Last week I dug into the offensive end of NHL shootouts, so now we need to give the goaltenders their due. As we consider goaltender success during the shootout, a significant aspect to contend with is the quantity of Missed Shots (roughly one out of eight shootout attempts misses the net entirely). Within the table below, I'm including them in a "Stop Pct.", since by definition, Missed Shots aren't included in a goaltender's regular save percentage. When it comes to the shootout, however, I'm inclined to give the netminder some credit for forcing the shooter into an untenable option. So let's get to the results, including the 2005-06 season, and this year up through the games of February 4:
Note: Minimum 25 SO attempts faced.
EDIT: Corrected Ryan Miller's missed shots figure to 7, rather than 11 (typo). Thanks to Tim for the heads-up email.
Just as in the offensive analysis, we see a somewhat unexpected bunch of names here. None of the current Top 10 leaders in Save Percentage show up in this leaderboard.
And just as we broke down our shooters by nationality, let's take a look at the goaltending:
Note: Minimum 25 SO attempts faced.
If you recall from last week's look at the shooters, the Finns were well out ahead of the rest of the pack. In goal, however, it's an entirely different story (and I'd bet they're not too happy about seeing the Swedes way up at the top). Perhaps the reason those Finnish shooters are performing so well is that they've got so much confidence after competing against lousy Finnish goaltenders? Hey, it's a theory...
Now here's where things get real interesting. Much as in baseball, where managers often pinch-hit to obtain the proper lefty/righty matchup between batter and pitcher, a detailed analysis here may suggest that NHL coaches should take just such a consideration when selecting snipers for the shootout. The table below shows shootout results based on the handedness of the shooter, versus the catching hand of the goaltender. Among goaltenders, about 90% of this action involves left-handed catching gloves, and among shooters, lefties make up about two-thirds. What the numbers suggest here is that coaches should, in general, select players who shoot with the same hand that the opposing goalie catches with. Against left-handed catchers, lefty shooters have a 9.1% better shooting percentage (37.3 - 28.2), and against right-handed catchers, right-handed shooters boast a 7.8% edge (32.8 - 25.0). Unless you've got one of the elite SO artists like Slava Kozlov, Jussi Jokinen, Paul Kariya, or a handful of others, NHL coaches would be wise to take advantage of this aspect of the matchup issue. As always, feel free to print out these results, and take them with you to the rink so you can yell them to the coach during crunch time. I'm sure he'll thank you!
Last, but not least... well, actually last and least, we present our list of the worst goaltending performers in the shootout. When you see these guys in the opposing net, feel free to chalk up that extra point in the standings:
Note: Minimum 25 SO attempts faced.
EDIT: Yikes! Another typo! Hasek faced 27 attempts, not 10 as originally posted. Thanks to Ian for holding my toes to the fire...
| Goaltender | SO Attempts | SO Goals | Saves | Missed | Stop Pct. |
| Marc Denis, TBL | 32 | 5 | 24 | 3 | .844 |
| Kari Lehtonen, ATL | 39 | 7 | 28 | 4 | .821 |
| Henrik Lundqvist, NYR | 63 | 12 | 40 | 11 | .810 |
| Rick DiPietro, NYI | 67 | 16 | 48 | 3 | .761 |
| Tim Thomas, BOS | 54 | 13 | 39 | 2 | .759 |
| Pascal LeClaire, CBJ | 33 | 8 | 20 | 5 | .758 |
| Manny Fernandez, MIN | 51 | 13 | 29 | 9 | .745 |
| Ryan Miller, BUF | 43 | 11 | 25 | 7 | .744 |
| Marty Turco, DAL | 55 | 15 | 29 | 11 | .727 |
| Mathieu Garon, LAK | 29 | 8 | 19 | 2 | .724 |
Note: Minimum 25 SO attempts faced.
EDIT: Corrected Ryan Miller's missed shots figure to 7, rather than 11 (typo). Thanks to Tim for the heads-up email.
Just as in the offensive analysis, we see a somewhat unexpected bunch of names here. None of the current Top 10 leaders in Save Percentage show up in this leaderboard.
And just as we broke down our shooters by nationality, let's take a look at the goaltending:
| Goaltender | SO Attempts | SO Goals | Saves | Missed | Stop Pct. |
| Sweden | 116 | 21 | 73 | 22 | .819 |
| Switzerland | 61 | 18 | 31 | 12 | .705 |
| USA | 279 | 84 | 165 | 30 | .699 |
| Canada | 832 | 277 | 439 | 116 | .667 |
| Russia | 44 | 16 | 24 | 4 | .636 |
| Czech Rep. | 62 | 23 | 29 | 10 | .629 |
| South Africa | 58 | 22 | 27 | 9 | .621 |
| Finland | 186 | 74 | 90 | 22 | .602 |
| Slovakia | 30 | 15 | 11 | 4 | .500 |
Note: Minimum 25 SO attempts faced.
If you recall from last week's look at the shooters, the Finns were well out ahead of the rest of the pack. In goal, however, it's an entirely different story (and I'd bet they're not too happy about seeing the Swedes way up at the top). Perhaps the reason those Finnish shooters are performing so well is that they've got so much confidence after competing against lousy Finnish goaltenders? Hey, it's a theory...
Now here's where things get real interesting. Much as in baseball, where managers often pinch-hit to obtain the proper lefty/righty matchup between batter and pitcher, a detailed analysis here may suggest that NHL coaches should take just such a consideration when selecting snipers for the shootout. The table below shows shootout results based on the handedness of the shooter, versus the catching hand of the goaltender. Among goaltenders, about 90% of this action involves left-handed catching gloves, and among shooters, lefties make up about two-thirds. What the numbers suggest here is that coaches should, in general, select players who shoot with the same hand that the opposing goalie catches with. Against left-handed catchers, lefty shooters have a 9.1% better shooting percentage (37.3 - 28.2), and against right-handed catchers, right-handed shooters boast a 7.8% edge (32.8 - 25.0). Unless you've got one of the elite SO artists like Slava Kozlov, Jussi Jokinen, Paul Kariya, or a handful of others, NHL coaches would be wise to take advantage of this aspect of the matchup issue. As always, feel free to print out these results, and take them with you to the rink so you can yell them to the coach during crunch time. I'm sure he'll thank you!
| Matchup | SO Attempts | SO Goals | Shoot Pct. |
| L Shoot/L Goalie | 971 | 362 | 37.3% |
| L Shoot/R Goalie | 108 | 27 | 25.0% |
| R Shoot/L Goalie | 577 | 163 | 28.2% |
| R Shoot/R Goalie | 58 | 19 | 32.8% |
Last, but not least... well, actually last and least, we present our list of the worst goaltending performers in the shootout. When you see these guys in the opposing net, feel free to chalk up that extra point in the standings:
| Goaltender | SO Attempts | SO Goals | Saves | Missed | Stop Pct. |
| Peter Budaj, COL | 30 | 15 | 11 | 4 | .500 |
| Mikka Kiprusoff, CGY | 33 | 16 | 11 | 6 | .515 |
| Dwayne Roloson, EDM | 32 | 15 | 12 | 5 | .531 |
| Curtis Sanford, STL | 27 | 12 | 13 | 2 | .556 |
| Marc-Andre Fleury, PIT | 25 | 11 | 14 | 0 | .560 |
Alexander Auld, FLA | 30 | 13 | 13 | 4 | .567 |
| Dominik Hasek, DET | 27 | 11 | 10 | 6 | .593 |
| Ed Belfour, FLA | 34 | 13 | 19 | 2 | .618 |
| Olaf Kolzig, WSH | 58 | 22 | 27 | 9 | .621 |
| Nikolai Khabibulin, CHI | 37 | 13 | 20 | 4 | .649 |
Note: Minimum 25 SO attempts faced.
EDIT: Yikes! Another typo! Hasek faced 27 attempts, not 10 as originally posted. Thanks to Ian for holding my toes to the fire...