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Nashville Predators 1st Quarter Report: the goalies
by Forechecker on 11/26/08 at 03:30 PM ET
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Yesterday, the skaters got their review, so today let’s take a look at those Nashville goaltenders…
After having sent Chris Mason packing in order to free up salary and make room for Dan Ellis to assume the #1 job, Predators fans understood and accepted the gamble that GM David Poile was taking, but were somewhat nervous nonetheless. Only a short time ago Nashville boasted one of the top goaltenders in the entire NHL in Tomas Vokoun, and his departure in the Great Salary Purge was probably the cruelest blow among many that the team took in 2007. Fans had high hopes for Mason, but his 2007-8 season went poorly, and given the play of Ellis down the stretch, it became the logical choice to make room for the younger goalie to take over the top job, and still have a backup spot available for the developing Pekka Rinne. Clearing Mason’s $3 million salary also helped to retain the many RFA’s that signed long-term extensions to stick with the Preds.
So how are things going in the Nashville net?
| Actual | Pace | Forecast | Comment | |||||||||||
| Player | GP | W | L | GAA | Save Pct. | GP | W | L | GP | W | L | GAA | Save Pct. | |
| Dan Ellis | 19 | 8 | 9 | 2.90 | 0.898 | 74 | 31 | 35 | 60 | 30 | 27 | 2.45 | 0.914 | Heating up after cold start B |
| Pekka Rinne | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3.77 | 0.861 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 28 | 13 | 12 | 2.70 | 0.905 | 4 starts; 2 great, 2 lousy. C- |
Despite the numbers here, which today were noted by Mirtle as 26th in the NHL by team, you won’t find anyone around the team blaming goaltending for the team’s surprisingly high 3.14 Goals Against Average. Team defensive play was woeful during the early weeks of the season, leaving many wide-open scoring chances available that the goalies couldn’t be blamed for.
After that slow start, things have improved overall, and Ellis in particular has gone from average to very good; witness his Save Percentage of .873 in October and .917 in November, including standout efforts in San Jose (54 saves) and last night against St. Louis (17 saves, shutout). He’s starting to make a few of those eye-popping, can’t-believe-he-saved-us-there type of saves that every team hopes to get out of their #1 goalie as well:
Pekka Rinne, however, still has much to prove. In four starts so far, he’s been yanked from his first and last start (7 GA on 18 Shots), and played excellently in the other two (3 GA on 54 Shots). With Ellis playing well and apparently managing his weight, it looks like Rinne’s starts will come few and far between for the time being. He needs to be prepared, however, to provide solid work when called upon.
Filed in: Nashville Predators | On the Forecheck | Permalink
Tags: Dan+Ellis, Pekka+Rinne,
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About On the Forecheck
Dirk Hoag is the Forechecker, churner of NHL stats and analysis. Having started over 10 years ago writing for websites like In the Crease and e-Sports, Dirk launched On The Forecheck in 2005 to cover the Nashville Predators as well as apply statistical analysis to NHL hockey.
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