This article is part of our Crashing the Crease series.
It's the circle of life: Every year, some goalies get old or bad, and other ones (usually younger ones) step into their places. A couple franchises are showing pretty clear indicators that they're willing to be convinced into changing the guard in net, but this has been a bit of a funny year in that regard; aside from some changes necessitated by injuries, we haven't seen many major shifts on depth charts or in playing time.
There are two franchises, however, where the situation is fluid and that change could be coming – if only the young netminders would grab hold of the opportunities presented to them.
Lightning starter Ben Bishop is on the last year of his contract, but so far, he hasn't looked like he's playing for a new one – the lanky 30-year-old owns ugly ratios (3.04 GAA, .902 save percentage) and doesn't even have a winning record despite playing behind the league's seventh-best offense (2.90 goals per game). That's spectacularly short of what we've seen from his 22-year-old backup, Andrei Vasilevskiy, who got off to an incredible start with a 6-1-1 record, 1.50 GAA and .951 save percentage over his first eight outings. However, just when the Bolts looked to be reaching peak frustration with Bishop, Vasilevskiy delivered a clunker, taking a five-goal thrashing at the hands of Columbus on Tuesday. Even after that, his numbers are still light years better than Bishop's, but it still feels like the young Russian blew a major opportunity
It's the circle of life: Every year, some goalies get old or bad, and other ones (usually younger ones) step into their places. A couple franchises are showing pretty clear indicators that they're willing to be convinced into changing the guard in net, but this has been a bit of a funny year in that regard; aside from some changes necessitated by injuries, we haven't seen many major shifts on depth charts or in playing time.
There are two franchises, however, where the situation is fluid and that change could be coming – if only the young netminders would grab hold of the opportunities presented to them.
Lightning starter Ben Bishop is on the last year of his contract, but so far, he hasn't looked like he's playing for a new one – the lanky 30-year-old owns ugly ratios (3.04 GAA, .902 save percentage) and doesn't even have a winning record despite playing behind the league's seventh-best offense (2.90 goals per game). That's spectacularly short of what we've seen from his 22-year-old backup, Andrei Vasilevskiy, who got off to an incredible start with a 6-1-1 record, 1.50 GAA and .951 save percentage over his first eight outings. However, just when the Bolts looked to be reaching peak frustration with Bishop, Vasilevskiy delivered a clunker, taking a five-goal thrashing at the hands of Columbus on Tuesday. Even after that, his numbers are still light years better than Bishop's, but it still feels like the young Russian blew a major opportunity to whittle out a bigger role.
Colorado's Calvin Pickard probably knows just how Vasilevskiy feels; the 24-year-old also entered Tuesday's action looking to perpetuate a hot start (4-1-1, 2.03 GAA, .932 save percentage) and pick up more playing time. Indeed, No. 1 netminder Semyon Varlamov has been every bit as bad as Bishop, winning only five times in 14 starts while allowing a 3.08 GAA to go with a .904 save mark. However, Pickard – who was in the enviable position of garnering back-to-back starts for the first time this year thanks to Varly's minor upper-body injury – also failed to make his case, giving up five goals and suffering a loss against Nashville.
For both young netminders, that loss of momentum can crush their dreams of taking over the starting role; or instance, if Varlamov were to come back and have a couple good starts, he'd probably buy himself weeks of extra leash. At least Vasilevskiy can hang his hat on the strong likelihood of either him or Bishop (let's be honest – probably Bishop) being dealt elsewhere prior to the trade deadline.
Well, let's take a look at the past week in goaltending action.
Top Performers
Mike Smith, ARI – To be fair, I'm cherry-picking here and leaving out his dud from last Wednesday against Vancouver, but only because Smith deserves it – his last three outings have been fabulous, as he's stopped 113 of 118 pucks (a .958 save mark) while beating Edmonton twice and taking a 40-save overtime loss in San Jose. Smith stunningly owns a .928 save percentage through his first eight appearances in an injury-shortened start to 2016-17, but it seems hard to imagine him maintaining that in front of an inexperienced Coyotes team.
Carey Price, MON – It seems like Price only has two settings: injured and scorching hot. (Okay, to be fair, he's had a few rough outings, but he never lets them extend into a cold streak.) His last three starts have featured 99 saves on 103 shots, and he's a legit contender for the goaltending Triple Crown. Price leads the league in wins (13) and save percentage (.947); only Tuukka Rask edges him out in GAA, just barely.
Craig Anderson, OTT – Yeah, Anderson was smacked around for five goals Tuesday, but he only gave up two goals over the course of garnering three wins in the past week, so his composite numbers for that span are still spectacular: a 1.76 GAA and .939 save percentage. This is really about giving the guy a shout-out, though, as it's absolutely incredible that he can play hockey at all while dealing with his wife's illness, and the fact that he's performed at such a high level is just beyond belief. Best wishes, Craig and Nicholle; your positivity in these trying times is an inspiration to us all.
Three Rising
Petr Mrazek, DET – It's been a trying season for Mrazek, who was well into the process of losing his job to Jimmy Howard, but his veteran teammate suffered a groin injury that's expected to cost him up to two weeks. (I have to say, playing goalie with a groin injury sounds extremely painful.) Mrazek has responded in his return to starting, picking up a win and an overtime loss by stopping 56 of 59 shots – a .949 save percentage – against Montreal and Dallas. He's going to keep making pretty much every start while Howard's out, although Jared Coreau will probably have an opportunity to make his NHL debut when the Wings play a back-to-back set this weekend. Despite Howard's wild success this year, you have to imagine that Mrazek has an opportunity to win back a major role even when Howard gets healthy.
Connor Hellebuyck, WPG – After snapping his losing streak against Nashville over the weekend and then building a second straight win Tuesday against the Devils, Hellebuyck has officially pulled out of his downward spiral. With backup Michael Hutchinson not posing much of a threat, the 23-year-old is starting to come into his own as a starting goalie in the NHL. Greater consistency will be the key to polishing up his so-so ratios, but when he's on, he's hard to beat.
Anders Nilsson, BUF – At the tender age of 26, Nilsson has appeared in 59 NHL games split between four franchises. He's been finding his way in Buffalo as Robin Lehner's backup, though, compiling a 2.20 GAA and .939 save percentage over seven appearances. Lehner suffered a hip injury Tuesday, so Nilsson will at least draw Thursday's start against the Rangers' league-best offense. If he can keep his strong play going in that matchup, he could carve out a bigger share of the starts even when the Sabres' No. 1 is healthy.
Three Falling
Cory Schneider, NJD – Schneider, O Schneider, wherefore art thou Schneider? Through his first dozen starts, it was business as usual for the 30-year-old – at 7-3-2 with a 2.14 GAA and .929, he was starting to make Devils fans fantasize about the playoffs. But shortly after crucial offseason import Taylor Hall got sent to IR by a knee injury, Schneider hit the skids – he's uncharacteristically gone five straight starts without managing even a .900 save percentage, with a 1-3-1 record and 18 goals to show for that span. Yikes. You've got to figure he'll get his game back together, but with a road gig against the star-studded Blackhawks offense coming up Thursday, it may not happen quite as soon as fantasy owners would like.
Cam Talbot, EDM – I think once you're in the "falling" section here twice in a row, it officially counts as free-falling. (Sing it with me now! Yeah I'm freeeeee, free-fallin'!) It's been a season of winning and losing streaks for Talbot, and he's on a bad one again – three consecutive losses, including getting yanked Tuesday against Toronto after giving up four goals on 14 shots. His overall ratios are actually almost identical to last year's, but that has to rate as a disappointment for fantasy owners who thought they had a breakout star on their hands after he went 7-1 with a .934 save mark in eight starts to open the season. Sorry, folks – expecting him to be anything more than a somewhat above-average goalie is asking too much.
Braden Holtby, WAS – A 40-game winner in consecutive seasons and the Vezina Trophy winner last year, Holtby's hit a bit of a skid, giving up 10 goals over his last three starts (two losses). With a number of other goalies having had enormous runs through the season's first quarter-plus, the Caps' netminder has been lost in the shuffle a bit – his stat line mostly looks as strong as ever, but he's actually only 18th in save percentage and tied for 11th in wins. We're still looking for that big run from both Holtby and the offense in front of him.
