Daily goalie update 11-07-06
Written by Marty Coffey

Monday night’s NHL action saw six different match-ups taking place.

First, the Washington Capitals defended their home turf against the Ottawa Senators in a 3-4 overtime win.  Ottawa was off to a good start, scoring all three of their goals in the first period.  Washington’s starting goalie Olaf Kolzig just couldn’t stop the shots.  A timeout was called and Brent Johnson was sent in to replace Olaf Kolzig.  Johnson stopped 100% of the 21 shots he faced, allowing his team to catch up and win as well as securing his spot as the star goalie of the night.

The Atlanta Thrashers also won at home, against the Boston Bruins.  The final score was 3-5.  Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas had 34 saves out of the 39 shots on the goal, giving him a percentage for the night of only 87.18%.  His main opponent was Thrashers star Ilya Kovalchuk, who scored three of the Thrashers’ five goals, and also got one assist.  The Thrashers’ goalie, Johan Hedberg racked up his third straight starting win with a save percentage for the night of 88.89%.  With similar performances from the two teams’ goalies, the night came down to shots on the goal, of which the Thrashers had 39 to the Bruins’ 27.  Kovalchuk may have won the game for Atlanta, but Johan Hedberg was the star goalie for edging out Tim Thomas.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were victorious over the Philadelphia Flyers, scoring four goals against the Flyers’ one.  The Flyers are having one of the worst seasons in their history this year.  Andrew Raycroft, goalie for the Maple Leafs, charted an impressive 97.56% save percentage, due in part to poor shooting from Philadelphia players.  Perhaps trying to switch things up and score a victory, the Flyers played their backup goalie Antero Niittymaki for the entire game.  His 90.32% save percentage couldn’t make up for sloppy playing from his teammates.

The only home team to lose all evening, the New York Islanders couldn’t keep it together to fend off the Tampa Bay Lightning.  The Islanders let five goals go by and only scored one.  New York goalie Mike Dunham had only 81.48% saves for the night, his worst percentage of this season.  Stopping 25 of 26 shots, Johan Holmqvist fared much better for the Lightning and aided in their big win.

In the late games, Vancouver bested Dallas in a close 1-2 game.  It was a low-scoring game, but Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo fared better in defending his net than Stars goalie Mike Smith.  Luongo’s percentage for the night was 95.00% against Smith’s 92.31%.

Finally, the Anaheim Ducks fended off the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 2-3 overtime game.  The penguins pulled away to a 2-1 lead by the end of the 1st period.  In the 2nd, the Ducks caught up, and the 3rd period went by without scoring.  Finally, shortly into overtime, the Ducks scored again and took the win.  Ducks goaltender Jean Sebastien Giguere had it relatively easy, blocking 15 of only 17 shots on the goal.  Jocelyn Thibault, on the other hand, was kept running, blocking 37 of a staggering 40 shots for a save percentage of 92.50%.  This beats ’Jean Sebastien Giguere's 88.24%, making Thibault’s performance an impressive struggle in a losing battle.

Mental Goaltending Home Page Order Page