Best and Worst Goaltending Games (NHL 2014-15)

[Doctor No]

Those of you who read the History forum know that I recently added some data to http://hockeygoalies.org. Namely, I added "heat maps" that show, on a game-by-game basis, whether the goaltender did better (and how much better) or worse (and how much worse) than would be expected, given the opponents, season, and number of shots faced.

More on the methodology in the first post here:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1830333

Anyhow, as of games through February 13, these are the top ten games played by NHL goaltenders this year. First, three caveats:

• Remember that this is a purely numerical solution to a decidedly non-numerical question.
• Remember that this is based upon save percentages, and standard "save percentage" caveats all apply here.
• These will change slightly as the season evolves (because we get more data on the true strength of each team). For instance, if Ottawa goes out and scores 10 goals apiece in the next three games, then we'd have to view any existing performances against Ottawa in a new light.

With that said, here are the top ten performances (through February 13) by NHL goaltenders:

Goaltender | Date | Game | Z-Score Semyon Varlamov |1/6/2015|54 saves, 2-0 shutout win against Chicago|2.16
Jonathan Bernier |12/23/2014|43 saves, 4-0 shutout win against Dallas|2.15
Jonathan Quick |10/16/2014|43 saves, 1-0 shutout win (SO) against St. Louis|2.13
Steve Mason |11/24/2014|46 saves, 0-1 shutout loss (SO) against NY Islanders|2.11
Ondrej Pavelec |11/1/2014|38 saves, 1-0 shutout win (SO) against NY Rangers|1.99
Semyon Varlamov |10/30/2014|40 saves, 5-0 shutout win against NY Islanders|1.96
Carey Price |1/31/2015|36 saves, 1-0 shutout win (OT) against Washington|1.94
Tuukka Rask |11/18/2014|33 saves, 2-0 shutout win against St. Louis|1.87
Troy Grosenick |11/16/2014|45 saves, 2-0 shutout win against Carolina|1.87
Joni Ortio |1/10/2015|36 saves, 1-0 shutout win against Vancouver|1.86

If you click on any goaltender's name above, it will take you to their biography page. Click on NHL GAME LOGS for their game-by-game accounting (and heat maps).

I am also Twittering now (see the link at the bottom of my About Page. I don't know if I'll ever say anything interesting, but you never know.

Click to read more...

 

[Doctor No]

And here are the ten worst (through February 13). Most of these cats didn't make it too long:

Goaltender | Date | Game | Z-Score Darcy Kuemper |11/13/2014|0-for-2 against Buffalo|-4.97
Carter Hutton |1/17/2015|1-for-4 against Detroit|-4.46
Evgeni Nabokov |10/25/2014|4-for-8 against Minnesota|-4.33
Ben Scrivens |11/22/2014|8-for-13 against Chicago|-4.06
Ben Scrivens |12/23/2014|1-for-3 against Arizona|-3.91
Michal Neuvirth |1/3/2015|5-for-9 against NY Rangers|-3.58
Roberto Luongo |10/11/2014|9-for-14 against New Jersey|-3.55
Petr Mrazek |1/18/2015|4-for-7 against Buffalo|-3.55
Darcy Kuemper |11/26/2014|6-for-10 against Los Angeles|-3.55
Ryan Miller |10/21/2014|8-for-13 against Dallas|-3.50