The Washington Capitals Are Not Alone In Having Goaltending Questions

The Washington Capitals have had goaltending questions all season long. Questions do not necessarily mean problems. The Capitals have had times during the season where the goaltending has been very good. Vitek Vanecek has had his moments, Ilya Samsonov, while those moments have been shorter, has also had some good spurts.

But the questions remain. Going back to the 8th of March Vanecek has allowed three or more goals ten times. He has played in twelve games in that time. Samsonov has allowed three or more goals eight times in eleven games played. Are you comfortable with the Capitals goaltending with just four games left until the playoffs?

The questions remain and they will remain until an end result has been reached. Whether that result is a first round exit, hoisting Lord Stanley’s treasured chalice above their heads or anything in-between. Until these two, or one of these two goalies can prove to be a difference maker, in a good way, there will be questions that need to be answered.

The Capitals are not really alone here, however. How many goalies scare you in the eastern conference? How many goalies have proven to you that they deserve to be feared come playoff time?

The Eastern Conference used to have plenty of goalies that you would not want to see in a playoff series. Carey Price was probably the first name you think of. He would probably be quickly followed by Henrik Lundqvist. Tuuka Rask was a problem for a lot of teams. Marc-Andre Fleury had his problems at times, but still was someone you needed to deal with most likely. You can and probably should add Ben Bishop to that list as well. And oh yes, Braden Holtby was someone other teams had to deal with too. Forgive me if I am forgetting someone else.

There were a lot of goalies to fear in the eastern conference. Who is the guy to avoid this season? Looking at the current playoff teams the only guy you need to look at is Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Vasilevskiy has won back to back Stanley Cups and was a major part in doing so. In all of the series clinching games in the 2021 playoffs he posted a shutout. He has also won a Vezina Trophy as the leagues best goaltender and a Conn Smythe as playoff MVP.

Of all the guys you want to avoid in net, Vasilevskiy is thee one. Then who?

I’m not here telling you that the goaltending in the eastern conference is no good. The goaltending in the east is not weak. The only point I am here to make is the Washington Capitals are not alone in the fact that their goaltenders need to prove themselves and specifically do so in the playoffs. Go down the list.

The Florida Panthers and Sergei Bobrovsky. Does he scare you? Spencer Knight? What have either of them done? Bobrovsky has made it past the first round once in his career. His career playoff stats are 3.24 GAA and a .899% save percentage. You scared of that? You should be afraid of the Panthers, but not their goaltending.

How about the Maple Leafs? Do Jack Campbell and Erik Källgren put fear into your heart? Campbell has seven games of playoff experience. His stats are pretty awesome, having a 1.81 GAA and a .934 save percentage. But he still hasn’t proven he can help his team go deep. He let in a fairly soft goal in game 7 vs the Canadiens last year. Can he handle the pressure in Toronto?

Boston. How afraid of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark are you? Combined they have played in one playoff game.

The Hurricanes have Frederik Andersen. He is maybe the most experienced of the goalies you may run into. He has played in seven playoffs, helping the Anaheim Ducks to a conference final in 2015. Other than that he has not helped his team get past the first round once. His career GAA and save percentage is 2.55 and .916 in 53 games played. Not bad, nothing to be that afraid of.

Does Shesterkin scare you? He has had a terrific season, MVP season some might argue. He has one game played in the playoffs in his career. Can he get it done?

How much does the Penguins goaltending worry you? Tristan Jarry hasn’t proven anything. He has seven playoff games played in his career. His GAA is 2.90 and his save percentage is .894%. Not good!

I’ll ask one more time. Whose goaltending scares you?

For any fans of the teams I just mentioned who may stumble across this. I am not saying any of these goalies are not good. I am obviously not saying none of these guys have had good to great seasons. I am simply saying this. The Capitals have two goalies who need to prove they can get the job done come playoff time. Pretty much every goalie in the eastern conference, not named Andrei Vasilevskiy needs to prove they can lead their team in a deep run.

At least one guy will. Maybe two if the Lightning and Vasilevskiy run out of gas early.

Some teams may have goalies they are more comfortable with. Come playoff time, things can get weird. Great goalies can stumble, average goalies can get hot.

The Capitals goaltending has questions that need to be answered. They are not alone there.