Sharks-Red Wings: Goaltending Grades

Goaltending for the San Jose Sharks in the second round is a little bit harder to define than the blueline grades .

For instance, Jimmy Howard out-performed the combination of Evgeni Nabokov and Thomas Gress—his save percentage was a respectable .910 and he gave up just three goals per game despite one game going into overtime. Sharks goaltenders combined for a save percentage of .894 and gave up two more goals in the series.

But it was Howard who gave up the softest goal at the most critical time. About 30 percent of the goals Detroit scored came in one blowout loss, and the Sharks' goalies dominated in the most important stat, winning four of five games. Howard also was the only goalie called for a penalty, adding to the stress of the Detroit penalty kill.

Howard played better than one would expect from a rookie facing an elite offensive team in the second round of the playoffs, but serves as no benchmark for grading Nabokov and Greiss like Niklas Lidstrom did for Sharks blueliners.

Nevertheless, I am duty-bound to find a standard to grade the Sharks netminders on, and as always, it involves having higher expectations (and thus a tougher grading standard) for Nabby as the one that is being counted on most. Here is the report card:

Thomas Greiss: B

I know there was nothing to lose when Greiss was inserted, but he could well have come to the rink not prepared to play. Often, being inserted in a blowout can put a goalie in the position of stopping a tsunami of offense armed with no more than a shield, and Greiss struggled in the same situations during the regular season.

However, in Game Four, he turned away 24 of the 26 of the shots he faced over two periods; his save percentage (.923) is substantially higher than either of his fellow goalies. Getting the experience will be invaluable in the future.

Evgeni Nabokov: C-

Nabby was to blame for maybe one of the five goals he let in during the first period of Game Four, but saving just four of nine killed his save percentage in a game that, in retrospect, did not matter and probably even helped the team by keeping them focused and from getting overconfident while also minimizing the excessive rest they have already gotten.

Outside of that game Nabby had a .912 save percentage and gave up fewer than three goals per game. But he also had another game with under a .900 save percentage and one more with a mediocre .903. He gave up three or more goals in four of the five games he played, and had four giveaways (Howard had three)...not a stellar performance.