Danny Wild-Imagn Images
If you can’t beat them, join them.
Rather than worry about the scores being up again at the start of the new NHL season, Filip Gustavsson chose to have some fun with his own goal to seal the Wild’s 4-1 victory in the Minnesota vs. St. Louis Blues Tuesday evening.
Since it was an empty net, at least it doesn’t count against any of his fellow goaltending fraternity.
In his first three starts, Gustavsson was present at both ends of the ice. He has only allowed five goals, giving him a goals-against average of 1.66 and a save percentage of .948.
2024 Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck was also nailed early, allowing just two goals in his first three starts. But many other established shot-stoppers have struggled, including both 2024 Stanley Cup finalists. Sergei Bobrovsky’s save percentage through three games is .894, while Stuart Skinner’s is .845.
This is not surprising at this time of year when coaches are still working to implement their systems and many players are adjusting to new roles and new teams.
But even though the average shots per game increased from 30.1 to 28.8 in Tuesday’s games, according to hockey-reference.comThe NHL’s average save percentage takes a quick hit. After Tuesday’s games, it sat at .899 – and the NHL hasn’t had a full season below .900 since 1995-96 (.898).
“I think the game is maybe a little more open now, so goalies get more quality chances sometimes,” Hockey Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist said in a recent interview.
It’s the increased skill level of NHL shooters that we constantly hear about, particularly Gen Z players like Connor McDavid, Connor Bedard and Jack Hughes, that the league highlighted in its latest ad.
But the oldest guard is not going away quietly. The Gen Z era begins McDavid’s birth year in 1997, but some of the hottest producers at the start of the season are Millennials in their 30s: Mark Stone (1992), Evgeni Malkin (1986), and Anze Kopitar (1987).
Although it is a heart disease, recurrent pericarditisforced Lundqvist off the ice just a few years ago, the work environment for NHL goaltenders has changed dramatically since his peak seasons.
Lundqvist didn’t leave Sweden to play his first NHL game until he was 23 years old. But in 15 seasons, he rose to 10th overall in games (887) and minutes (51,816:51) played, according to NHL records. If current goaltending trends continue, we may never see numbers like this again.
Early in his career, Lundqvist played in at least 70 games in four consecutive seasons. Currently, Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators is the biggest workhorse in the league, having played 67, 64 and 64 games over the last three seasons.
At 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, Saros is also one of the smallest starters currently in the league. And while tall goalies are all the rage in today’s NHL, Lundqvist thinks smaller goalies might have some advantage in their physically demanding position.
“Bigger guys, it’s usually a heavier body, more stress on the joints,” he said. “With the bigger players, they sometimes put more stress on the joints than the smaller goalies. I was average height when I played. But now, 6-1 would have been one of the smaller guys. We have seen a lot of changes in that too.”
On Tuesday, Saros allowed six goals on 34 shots to the Seattle Kraken. It’s only two games, but his save percentage for the year now sits at .855.
Today’s goalies are better rested than when Lundqvist reigned supreme and was regularly considered goaltender of the year.
His victory against Vézina came in 2011-2012 when he played 62 games without lights.
“It’s not just a number: ‘OK, he has to play 55 or 60 games,'” he said. “You have to ask yourself, ‘How is the team playing defensively? How heavy is each game?’ That was part of the decision-making over my last five or six years.”
While Lundqvist was a butterfly goalkeeper, he played a unique style: deep into his net, guarding the underside with a wide stance and sharp lateral movements.
Today, most goalies try to cut down on angles by playing closer to the top of their territory. But they still spend a lot of time on their knees, especially when the puck approaches the net.
“You have to deal with it,” Lundqvist said. “If you go down 500 times in a workout, of course you’re going to create stress on your knees and your hips. Over time, over a 10-year period, that’s going to create problems. So maybe Does it help if we stand up a little more in training – save your knees?
That said, today’s goalkeepers enjoy advantages that their predecessors did not have.
“The development on the equipment side has been very good over the last 10 to 15 years,” Lundqvist said. “It allows players and goalkeepers to play this style, doesn’t it? Without this development it would have been very difficult.”
As they settle into the new season, most of the top goalies should soon settle in and start playing closer to their usual level. It remains to be seen whether they can reverse the trend as a group and stop the savings percentage from falling.
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