Oettinger_Grubauer

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

Philipp Grubauer is only 31 years old but there still will be an element of old school vs. new school when the No. 1 goalie for the Seattle Kraken goes up against 24-year-old Dallas Stars starter Jake Oettinger in the Western Conference Second Round.

Grubauer has all the modern goaltending tools at his disposal, but relies more on patience, beating passes and setting up for shots with his feet underneath him in a distinctively narrow stance, and not defaulting as early or often to his knees, especially on his posts.

It might stand out against Oettinger, especially when it comes to post play and stance, but the Stars goalie has some old school read, react and challenge elements in his game too, and how each team attacks those tendencies could go a long way to determining the best-of-7 series.

Jake Oettinger

Dallas Stars

Oettinger set a high playoff standard with an incredible performance in a seven-game loss to the Calgary Flames in the 2022 first round. After a slight dip in Games 2 and 3 against the Minnesota Wild, that may have been a result of playing double overtime in the series opener. Oettinger looked every bit that goalie closing out the Wild, allowing three goals in three straight wins.

Oettinger_goal_locations

High glove? Not so fast:Seeing the biggest regular-season number over the glove might make it tempting to target, but the reality is these numbers don't represent save percentages, and the 26.0 percent high- and mid-glove total is slightly above the 23.6 percent tracked average on 6,695 goals for this project dating to 2017. The totals just over the glove-side pad are higher than tracked average, especially 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) in the first round, and Oettinger's use of a "fingers up" glove position may be another reason to target that instead. Shooters are taught now to shoot under the glove when they see a goalie holding it out like a "stop" motion rather than the more traditional "handshake" glove position because the motion required to turn it down in front of the pad from "fingers up" takes a bit more time.

Stretch him out: Scoring chances across the middle of the ice that force a goalie to transition from one side to the other are always a great way to try and score on any goalie, but Oettinger always has excelled against these types of lateral chances. He tends to come across a bit flat with these side-to-side pushes, which helps him close down on shooters on the other end of those passes, but it can leave him prone to being stretched out wide because he doesn't rotate back to his posts as much as others, a tendency that shows up in some of those higher-than-expected -- and average -- goal totals along the ice on either side of the pads.

Quick shots, even from distance:One-timers from higher in the zone was another surprising area Oettinger was below average this season, and the key may be trying to get him to move left-to-right before taking those shots. Oettinger tends to back into those movements with a reverse c-cut on his right side, which creates a slight delay getting square, set and on angle, which helps account for some of those quick-shot results from distance.

Breakaways: One-on-one chances accounted for almost half the goals on Oettinger in the first round, and though it seems foolish to expect that trend to continue, the trend, like other lateral chances, seemed to include stretching him out wide with dekes, often against the grain and to the blocker side after starting the other way, before lifting a shot over that right pad.

Philipp Grubauer

Seattle Kraken

Grubauer was better in the regular season than his .895 save percentage indicates, but the veteran native of Rosenheim, Germany, elevated to exceptional in a first-round, seven-game win against his old Colorado Avalanche teammates. He used his signature narrow stance to beat passes consistently and plays on his feet, to the point it felt at times like he knew what was coming. Given his familiarity with the Avalanche, it will be interesting to see if he can keep that up against the Stars.

Grubauer_goal_locations

Glove side?The discrepancy between goals from the top of the pad and up on the glove side compared to the blocker side was not far off the normal range in the regular season, but the gap jumped noticeably in the first round, with nine goals on the glove side compared to just two on the blocker. It simply may be a matter of Colorado's best players attacking more from that side, and the on-ice goal chart shows signs of that. Grubauer also made a few really patient high-glove saves on Mikko Rantanen in the series, suggesting this may be more circumstantial than a sign of the old trend of teams targeting an old tendency to drop the glove early on the release. Those old trends make it worth keeping an eye on against the Stars, but those no-flinch, "fingers up" stops on Rantanen, combined with Nathan MacKinnon's short-handed breakaway goal in Game 3, suggest low glove may be a better option in 1-on-1 situations.

Flip side:Of course, these charts don't account for shot totals or a save percentage that would better indicate performance in each area, and the other side of the glove story is how active the Seattle goalie remained with his blocker, steering pucks actively even in situations where a lot of goalies might have it tucked into their sides in more of a blocking mode. So targeting the glove, if it's happening, also may be about staying away from Grubauer's blocker right now.

Push him back, spread out for rebounds:Grubauer posted the best results against screen chances in the first round, doing a great job managing his ice atop his crease and not getting pushed back too far into the blue ice. As tempting as it might be to crowd the front of the net to try to make Grubauer (6-foot-1) play smaller, having a player available for low-shot rebounds above and to the sides of the crease also is important because he will make more of those saves with a narrower butterfly, which sends pucks out to the sides.

Lateral and quick: It's a recipe for scoring on any goalie, but just because Grubauer was so good at beating plays on his skates and being set for shots against the Avalanche, especially on their power play, doesn't mean Dallas should stop trying. Goals after passes or plays across the middle of the slot went up from the regular season to the playoffs, quick releases stayed around 40 percent, and against the grain goals jumped from 26.0 percent to 41.2.