutes in, 3-1.
We now arrive at Game 2, upon first look, you think to yourself… maybe the Quick sorted out some things in the 5 days between these games and will come out better against the rising Vancouver Canucks! The L.A Kings without Quick are fresh off of a win against the Calgary Flames the night before and have momentum in their favor, Let’s take a look. Quick starts the game with some routine stops before 6 minutes in, Quinn Hughes sends a laser through almost no visible traffic and top cheese, 1-0 Canucks. Goal 2 is only around 45 seconds later against another one time slot chance in to the same corner. Notice a trend here? 2-0 Canucks. The Kings make it out of the first period 2-0 tied in shots at 10. Markstrom at the other end made some great saves to keep the score at 0. The 2nd starts and we see a way too familiar play (see photo below) from the Kings with Petterson burying a goal 3 minutes in, 3-1.
The Los Angeles Kings end the game with 39 shots on goal to Vancouver’s 25 shots leaving Johnathan Quick with a shameful .680 save percentage. It’s not hard to say that Quick is not helping the Kings push through tough games because he can not keep the score close or keep a lead. We are definitely hoping to see Quick bounce back after last years performance and these two very rough starts. At least he looks good in his gear!
The year is just getting started and like stated before, we are very excited to see where things go from here for the entire league! To help recover your mind from Quick’s performances so far, go check out the Week 1 top saves in the NHL below!
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