Oettinger vs. Hill goalie matchup in Western Conference Final

Goaltending is an integral part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. To better understand the strengths and weaknesses of each goaltender, the last 50 goals allowed for each goaltender in the regular season and every goal in the playoffs were charted, with the help of Apex Video Analysis and Save Review System from Upper Hand Inc., to see what patterns emerge.

The Western Conference Final features a rising star in Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars and a goalie still trying to establish himself in Adin Hill, who is on his third team in three seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights and came off the bench in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Oettinger and Hill have distinct styles and how well each team attacks the trends that come with those differences could play a big role for the team that wins the best-of-7 series.

Jake Oettinger, Dallas Stars

Oettinger set a high playoff standard with an incredible performance (1.81 goals-against average, .954 save percentage, one shutout) in the 2022 Western Conference First Round, a seven-game loss to the Calgary Flames. He's had a few more ups and downs through the first two rounds this season, getting pulled twice against the Seattle Kraken in the second round.

Blocker side, says Seattle:The Kraken scored five high-blocker goals against Oettinger, another one mid-blocker, three more just over the blocker-side pad and another three along the ice to his right. Each location total is higher than the tracked average on 6,695 goals for this project dating back to 2017, so it will be interesting to see if the Golden Knights target the blocker too.

High glove? Maybe not: Seeing the biggest regular-season number over the glove might make it tempting to target but the reality is these numbers don't represent save percentages, and the 26.0 percent high- and mid-glove total is just slightly above the 23.6 percent tracked average. The reality of all those blocker-side attempts by the Kraken may also be them staying away from a strong glove. The totals just over the glove-side pad, however, are higher than average, especially 3 of 13 (23.1 percent) in the first round, and even though they dropped to 13.6 percent (3 of 22) in the second round, Oettinger's use of a "fingers up" glove position may be another reason to shoot low instead. Shooters are taught to aim under the glove when they see a goalie holding it out like a "stop" motion rather than a more traditional "handshake" position because the motion to turn it down in front of the pad from "fingers up" takes more time.

RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Stars series coverage]

Stretch him out: Scoring chances across the middle of the ice that force a goalie to transition from one side to the other are always a great way to try and score on any goalie, but Oettinger has always excelled against these types of lateral chances. He tends to come across a bit flat with these side-to-side pushes, which helps him close down on shooters on the other end of those passes. It can also leave him prone to being stretched out wide because he doesn't rotate back to his posts as much as others, a tendency that shows up in some of those higher-than-expected -- and average -- goal totals along the ice on either side of the pads.

Quick shots, even from distance: One-timers from higher in the zone are another surprising area where Oettinger was below average in the regular season, and the key may be trying to get him to move left-to-right before taking those shots. Oettinger tends to back into those movements with a reverse c-cut on his right side, which creates a slight delay getting square, set and on angle, which helps account for some of those quick-shot results from distance.

Traffic and tips: It's almost cliché at this time of year to talk about getting in the eyes of a hot goalie, but screens were a factor on six goals and broken plays, where the puck deflected off a body in front of Oettinger, have played a role in another 10 in these playoffs.

Breakaways: One-on-1 chances accounted for almost half the goals on Oettinger in the first round and three more in the second. Though it seems foolish to expect a lot of breakaway chances in the playoffs, the trend, like other lateral chances, seemed to include stretching him out wide with dekes, often against the grain and to the blocker side.

Adin Hill, Vegas Golden Knights

Hill played an NHL career-high 27 games this season and was 16-7-1 with a 2.50 GAA and .915 save percentage before a lower-body injury March 7 kept him out until early in the playoffs. He got back into the net against the Edmonton Oilers in the second round, first for 20 minutes of relief work in Game 2 and then for good when a lower-body injury sidelined Laurent Brossoit in Game 3. He has a .934 save percentage in five games (three starts).

Cross-ice, but not necessarily in tight: Any play that forces a goalie to move side to side across the middle of the ice increases the chances of scoring, and typically those odds increase in tight, but Hill struggled more on lateral plays higher in the zone. It's likely a function of his relatively conservative positioning, which creates shorter paths and pushes on the east-west passes below the hash marks that he excels against statistically but leaves him deeper in his crease and more exposed on plays higher in the zone, especially on quick releases and one-timers, which were a factor in 36 percent of tracked regular season goals and four of nine against the Oilers.

Low-high and rebound scrambles: One exception to the lateral rule is scrambles and rebounds, with the latter a statistical weakness during the regular season. Forcing Hill to work in and out of his posts on plays from near or below the goal line is a good way to create both, with a tendency to reach rather than shift that can pull him off his goal line and get him stretched out rather than staying up and over his knees and able to shift back and forth on rebounds in front. Hill will also use a traditional VH technique on his glove side post, dropping the inside pad along the goal line and keeping the left pad up against the post and using it to push, a technique that seals the short side effectively but can be targeted with shots off the right pad tending to end up in the middle atop the crease.

High glove? Though it may represent the biggest number on the regular season goal chart, the combined 11 mid- and high-glove goals are well within the average tracked for this project over the years. Unlike Oettinger, however, Hill uses a traditional handshake glove position and can leave his elbow behind his body at times, making high glove a better target than mid to low.

Against the grain: This may also be a function of slightly deeper positioning, which creates less movement but can leave Hill flat and slightly off angle at times, but shots opposite the direction of a play or pass were a factor on 30 percent of the goals in the regular season and two of nine against the Oilers (22 percent), each above the tracked average of 18.5 percent.