Toronto Maple Leafs' Tale of Two Goalies: Giguere vs. the Monster

The Toronto Maple Leafs have won three of their last five games and despite looking lost and uninspired in losses against Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, have looked as though they may have finally figured out that a little hard work goes a long way.

When it was announced that J.S. Giguere would get the start Saturday night, Leafs Nation put their collective heads in their hands and once again were wondering what Ron Wilson could possibly be thinking given the stellar play of the Monster as of late.

Wilson stated that "it was a no brainer" when it came to making the decision, citing the fact that Giggy would be playing in front his "home crowd" of friends and family and would have extra incentive to play well.

Giguer's goals against so far this season has not been anything to write home about nor has his save percentage.

Giggy has to date this year posted a GAA of 2.78, which ties him with Martin Brodeur and Jonas Hiller, however, his save percentage is a meager .894, which makes him fifth last in the league.

On the other side of the coin is Jonas Gustavsson, who, while he has played much better for the most part than Giggy has been hung out to dry on most occasions by his team mates and was the victim of the now famous "set up by Komi"

He has played one less game than Giguere and has posted a 2.91 GAA along with .902 save percentage. The Monster's numbers are not that dissimilar to Giggy's but here's the difference.

When Giguere has been in net, the team has scored an average of 2.76 goals per game which would put them right around the middle of the pack in that regard, as well as being shut out three times.

When Gustavsson is in net though, for some reason their scoring drops off considerably to an average of 2.14 goals per game and the Leafs have been shut out four times. That, is why they are currently second last in the league in goals for at an average of 2.17 per game.

All of that being said, surprisingly enough, Wilson made the right call in regard who got the start against Montreal, Giguere in three games with the Leafs against the Habs has posted a save percentage of almost .932 and a goals against average of 2.

The Monster has had decent career numbers against Montreal as well though posting a .927 save percentage with a goals against of just 2.25 per game.

The long and the short of it is this, Gustavsson has so far been the better goalie, and yes you could argue that Giggy has been injured and hasn't played his best but the fact remains that if the team was scoring the same for both, Gustavsson's numbers would be even better.