Hot and Cold Goaltenders Making 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs a Wide-Open Race

Hot potato, then vichyssoise. Habanero pepper, then green bell. Raging inferno, then a wet match.

It is always one or the other, it seems, when it comes to descriptions of NHL goalies in the playoffs.

Just a few days ago, people were openly discussing whether Carey Price might be having the best season in NHL history for a goaltender. Now, even the bombastic Don Cherry is feeling sympathy for Price, as the Canadiens are down 2-0 in their Eastern Conference semifinal series with Tampa Bay after the Lightning's dominating 6-2 win in Game 2 Sunday night. (Let this be a first notation in history, perhaps, of Cherry feeling sorry for anyone in a Canadiens sweater.)

In Minnesota, Devan Dubnyk a few days ago ranked somewhere between Bob Dylan and Prince as a state hero for all his brilliance in net for the Wild. Entering Game 3 Tuesday night, some were wondering if Dubnyk's magic carpet ride was over. Dubnyk's save percentage in the postseason so far has been a most pedestrian .907, a steep drop from the .936 in the regular season with the Wild.

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Remember the Hamburglar, Andrew Hammond? He was a combination of a hot potato sprinkled with habanero on a roasting bonfire just a couple of weeks ago with the Ottawa Senators. A couple of losses into the first round against Montreal, and the Hamburglar was just ground chuck again in the eyes of Sens Nation. In came Craig Anderson, who suddenly became the white-hot goalie in two straight Ottawa victories, only to lose Game 6 on a mediocre goal.

When it's going well, hot playoff goalies are like the happening new nightclub with a line around the corner. When stopping pucks with regularity come springtime, they are the equivalent of the darling new boy band in the eyes of teenage girls. But the fame can be fleeting. A couple of bad games, or even just ordinary ones like the kind Hammond played in the first two against Montreal, and the roars are replaced by crickets.

How, then, to handicap the remainder of these Stanley Cup playoffs?

Nobody is white-hot anymore, unless you want to count Anaheim's Frederik Andersen, who, no doubt, has looked impressive so far in six straight Ducks postseason wins entering Monday. But nobody is ready to hand Andersen a Conn Smythe just yet, not with many believing Anaheim has had the easiest playoff draw so far with Winnipeg and Calgary in the first two rounds. Andersen's goals-against average in the first round against the Jets was 2.25. Good, yes, but to suggest an MVP trophy from that would be a con job.

Henrik Lundqvist has been his usual very good self so far in these playoffs, and Joe Posnanski penned a nice piece last year around this time on The King for ProHockeyTalk. The piece, titled "King Henrik and the mythical hot goalie," essentially said Lundqvist has always been very consistent in the playoffs but never the absolute flavor-of-the-month, top-of-the-charts boy-band guy whom hockey writers get all Dickie Dunn about. Is this why he has yet to win a Cup?

As Posnanski wrote:

"

Even for those people driven by numbers and data, the hot goalie is an almost mythical creature — some brilliant and chance concoction of skill and focus and luck and providence. Lundqvist has never quite had the formula. He led Sweden to an Olympic gold medal when he was 23 years old. He has been a brilliant goaltender season after season, and he has raised his game in the biggest moments, including in the playoffs.

Somehow, though, he has never quite been the hot goalie all the way through.

"

Jonathan Quick was the hot goalie all the way through last season for the Los Angeles Kings, and two years before that. It's why he has two rings on his fingers.

Patrick Roy was the hot goalie all the way through for four teams, two with Montreal and two with Colorado. Others include Tim Thomas (2011 with Boston), Martin Brodeur (1995 with New Jersey especially), J.S. Giguere (2003 with Anaheim, winning the Conn Smythe despite losing in the Final to Brodeur and the Devils).

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Playoff history is full of goalies who stayed hot all the way through. This season's playoffs, however, have seen the temperatures of some fall precipitously. Braden Holtby of the Capitals is a "hot" goalie at the moment, leading his team to a shutout win over Lundqvist and the Rangers Monday night.

He was considered a red-hot goalie during the 2012 playoffs too, only to lose in the second round and then lose his starting job at one point the following season.

The bottom line for fans of a team with a "hot" goalie: Enjoy the ride. But bring a jacket just in case.