NHL Playoffs 2012: Ranking All Teams' Goaltending from 1 to 16

It's that time of the year.

Playoff hockey.

Nothing is better than growing some facial hair, and watching some fast-paced action widely known as the postseason.

Sixteen teams will battle it out to win Lord Stanely's cup, and they will stop at nothing.

But who has the best shot?

Some may argue that the most important thing for a team to win the cup is goaltending.

Here is a breakdown on all 16 teams' starting and backup goalies, ranking them in order of how they will perform in the playoffs. 

16: Florida Panthers' Jose Theodore and Scott Clemmensen

Jose Theodore will get most of the minutes for a Florida Panthers team that pushed its way into the playoffs as the winner of the Southeast Division.

He may get some rest, though, if he underperforms.  Backup goalie Scott Clemmensen is more than capable of playing some good hockey.

It will be interesting to see if Clemmensen gets a start or two against his former team, where he won the the unsung hero award back in 2009.

15: Washington Capitals' Braden Holtby, Michal Neuvirth and Tomas Vokoun

The Washington Capitals will be anchored by Braden Holtby, and possibly Michal Neuvirth and Tomas Vokoun.

Both Neuvirth and Vokoun have been dealing with injuries, so expect to see Holtby between the pipes.

Do not expect much out of him though—the kid has only started 18 games in his career and does not have any playoff experience.

14: Chicago Blackhawks' Corey Crawford and Ray Emery

As the sixth seed, the Blackhawks will have Corey Crawford starting most likely all of their games.

Crawford ended the season with a .903 save percentage and no shutouts.

In fact, the Blackhawks did not shut out one team this season.

That being so, goaltending could be a huge problem for the West's sixth seed heading into the playoffs.

13: Philadelphia Flyers' Ilya Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky

The Flyers have been plagued for years now when it comes to goaltending.

Ilya Bryzgalov was suppose to be their savior, but all the money in the universe is still not enough to keep the puck out of the net.

Do not be surprised if you see Sergei Bobrovsky get some time in between the pipes.  Peter Laviolette will not be afraid to yank Bryzgalov if he needs to. 

If Bryzgalov goes into the playoffs with a mentality that he has a good backup and can clear his head and stick to his game, the Flyers will be in good shape.  But if Bryzgalov sees it as a competition and handles the message of Bobrovsky getting some time the wrong way, then the Flyers will run into some trouble.  

12: Ottawa Senators' Craig Anderson and Ben Bishop

We saw Craig Anderson play some good hockey two seasons ago back with the Avalanche.

This guy went under the radar a little bit during the season and had a couple of stretches that he played very well.

He has lost his last two games, but before that he had a stretch of eight wins in nine games, two of them being shutouts. 

With not much help from backup Ben Bishop, who has only started nine games this season, expect Anderson to get a large workload.

11: San Jose Sharks' Antti Niemi and Thomas Greiss

Antti Niemi will probably start all the postseason games for the Sharks, seeing as backup Thomas Greiss has only started fourteen games this season and does not have much experience.

Niemi is 34-22-9 and has won six of his last nine games, so he is riding a bit of a hot streak into the playoffs.

The Blues sub-par offense can give Niemi some momentum into the second round if the Sharks can find a way to win the series, but a first round win for the Sharks is definitely not a given. 

10: Detroit Red Wings' Jimmy Howard and Ty Conklin

The Red Wings have found a lot of success from Jimmy Howard over the past three years, and he does have some experience when it comes to the playoffs.

This season Howard has a record of 35-17-4, so expect him to play well come playoff time.

Do not expect to see backup Ty Conklin unless there is an emergency situation.  Conklin has not played in a game since March 28th and will most likely be rusty if he were to get a start.

9: Vancouver Canucks' Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider

This tandem of goalies can be very interesting.

We saw what happened last year with Luongo and his ups and downs this season. 

If he can stay mentally focused and respond positively to letting up a soft goal, he can make a huge impact in the playoffs.

He is riding a hot streak into the playoffs, only letting up six goals in his last four starts and getting two shutouts in those games.

Cory Schneider needs to be ready at all times because you never know what will happen with Luongo.  It is very hard to come in as a cold goalie, and if Luongo struggles like he has been known to do, it will be up to Schneider to keep the Canucks from hitting the golf course early.

8: Pittsburg Penguins' Marc-Andre Fleury and Brent Johnson

Marc-Andre Fleury is a goalie that goes unnoticed at times. 

With all the great goalies in the league, it is easy to overlook the goalie that plays on the same team as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. 

Although his goals-against average and save percentage do not jump out at you, he still makes saves when he needs to.

Fleury finished the regular season with 42 wins, second in the NHL.

Expect him to see all the starts unless some extraordinary measures come into play, in which case Brent Johnson will get some playing time. 

7: New Jersey Devils' Martin Brodeur and Johan Hedberg

He may be getting old, but Martin Brodeur has seen it all.

He has played in 181 playoff games and is one win away from 100.

This could be Brodeur's last shot of making an impact in the playoffs, so he will definitely make it count.  He is arguably the best goalie to ever play, so never doubt him.

This year is different from the past, though.  Brodeur comes into the playoffs having only started 59 games this season thanks to backup Johan Hedberg.  Expect Broduer to get most of the starts, though. 

If the guy that practically wrote the record book shows his age, Hedberg will get an opportunity in the net for the Devils, and he is more than capable of playing some great hockey for his team. 

6: Phoenix Coyotes' Mike Smith and Jason LaBarbera

Mike Smith is arguably the hottest goalie heading into the playoffs.

The Coyotes' net-minder finished the season winning his last five games and recorded three shutouts in a row in the first three of the streak.  The next two games, he let up one goal, and in the three shutouts he made 38 saves, 44 saves and 54 saves.

Smith finished the regular season tied for third in save percentage and shutouts, and he finished fourth in wins with 38.

He will undoubtedly be the first option for the Coyotes in the playoffs, so do not expect to see Jason Labarbera in the net at all.  

5: St. Louis Blues' Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak

The St. Louis duo of Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak has been without a doubt the best pair of goalies in the league this season.

Elliott leads the league in goals-against average, save percentage, and is second in the league in shutouts.

Halak is not far behind in any of these categories, so expect him to get some time between the pipes, as he has been seeing all season.

The two combined for 15 shutouts and will win the William M. Jennings trophy for least goals allowed during the regular season.

These two can be a huge difference-maker for the Blues during the playoffs if they stay healthy.

4: Boston Bruins' Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask

Tim Thomas and the Boston Bruins will look to repeat what they accomplished last year.

Thomas is defending his title and his wingman Tuukka Rask has proven to be more than capable to pick up his slack when he gets cold.

It looks like Rask will be healthy come playoff time and will be available to backup Thomas. 

Rask actually has a better save percentage and goals-against average than Thomas, so if Rask gets healthy (which he should be), the Bruins will be in great shape.

3: Nashville Predators' Pekka Rinne and Anders Lindback

Pekka Rinne finished the NHL regular season with the most wins by a goaltender, and his defense in front of him did a great job of making him look amazing.

With the help of Shea Weber and Co., Rinne finished the season with a .923 save percentage.

Expect him to get all the starts in the playoffs, as he has gotten most all season long, starting 72 total games. 

With four consistent years during the regular season and a little bit of playoff experience, it will be very hard to put the puck past Rinne.

Only an extreme circumstance would give his backup, Anders Lindback, some action between the pipes. 

2: New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Biron

Henrik Lundqvist will anchor the Rangers in the playoffs and most likely get every start for his team.

The Rangers did a good job of keeping him fresh this year.  Lundqvist only started 62 games this season, compared to his last five years where he started over 70 in four of the seasons.

His eight shutouts, 39 wins and .930 save percentage are all ranked third in the league.

Expect the almost-certain Vezina Trophy candidate to start every game, and backup Martin Biron to ride the bench and only play in an emergency situation. 

1: Los Angeles Kings' Jonathan Quick and Jonathan Bernier

Jonathan Quick has been incredible all season for the Kings.

Without him the Kings would be worrying about which golf course to play on rather than how to score on the Vancouver Canucks in the first round.

Quick finished the season with 35 wins, a 1.95 goals-against average, .930 save percentage and 10 shutouts, all these among the leagues best.

Before finishing the season with two overtime losses, Quick won 13 of his last 16 games and recorded three shutouts.

He will be a huge impact in the playoffs, especially for an eighth seed that is looking to make a run.

Quick will be backed up by Jonathan Bernier, but do not expect to see Bernier on the ice at all.