Both Josh Harding's presence and play became huge stories in the game, as the Minnesota netminder stopped 35 of 37 shots; including 13 saves on Chicago scoring chances.
The 6'1", 202 lbs Harding finished the regular season with a 1-1 record, a 3.24 goals against average, and an .863 save percentage. He has a career save percentage of .915 during the regular season, and .958 during the playoffs.
The 6'2", 208 lbs. Corey Crawford finished the regular season with a 19-5-5 record, a 1.94 goals against average, and a .926 save percentage. He has a career save percentage of .9130 during the regular season, and .912 during the playoffs.
My scouting reports for goalies focus on their ability to make saves, make big saves, control rebounds, and maintain good balance. The results of these attributes are added together to produce the goaltender's rating. The highest possible rating is 4.00, while the lowest possible rating is 0.00. The higher the value the better a goalie has played.
The first number involved in the calculation is the percentage of saves a goalie makes without giving up a rebound. For example, if a goalie makes 10 saves and gives up only 1 rebound his "no rebound percentage" is .900. Again, the higher the number, the better a goalie performs.
The next number in the calculation is the percentage of safe rebounds a goalie gives up for each rebound allowed. Rebounds deflected outside of the main slot are considered safe. As such, a safe rebound is defined as a rebound outside of an imaginary line drawn from each goalpost to the corresponding board-side hash mark. As an example of this calculation, if a goalie gives up 10 rebounds and deflects 9 of those pucks outside the slot, his "safe rebound percentage" is .900. Again, the higher the number, the better a goalie performs.
The next number is the percentage of saves that would be considered "big saves". A big save is defined as any save made on a play that would be considered a traditional scoring chance. As an example of this calculation, if a goalie makes 5 big saves on 20 shots his "big save percentage" would be .250. Once again, the higher the number, the better a goalie performs.
I also track how a goalie controls the puck. I do this by tracking his successful or unsuccessful pass-attempts, as well as his successful or unsuccessful attempts to dump the puck out of his zone. The resulting numbers are used to produce a ratio of successful plays for every 1 unsuccessful play.
SHORT-HANDED GOALTENDING RATING
Harding's rebound control while short-handed was exceptional, while Crawford struggled controlling his SH rebounds.
Thanks to his rebound control, and despite his save percentage, Harding produced an above-average SH rating. He allowed dangerous rebounds on only 1 of his 5 saves, as only 1 rebound landed in the slot. Two of his 5 short-handed saves were produced off of Chicago scoring chances.
Crawford's short-handed rating of 2.10 was lower than Harding's. Crawford stopped the all of the shots he faced short-handed, but produced rebounds from 5 of his 6 saves, including 2 rebounds that landed in the slot. Two of his 6 saves were off of Minnesota scoring chances.
HARDING3750CRAWFORD
O REBOUND %0.6000.167O REBOUND %
SAFE REBOUND %0.5000.600SAFE REBOUND %
BIG SAVE%0.4000.333BIG SAVE%
SAVE %0.8331.000SAVE %
3750
SUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS00SUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS
UNSUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS00UNSUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS
PUCK PLAYS RATION/AN/APUCK PLAYS RATIO
3750
GOALTENDER RATING2.332.10GOALTENDER RATING
3750
OVERALL GOALTENDING RATING
Harding's impressive even-strength rating of 2.12 helped push his overall rating to 2.15. His rating was the product of an exceptional save percentage, and solid rebound control. Overall, he stopped 35 of 37 shots, and produced rebounds on only 21 of those 35 saves.Twelve of those 21 rebounds ended up in the slot, and he made 13 saves on Chicago scoring chances.
Crawford's even-strength rating of 2.27 also helped his overall rating. His overall rating was buoyed by his ability to keep the many rebounds he did produce out of the slot. Overall, he stopped 26 of 27 shots, and allowed rebounds from 18 of those 26 saves. He did a great job allowing only 7 of those 18 rebounds to land in the slot, and he made 9 saves on Minnesota scoring chances.
In terms of puck-handling, Harding was successful with only 1 of his 5 attempted passes, while Crawford was perfect; completing all 5 of his attempted passes. Neither goalie attempted to dump the puck out of the defensive-zone during the game.
HARDING3750CRAWFORD
O REBOUND %0.4000.308O REBOUND %
SAFE REBOUND %0.4290.611SAFE REBOUND %
BIG SAVE%0.3710.346BIG SAVE%
SAVE %0.9460.963SAVE %
3750
SUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS15SUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS
UNSUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS40UNSUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS
PUCK PLAYS RATIO0.25N/APUCK PLAYS RATIO
3750
GOALTENDER RATING2.152.23GOALTENDER RATING
3750
Please keep in mind, these are simply one-game scouting reports. As such, they are only meant to reflect each goalie's play during this one game.
