NHL Playoff Goalie Performance Shows Reversal From Regular Season

NHL goalies posted a collective .896 save percentage during the regular season, the lowest mark since 1993-94. The figure marked the first time the leaguewide rate had fallen below .900 since 1995-96. Playoff performance reversed the trend. Goaltenders improved to a .904 save percentage, an 8.5-point gain that ranks as the second-largest postseason improvement since 2015.

Andersen of the Hurricanes recorded the strongest goaltending numbers among remaining playoff teams despite ranking among the league's weaker regular-season performers. Vegas netminders ranked second among conference-final participants after finishing sixth-to-last in the regular season.

Avalanche goalies Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood led the league in regular-season save percentage but posted average results heading into the conference finals. Andersen stopped 15 of 21 shots in Carolina's Game 1 loss to Montreal and performed similarly in Game 2.

Carter Hart started for Vegas and outperformed Wedgewood in the first three games of the West finals.

Montreal entered the playoffs with the league's youngest roster, listing only one player over age 30 among its top 14 contributors by goals above replacement. The team defeated Tampa Bay, the league's fourth-oldest club, and Buffalo before facing Carolina, the 13th-oldest team.

Vegas replaced coach Bruce Cassidy with John Tortorella on March 29, the latest such change by a playoff team since at least 2014. Tortorella started Hart in net and oversaw improved offensive output during the first three games of the West finals. The article notes that historical data show no clear correlation between roster age and playoff success once team quality is controlled for.