Young, untested West goalies will decide which Cup contenders go deep

Alexandar Georgiev rode the pine last spring as Igor Shesterkin backstopped the Rangers to the conference finals. The Lightning eliminated New York, then lost the championship series to the Avalanche, who dealt draft picks to land Georgiev so that he could help them defend the Stanley Cup.

Filip Gustavsson pondered returning to his native Sweden when his North American pro career got off to a middling start. Shaky for much of his time with the Senators, Gustavsson was traded to the Wild last summer, and his stock has soared ever since.

Stuart Skinner wears the unconventional jersey number 74 because his older brothers Stephen, Scott, and Sheldon sported similar digits, he told The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman. The youngest of nine siblings, Skinner was the Oilers' second-choice netminder back in the fall, but the spotlight now beams on him alone.

Unproven goaltenders control postseason destinies in the Western Conference. Puck-stoppers with scant playoff experience, like the above trio, Stars prodigy Jake Oettinger, and Kings deadline acquisition Joonas Korpisalo, could wind up deciding who competes for the Cup if they shine or stumble in pressurized moments.

Fans of rival teams are still getting to know them. Half of the West's Game 1 goalies never started in the playoffs before this week. Oettinger and Korpisalo had yet to reach 10 playoff appearances. Gustavsson and Skinner, the West's postseason debutants, are 24 years old - six years younger than Panthers journeyman Alex Lyon, the East bracket's lone newcomer.

Golden Knights rookie Logan Thompson would've been part of this cohort if he didn't aggravate a lower-body injury in March. Vegas is starting Laurent Brossoit in his place instead of Jonathan Quick, the aging former Conn Smythe Trophy recipient whose decline in 2022-23 hastened a broader generational turnover.

Quick and Mike Smith manned the creases in 2022 when the Kings and Oilers clashed in the opening round. Marc-Andre Fleury split starts with Cam Talbot to ill effect as the Wild crashed out of the playoffs in six games. Darcy Kuemper won the Cup with Colorado the month after he turned 32, then departed in free agency when the Avalanche tapped Georgiev as a cheaper, fresh-faced replacement.

The Stars leaned on grizzled thirtysomething goalies - first Kari Lehtonen, then Ben Bishop, then Anton Khudobin - when they won rounds in recent postseasons. Wasting little time, Oettinger, who's also 24, inherited the top job from Khudobin by his second NHL campaign.

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West contenders believe in the kids for good reason. Dallas coaches and teammates assured theScore's John Matisz that Oettinger's confidence never wavers. Heroic in defeat against the Flames last year, Oettinger's 64 saves in Game 7 forced double overtime in an epic contest and increased his save percentage in the series to .954.

Oettinger and Georgiev were two of the seven workhorses across the league who made 60 starts in net this season. That duo, Gustavsson, Skinner, and Korpisalo all ranked in the top 15 in goals saved above expected, per Evolving-Hockey. Jack Campbell's .888 save percentage alarmed Edmontonians, but Skinner's .914 denial rate over 48 starts helped restore faith in the Oilers and strengthened his Calder Trophy candidacy.

Skinner has slumped in Edmonton's rematch with Los Angeles, though not egregiously. A one-timer trickled under his glove as Game 1 waned, permitting the Kings to tie the score and eventually prevail in overtime. His inability to seal the post multiple times in Game 2 induced jitters before the Oilers rebounded to win. Both Skinner and Korpisalo have given up six goals in the series despite Edmonton aiming 18 more shots on net.

Korpisalo's playoff exploits include making 85 saves one night in the 2020 bubble - the Lightning beat his Blue Jackets in the fifth OT period - and holding Connor McDavid scoreless on 11 shots in this round. The Kings ranked 31st in team save percentage when they swapped Quick for him on March 1, then ranked fifth in the stat from Korpisalo's debut onward, according to Natural Stat Trick. Leon Draisaitl (three goals) is the only Oiler who's troubled him consistently.

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Over in the Stars-Wild matchup, Oettinger's .919 save percentage through two games is strong, while Minnesota's decision to stick steadfast to its goalie rotation backfired Wednesday.

Benching Gustavsson after his 51-save masterpiece keyed a win in double overtime, Wild head coach Dean Evason watched Fleury let in seven goals, some of them stinkers, on 31 shots as Dallas knotted the series. Fleury said postgame that his performance was embarrassing.

The math suggests the Wild should ride Gustavsson, the substantially better goalie this season. His .931 save percentage dwarfed Fleury's .908 mark, and he saved many more goals above expected (24.54 to 0.86) behind the same defense. Gustavsson and Oettinger are the only goalies aged 24 or younger to record 50 saves in the playoffs since 2010, per Stathead. They'll duel in Game 3 and beyond if Evason smartens up.

As with Brossoit, Georgiev's exposure to the playoffs prior to this week was limited to a few periods of mop-up duty. Neither goalie's first start went as planned. Four of Brossoit's former Jets teammates fired pucks past him in the Golden Knights' Game 1 setback. Kraken veteran Philipp Grubauer outshone Georgiev in Seattle's 3-1 win, stopping 10 of the Avalanche's 11 high-danger shots on net as part of a sparkling 34-save effort.

Favored heavily in that series, Colorado needs Grubauer to wilt or Georgiev to stand taller to avoid digging a deep deficit. Connor Hellebuyck, whose 16 saves against Vegas enabled Winnipeg to cruise to victory, familiarized Brossoit with the standard of netminding required to stifle a talented foe.

Long, exhilarating runs remain in reach if these playoff novices uplift their teams in the clutch. The opponent will advance if they falter. Let's see what they can do.

Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.

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