Samsonov vs. Bobrovsky goalie matchup in Eastern 2nd Round

Goaltending is an integral part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. To better understand the strengths and weaknesses of each goalie, NHL.com charted the last 50 goals allowed for each goaltender in the regular season and every goal in the playoffs, with the help of Apex Video Analysis and Save Review System from Upper Hand Inc., to see what patterns emerge.

The Eastern Conference Second Round between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers will feature two starting goalies from Russia, but their similarities mostly end there.

Whether it's technique and tactics or strengths and weaknesses in physical ability or style, Toronto's Ilya Samsonov and Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky play different games, and how each team attacks those could go a long way to determining the best-of-7 series.

Ilya Samsonov, Toronto Maple Leafs

Samsonov is coming off a successful first season in Toronto that included an NHL career best .919 save percentage. He survived a more up-and-down first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning by playing his best in Game 6 to help the Maple Leafs advance for the first time since 2004. The goal trends on Samsonov also differed between the regular season, so it will be interesting to see what the Panthers try to attack in the second round.

Rebounds and crease battles back and forth:Rebounds didn't appear to be a statistical issue in the regular season at just 12 percent of the tracked goals, but that number jumped to 31.5 percent against the Lightning with second chances playing a role in six of 19 goals. It was a combination of factors, including puck movement before the initial shot that left him moving into the first save and sometimes sliding out of the net as a result on second chances. But Samsonov also requires extra movement when going side to side from his knees, narrowing his butterfly to make those pushes more than many of his peers, a delay that also creates additional exposure along the ice in scrambles and can leave him spinning out of squareness to the puck with contact in the crease as part of those rebound opportunities.

Short side high from right circle: Shooting against the grain, or opposite the direction the goalie is moving, is usually the best option on open looks against Samsonov, but there is a notable exception. On plays from and into the right face-off circle, he has a tendency to overrotate as he sets up to his left and end up with his left shoulder almost faded back rather than squaring up to the shooter, which adds to his exposure on the glove side.

Back the other way: As for those above-mentioned against-the-grain goals, they were well above the average of 18.5 percent on the 6,695 goals tracked for this project since 2017 in the regular season (38 percent) and first round of the playoffs (42.1 percent). In the playoffs, some of it was defensive exposure he couldn't be blamed for, including plays that allowed the Lightning to catch a lateral pass and drag it back the other way in tight, contributing to those six goals along the ice outside the left pad, often an indicator of an empty net tap in. In the regular-season goals tracked, however, they included cleaner looks off the rush, a goal total (40 percent) well above the average (23.2 percent). It was impacted by his tendency to retreat parallel to the goal line, losing angle as the play comes down the wing and creating more exposure on shots back the other way to the far side, especially the glove.

Low glove or high? Some of those rush shots over the glove were also a result of widening out his stance a bit prematurely, which lowers him to the ice and adds high exposure, but in one-on-one situations a shot just over the pad may be more effective, with those seven regular-season goals almost double the tracked average and a "fingers up" glove positioning that shooters are now taught to look for and target with shots under the glove.

Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida Panthers

Bobrovksy missed time late in the regular season with injury, and the Panthers rode a hot Alex Lyon into the playoffs and through the first three starts before the veteran came off the bench in relief and helped backstop them to a first round upset of the Boston Bruins.

Across the slot line:Bobrovsky still has a powerful cross-ice push and the ability to extend into splits-type saves, so it's often not enough just to create lateral movement on the same side of the ice. Making plays from one side to the other across the slot line, which divides the middle of the ice from the goal line to the top of the face-off circles, that force him to rotate into bigger pushes have been key to scoring on him all season. These types of plays accounted for 48 percent of the tracked goals in the regular season, well above the overall average of 36.4 percent, and were a factor on a whopping 64.7 percent in five games against the Bruins.

Off the ice and stay for rebounds:Even cross-ice plays aren't a guaranteed goal given Bobrovsky's power and flexibility, and apparent tap-ins can become momentum-changing saves if shooters don't elevate above the height of his pads. It's also important to stop at the net on these types of plays rather than peeling off into a corner, something the Bruins did to create rebound goals after brilliant saves that could have otherwise sparked the Panthers, and part of a huge rise in his rebound goals from the regular season (12 percent) to playoffs (37.5).

Quick releases and pull backs: As quick as Bobrovsky is, one-timers remain an important part of creating offense against him, and were a factor on more than 46 percent of all the goals tracked, well above the 37.2 percent average. Catching him moving was another key, with Boston going against the grain on 29.4 percent of its goals, similar to the regular-season rate (32 percent) and also well above the historical average tracked at 18.5 percent.

Blocker side? Nothing jumped off the page about goal locations until the Bruins scored 37.5 percent of theirs shooting mid-to-high blocker. While these totals don't represent a save percentage that would better track relative strengths and weaknesses, it's worth keeping noting, especially on screens, which have been a statistical issue for Bobrovsky. Shooters up high can wait for him to transition from a narrow, elevated stance to look over traffic into a much lower, wider save stance before trying to filter high shots to the net.