Who starts in net for the playoffs?

[Hahahax]

I'm just wondering if anything has come out about the goaltending situation? Who starts in net for the playoffs? Francouz or Grubauer?

And who's the #1 goalie next year, can Francouz repeat his success?

Thanks

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[Avsavsavsavsavs]

Probably going to be based on camp performance, with Grubi getting a little more leeway than Francouz might. That being said they are both fantastic and both deserve to start for a playoff team.

 

[Ararana]

I don't think there's ever truly been a debate outside of HFAvs. It's Grubauer's net even if he's not playing great. My bet is it's going to take an injury or an absolute piss poor streak from Grubs to see Frankie in net.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Given Grubauer’s success last year in the playoffs I expect him to get the net. If he struggles the Avs won’t have any concerns about turning to Frank.

 

[Rumplesnipeskin]

Gruby Tuesday, 7 days a week. Fankie is a great backup, feels like the Fleury <> [Insert Goalie Here] tandems of years past on the Pens, and those have seen some success

also, both had top centers from Cole Harbour. Might as well just hand us (or the Bruins) the cup now.

 

[Richard88]

It's Grubauer's net to lose, but I'd expect the situation in net to be fairly fluid due to the fact that we'll only have 3 games before the playoffs proper.

I'd expect Grubauer to get 2 games in the round robin and Francouz the other one (probably the middle one of the 3) so that we have two goalies warmed up somewhat for round 1 of the playoffs. If Grubauer has two absolute stinkers and Francouz is lights out in his game then Francouz might get the nod in Game 1.

 

[AvsCOL]

Grubauer, not really a question. With that being said, if he plays a bad stretch, then Francouz probably gets the nod.

 

[shadow1]

I think it'll be Grubauer, but I also won't be shocked if it ends up being Francouz.

Grubauer was superb in the playoffs last year, but was up and down in the regular season this year. The final numbers (18-12-4, .916 SV%) definitely aren't bad, but they're kinda mediocre considering we're talking about a team that finished 42-20-8.

Francouz (21-7-4, .923 SV%) was the better goalie this year and I won't have any qualms if the Avs turn to him first.

 

[Anders Cain]

Yeah Gru will start, but I think the leash will be shorter knowing Frankie can step up and play brilliant in stretches.

 

[The Shermanator]

It will be interesting how we play the round robin. I assume we'd go for the top seed but it's going to create some weird scenarios for teams that lose their first two games and have nothing to play for in the 3rd. Could see the back up goalies getting a start if that's the case.

 

[the_fan]

Hutchinson!

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

My guess is Grubi is the defacto #1.

But it should be a fairly short leash and if he springs a leak at any point it is very good to know you have a guy in Francouz who can step in and quite possibly be even better.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Grubauer

However, Francouz has been the better goalie this season and the numbers prove it. I would rather start whoever is playing better, this team does not have a goaltender who deserves to be the clear #1.

 

[Richard88]

I think it'll be Grubauer, but I also won't be shocked if it ends up being Francouz.

Grubauer was superb in the playoffs last year, but was up and down in the regular season this year. The final numbers (18-12-4, .916 SV%) definitely aren't bad, but they're kinda mediocre considering we're talking about a team that finished 42-20-8.

Francouz (21-7-4, .923 SV%) was the better goalie this year and I won't have any qualms if the Avs turn to him first.

Francouz got some of the easier starts though, so even if Francouz and Grubauer played exactly the same Francouz would tend to have the better stats. At least before you get into underlying analytics. If I remember right Grubauer has pretty good stats for high-danger save %.

 

[henchman21]

Grubs has some inconsistency to his game and I think it is still an unknown if he can really be a good starter due to him not being a typical 55+ start guy right now. With that, he's the starter until he falters. We kinda forget that Frank had some stinkers down the stretch when he was having to make a lot of starts in a row.

 

[Pintokyo]

I think it Grubs net to lose. But good to know we have a consistent back up goalie .

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Both will have some games.

 

[McMetal]

Both will have some games.

When was the last time a team went with a true tandem for the playoffs? The only one I can remember is when Darling took the reins from Crawford against Nashville and rescued the Hawks from being eliminated. But even then, as soon as he had a bad game, they went right back to riding Crawford all the way to the cup.

Not that I'm saying it's impossible, or even a bad idea given our unique situation, just that it would be a really unusual strategy.

 

[Foppa2118]

Too much time has passed since Francouz was playing well and looked like he had the momentum to give Grubauer a run for the #1 spot.

It's basically like a new year and Grubauer is the more experienced guy who never really lost the #1 job.

If Gru has a couple bad games though I think we could see Frank. Might even take just one bad game if it's bad enough.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

When was the last time a team went with a true tandem for the playoffs? The only one I can remember is when Darling took the reins from Crawford against Nashville and rescued the Hawks from being eliminated. But even then, as soon as he had a bad game, they went right back to riding Crawford all the way to the cup.

Not that I'm saying it's impossible, or even a bad idea given our unique situation, just that it would be a really unusual strategy.

Tight schedule. This is a unique playoffs; might even have back to back games.

 

[shadow1]

Francouz got some of the easier starts though, so even if Francouz and Grubauer played exactly the same Francouz would tend to have the better stats. At least before you get into underlying analytics. If I remember right Grubauer has pretty good stats for high-danger save %.

That was definitely true early in the season. However, Grubauer was hurt twice this year, including heading into the break. Francouz started 12 of the Avs final 13 regular season games and went 8-2-2 with a .919 SV%.

It wasn't the Avs toughest stretch of the season in terms of opponent quality, but Frankie started both games in (3) back-to-back situations during that stretch. So he definitely proved he can be a reliable starter (at least for an extended stretch of time).

 

[shadow1]

When was the last time a team went with a true tandem for the playoffs? The only one I can remember is when Darling took the reins from Crawford against Nashville and rescued the Hawks from being eliminated. But even then, as soon as he had a bad game, they went right back to riding Crawford all the way to the cup.

Not that I'm saying it's impossible, or even a bad idea given our unique situation, just that it would be a really unusual strategy.

The closest thing I can think of is the 2017 Penguins. Fleury (34 GS) and Murray (45 GS) split time in the regular season. Fleury started the first 15 playoff games (9 wins) while Murray started the final 10 (7 wins) to cap off their cup run.

But even that is still a situation of a team riding one guy.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Give me Francouz.

His positioning and rebound control may not be the greatest, but he’s a shot stopper.

Book is out on Grubauer. In a 7 game series, his glove hand is going to get absolutely f***ing roasted.

He holds his glove over his goddamn left knee, covering nothing... drops early every single time... and leaves a good 3 feet to pick that corner.

It’s unbelievably predictable.

Yeah, give me Frank.

 

[S E P H]

Easily answer here, Grubauer.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Francouz had the slightly better regular season and gave up nothing against Dallas and Minny. Don't know why Grubauer is the clear #1.