Goalie Tracking: The top storylines in NHL nets, including the rise of 2 future standouts

By most measures, the Anaheim Ducks are the worst defensive team in the NHL this season.

Theyve allowed more high-danger shots (8.76) and scoring chances (32.34) per 60 minutes than any other team.

And yet, the Ducks are league average in goals allowed.

Its a testament to how great Lukas Dostal has been.

The 24-year-old is only in his second full season in the NHL.

He received his first opportunity to be a true starter early in the season when veteran John Gibson missed time, and he has cemented himself as the goalie of the future in Anaheim.

Advertisement Welcome back to Goalie Tracking, where we examine the details of goaltending and attempt to explain why goalies do what they do.

In a position at which margins are razor thin and the game is faster than ever, details are the difference between saves and goals.

We try to highlight exactly what different goalies are doing to separate themselves.

This month, well examine Dostals rise to prominence, how Calgary rookie Dustin Wolf is showing maturity far beyond his years and how Ilya Sorokin has rounded back into elite form on Long Island.

Back to Dostal, who is doing something we rarely see: Producing elite statistics despite playing behind the worst defense in hockey.

His 26.67 goals saved above expected ranks second in the NHL behind Winnipegs Connor Hellebuyck, according to Evolving-Hockey .

That metric accounts for the quality of shots faced, which makes it more indicative of goalie performance than save percentage, but its still incredibly difficult to maintain high GSAx playing behind a very poor defense.

To give context to Dostals numbers, here is how the primary goalie for every team that allowed the most high-danger chances each season finished in GSAx since 2017-18.

The only goalie during that time to finish top-five in GSAx playing behind the defense that allowed the most high-danger shots was two-time Stanley Cup champion Corey Crawford, and even Crawfords GSAx figure pales in comparison to Dostals this year.

Dostal does a lot of things really well, but the two aspects of his game that stand out most are his play-reading and puck-tracking abilities.

He plays with excellent structure, rarely breaking from his compact stance as the puck moves around the zone.

He keeps his feet underneath him a bit more narrow than most which helps him react instantly to the play as it unfolds.

Advertisement When discussing a goalies reads, we commonly use the phrase staying ahead of the play.

When a netminder is really locked in, he often sees a pass coming before it happens, allowing him to get into position for the upcoming shot before the puck even arrives to the shooter.

In this example against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan.

16, Dostal read the play so well he was literally ahead of it.

Following a tie-up on the faceoff, the puck bounces to Lightning star Jake Guentzel in a dangerous shooting area on the inside edge of the circle.

Dostal squares himself to Guentzel, but he reads Guentzels body positioning so well that he actually starts his push to get over for Nikita Kucherovs one-timer before Guentzel even passes the puck.

Dostal recognizes that Guentzel has the puck directly in front of his body.

In order to fire a shot with any kind of velocity, he would need to pull the puck all the way back to his side.

From the current position, Dostal knows he can only pass left or right.

He also knows Nikita Kucherov is set up for a one-timer in the left circle.

Guentzel ends up fanning on the initial pass attempt, but you can see Dostal had already opened up his left skate to begin his push across, and located Kucherov with his eyes so he knew exactly where he was going.

All of this before the puck ever leaves Guentzels stick.

In this case, Dostal ends up too far ahead of the play, but in the vast majority of instances, that pass is getting across on the first attempt and Dostal is giving himself a much better chance at making the save because he anticipated it so early.

Watch how easy he makes this back-door one-timer save look, all because he is early to get his head across and begin tracking the shot.

Why is Dostal so good at tracking the puck? Aside from his eye-hand coordination, he also does himself a lot of favors in the way he navigates his crease.

Notice how still his head remains throughout all of these plays.

He stays deep in his stance with his legs absorbing any movement (like a cars suspension) as he moves back and forth, keeping his mask at essentially the same level throughout.

The lack of head movement makes it easier to maintain visual attachment as the puck zips around the zone.

Compare how Dostal moves side to side on that play to how Andrei Vasilevskiy does in this clip.

Vasilevskiy is one of the best goaltenders of this generation, but he bobs his head up and down a lot more as the puck moves around the zone.

It just goes to show there isnt one correct way to goaltend, but Dostals calm, structured movement works for him.

Dostal and Gibson have alternated starts since the veteran returned from his injury.

Both are playing exceptionally despite the lack of defensive structure in front of them.

One thing thats clear from watching Dostal play is that this isnt some hot streak where hes diving around and pucks are simply hitting him.

His success has been the result of an intelligent, sophisticated game that should only improve with experience.

Advertisement Wolf hasnt looked like a rookie Speaking of young goalies cementing themselves as a core piece for a franchise, what a season it has been for Wolf in Calgary.

He ranks sixth in the NHL in GSAx (18.69) and 11th in save percentage (.912).

To this point, he has stopped the fifth-most goals saved above expected by any goalie 23 years or younger since Evolving-Hockey began tracking the stat 17 years ago.

Wolfs most impressive attribute is his skating.

We discussed that in detail in December , but what has stood out about Wolfs game lately is how in control he seems to be.

Still in his first full season in the NHL, hes no longer a timid rookie trying to fit in.

Wolf is already conducting the defense in front of him like a seasoned vet.

This play early in the game against the Winnipeg Jets on Jan.

18 is a great example of Wolfs composure and authority on the ice.

Its one of the most anxious plays a goalie can face, with an unexpected turnover happening right in front of the net.

Calgary defenseman Kevin Bahl (No.

7) was caught off guard by the pressure of Winnipegs Adam Lowry (17) and threw a panicked pass that went straight to Nikolaj Ehlers (27).

This set up a scramble situation with very little defensive structure, but Wolf handled it perfectly.

Bahl nearly compounded his mistake by challenging the puck carrier, Ehlers, and leaving Lowry all alone on the weak side.

His first step was toward Ehlers with the puck, but you can see Wolf peek over to see Lowry winding up for a one-timer, and he immediately directed Bahl to take away the pass.

You can see Wolfs extended glove hand pointing to Lowry, and we can surmise he also called out for Bahl to take away the pass because he immediately retreated and got his stick in the passing lane.

Its not just that he makes the call.

Everything about his body language shows he feels completely in control of the situation.

In other words, Ive got this.

Wolf makes the head check, identifies the passing threat and helps his defenseman sort out coverage all in a matter of seconds.

He does it all on a surprise play that developed instantly with a shooting threat barreling toward him.

Its seriously impressive stuff from the rookie.

Advertisement Once Bahl took away the passing option, Wolf fully committed to the shot.

Because he stayed square to the shot, the rebound deflected harmlessly into the corner and the scoring threat was over.

A goalie with less conviction on that play might flatten out along his goal line to prepare for a potential pass, which would likely kick the rebound into the slot.

Hes still very young, but this is Wolfs team at this point.

Hes playing with confidence, and with good reason.

Hes the biggest reason the Flames are in the Western Conference playoff chase.

In Wolfs 33 starts, Calgary has a .621 points percentage.

For reference, that would be the ninth-best record in the NHL, between Florida (.623) and Toronto (.618).

In the 22 games Wolf didnt start, Calgary has a points percentage of only .432, which would be the fourth-worst in the NHL.

Dont underestimate the value of having a goalie in net that the entire team trusts, and believes is in control of the game.

Sorokin is back On Jan.

17, the Islanders were in last place in the Metropolitan Division, eight points out of the final wild-card position in the East.

Less than a month later, theyre right in the thick of the playoff chase, thanks in large part to Sorokin.

Yes, he suffered a couple of losses to end the hot streak heading into the break, but prior to that, he was on one of the hottest stretches by a netminder this season.

In seven starts between Jan.

20 and Feb.

4, Sorokin went 7-0-0 with a .960 save percentage.

A major strength of Sorokins game is how well he covers the bottom of the net.

His speed and agility to move laterally, combined with his ability to keep his pads sealed in the most precarious of positions, makes it really tough to beat him along the ice.

Its a big reason Sorokin generally has a high save percentage on shots from in close.

Over the last four years, hes stopped .838 percent of shots inside of 29 feet, compared to the league average of .814 according to NHL Edge data.

This sequence of saves against the Lightning on Feb.

1 is a great example of how well Sorokin seals the ice with his pads.

Sorokin made three saves in less than two seconds, all of which were too close for him to have any reaction time.

He made the saves because of his great pad seal.

Its easy for a goalie to keep the bottom edge of his pads sealed to the ice when hes in the butterfly, but it becomes increasingly difficult as you stretch your leg to each side.

Reaching with the pad while keeping the seal requires a lot of internal hip rotation, of which Sorokin has plenty.

Not to pick on Calvin Pickard, but here are examples of what it looks like when a goalie reaches his pad without maintaining the seal.

First, on this play against Minnesota on Jan.

15, you can see Pickards right pad lift off the ice when he stretches it to the far post.

It didnt end up mattering on this occasion because the shot was high, but later in that same game, it was costly.

On this play, Minnesota forward Ryan Hartman crashed the net right off the faceoff.

Pickard made the initial save, but when he stretched to stop the rebound attempt, his pad lifted off the ice slightly and Hartmans shot slid underneath.

The bodys natural reaction is to lift the knee to stretch the leg out as far as possible.

Sorokin does an exceptional job of keeping his knees down and pads flush with the ice, no matter how far he stretches in either direction.

Watch this sequence from Feb.

1 again, focusing on his pads.

Its remarkable how well he seals the ice.

Heres another example, this time on a rush chance in transition.

Not only does Sorokin keep the ice sealed with both pads as he slides across in desperation, but he also makes a follow-up save on the rebound that he barely saw coming, all because of the seal.

When Sorokin is at his best, hes one of the most entertaining goalies to watch.

Luckily for us and the Islanders that has happened a lot more often as of late.

(Top photo of Dustin Wolf: Michael Reaves / Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.