A reminder for anyone who hasn't seen these stats posted. I read it in a thread on here and it was apparently taken from flamesnation....
Quote:
Since Smith returned from injury on Mar. 11, Smith has started 21 games. He’s 7-13-1 with a 3.46 goals against average, .878 save percentage and .889 even strength save percentage. Of the 58 goaltenders who have played 400+ minutes in that span, he’s 52nd in goals against average, 58th in save percentage and 58th in even strength save percentage.
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I was perusing goalie stats and found some other interesting stats that I wanted to share as well....
Smith has 5 RBS ("really bad starts" aka save% under .850) so far. He's tied with Matt Murray for worst in the league. Of the 70 goalies in the league who have started a game, 61/70 have had two or fewer RBS. It's fair to say Smith is WAY out on an island there (he had 9 in 55 starts last season). Rittich has had one this year.
Last two stats I found interesting about Smith:
#1- Quality starts is defined on HR as having a save% above the league average in a start. If a goalie doesn't face more than 20 shots, it's defined as having a save% above .885. Smith only has 4 of these QS in 13 games. The only goalies with double digit starts to have fewer is Matt Murray, (Saros has started 9 games and only has 3). Rittich has 5 QS in 6 overall starts.
#2- "Goals saved above average"- This looks at a goaltenders goals prevented given the number of shots faced and his save percentage. It then compares it to the league average save percentage based on the same number of shots faced. Smith is far and away the worst in the league in this category (63 goalies qualified) at -11.52. The next worst are -8.31 (Murray), -7.65 (Allen), -7.08 (Quick), -6.93 (Pickard), -.6.39 (Jones). For reference, there are 33 goalies with a number above zero. Rittich is 13th just behind Antti Raanta at 4.95. I realize this doesn't take into account the quality of the shots faced but it continues to paint an absolutely ugly picture of Smith that we have all seen. Ben Scrivens 2015 season in Edmonton is the only goalie season even close to being as bad as the pace Smith is currently on in this statistical category in the last decade.
These stats can easily be found at:
https://www.hockey-reference.com/lea...9_goalies.html
For the people saying, "what are you going to do if you waive/move Smith?". The answer is that literally any other goalie in the NHL and a handful of AHLers, many of which who would come dirt cheap, would be able to replicate or better his numbers right now. He's shown absolutely no hints that he is going to find his game again and the team would be better off with literally any other goalie in the league right now. With Rittich playing so well right now it is an ABSOLUTE no-brainer that you go to him and work on a replacement for Smith. Giving him any more starts is absolutely not an option anymore.