Ghost of Ethan Hunt
The Official Ghost of Space Ghosts Monkey
https://thehockeywriters.com/red-wings-goaltending-nedeljkovic-top-option/
Excerpts:
"Through his last five starts, spanning from Nov. 6 to Nov. 20, Nedeljkovic has made 147 stops on 160 shots, leading him to a save-percentage (SV%) of .919. Through 12 games total this season, he has a .914 SV% to go along with a 4-3-3 record and a 2.83 goals-against average (GAA). Among NHL goalies to play at least 10 games this season, he ranks 17th in terms of SV%. In fact, if you subtract the opening game of the season where he yielded seven goals on 48 shots to the Tampa Bay Lightning – a bizarre game that had everything except stellar goaltending on both sides – his season SV% sits at .923. It’s also worth noting that since that opening night catastrophe, he has only posted a SV% lower than .900 once.
Through his last five starts, spanning from Nov. 4 to Nov. 18, Greiss has made 148 stops on 165 shots, giving him a SV% of .897. Through 10 games, he has a .901 SV%, a 4-6 record and a 3.41 GAA. Again, among NHL goalies to play at least 10 games, he ranks 26th in terms of SV%. Using the same benchmark as Nedeljkovic, Greiss has posted a SV% lower than .900 three times just in his last five games. After stopping 62 of 64 shots through his first two starts of the season, he has posted a SV% higher than .906 just three times in eight games.
...
When Greiss is playing well, his technique allows him to swallow up shots, and if a rebound pops out, it often requires minimal movement for him to adjust to the second shot. He has made his fair share of spectacular saves this season, and many of them are a direct result of him leaving himself in a good spot to make the second save.
When Nedeljkovic is playing well, he’s a one-man show in the Red Wings’ defensive end. Whether it’s playing the puck like he’s Marty Turco circa 2004, or making sprawling saves where he gets just enough of the puck to knock it away, it is genuinely exciting to watch him play the position. It’s his eagerness to play the puck, however that really sets him apart from Greiss. Goalies that play the puck help spring their team on offense, and they take some of the pressure off of their defensemen in terms of playing the puck behind the goal line. Hockey is a game of constant motion, and goalies like Nedeljkovic speed the game up instead of slowing it down.
This isn’t to say that one style is better than the other – that is strictly a matter of preference. Part of the “excitement” that comes with watching Nedeljkovic play is the looming threat that he might leave himself out of position on the next shot. On the other hand, if Greiss’s technique fails him, he isn’t nearly as good at scrambling as Nedeljkovic is, and that often leads to a bad game turning into a terrible one.
What cannot be denied, however, is that as great of a fit as Greiss was for last season’s Red Wings team and their low-event style, this season’s team seems to have adopted a more up-tempo style, which plays right into Nedeljkovic’s style. His teammates feed off of saves like the one above, and his puck-handling abilities keep his team in motion. Those two things feed into the team’s identity, and when Nedeljkovic’s teammates know that they’ve got a goalie in the crease that has a ton of swagger, that helps breed confidence throughout the rest of the lineup. "
Excerpts:
"Through his last five starts, spanning from Nov. 6 to Nov. 20, Nedeljkovic has made 147 stops on 160 shots, leading him to a save-percentage (SV%) of .919. Through 12 games total this season, he has a .914 SV% to go along with a 4-3-3 record and a 2.83 goals-against average (GAA). Among NHL goalies to play at least 10 games this season, he ranks 17th in terms of SV%. In fact, if you subtract the opening game of the season where he yielded seven goals on 48 shots to the Tampa Bay Lightning – a bizarre game that had everything except stellar goaltending on both sides – his season SV% sits at .923. It’s also worth noting that since that opening night catastrophe, he has only posted a SV% lower than .900 once.
Through his last five starts, spanning from Nov. 4 to Nov. 18, Greiss has made 148 stops on 165 shots, giving him a SV% of .897. Through 10 games, he has a .901 SV%, a 4-6 record and a 3.41 GAA. Again, among NHL goalies to play at least 10 games, he ranks 26th in terms of SV%. Using the same benchmark as Nedeljkovic, Greiss has posted a SV% lower than .900 three times just in his last five games. After stopping 62 of 64 shots through his first two starts of the season, he has posted a SV% higher than .906 just three times in eight games.
...
When Greiss is playing well, his technique allows him to swallow up shots, and if a rebound pops out, it often requires minimal movement for him to adjust to the second shot. He has made his fair share of spectacular saves this season, and many of them are a direct result of him leaving himself in a good spot to make the second save.
When Nedeljkovic is playing well, he’s a one-man show in the Red Wings’ defensive end. Whether it’s playing the puck like he’s Marty Turco circa 2004, or making sprawling saves where he gets just enough of the puck to knock it away, it is genuinely exciting to watch him play the position. It’s his eagerness to play the puck, however that really sets him apart from Greiss. Goalies that play the puck help spring their team on offense, and they take some of the pressure off of their defensemen in terms of playing the puck behind the goal line. Hockey is a game of constant motion, and goalies like Nedeljkovic speed the game up instead of slowing it down.
This isn’t to say that one style is better than the other – that is strictly a matter of preference. Part of the “excitement” that comes with watching Nedeljkovic play is the looming threat that he might leave himself out of position on the next shot. On the other hand, if Greiss’s technique fails him, he isn’t nearly as good at scrambling as Nedeljkovic is, and that often leads to a bad game turning into a terrible one.
What cannot be denied, however, is that as great of a fit as Greiss was for last season’s Red Wings team and their low-event style, this season’s team seems to have adopted a more up-tempo style, which plays right into Nedeljkovic’s style. His teammates feed off of saves like the one above, and his puck-handling abilities keep his team in motion. Those two things feed into the team’s identity, and when Nedeljkovic’s teammates know that they’ve got a goalie in the crease that has a ton of swagger, that helps breed confidence throughout the rest of the lineup. "
