Playoff Update: The Goaltenders Game

This past week saw the first round wrap up and the second round begin and the excitement didn't slow down. One of the more interesting stories to emerge early into round 2 is the way the goaltenders have been playing. All 3 goalies nominated for goaltender of the year are still in the playoffs including a head to head matchup between Pekka Rinne and Roberto Luongo, but the other goalies still around have not been hiding. Though most goaltenders are make headlines with their positive play, not all of them are. Philadelphia was having problems last round and those issues are still present in round 2. Either way, it is getting clear that goaltenders can be difference makers.

One interesting statistic from round two is that with two games played, six of the eight teams have less than four goals. This is due to the way the goalies have played. The last round saw many high scoring games, but this round has only had one. Antti Niemi, Jimmy Howard, Dwayne Roloson and Michael Nevurith were not nominated for the Vezina but are playing world class hockey anyways. And Tim Thomas, Pekka Rinne and Roberto Luongo are all giving their teams opportunities to win. The saves made by these men have appeared almost superhuman; diving and flying across the crease blocking every puck fired their way. They are defiantly earning their pay check.

However, the Philadelphia Flyers have not been having such good fortunes from their goalies. Bobrovski, Leighton and Boucher all have not been able to carry the load needed for a playoff run. Even though they have many talented defencemen, if their goalies can't make saves, they cannot win. In game one against Boston this round, they lost 7-3. A big difference was the battle between Vezina nominated goalie Thomas and Boucher, who didn't look very confident in the Flyers net. The Flyers need to get at least one of their three goaltenders motivated to win because they have a good team that could go all the way. Only time will tell if that motivation ever comes.

The last goalie to win the MVP of the playoffs was Cam Ward when Carolina won in 2006. However, with the way this years crop of goalies are going, we could see another one soon. Again this season we are seeing how important stopping goals, not just scoring them, is to winning. Even though it is fun to see lots of goals scored, when goalies play as well as these ones have been playing, the intensity of games is incredibly exciting. Let's keep watching to see which goalies can stay this good, and which ones will cave under the pressure. Who doesn't love the playoffs?