Matt Murray vs. Brian Elliott

Goaltending is an integral part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. To better understand the strengths and weaknesses of each goaltender, the last 100 goals allowed for each goaltender were charted, with the help of Double Blue Sport Analytics from Upper Hand Inc., to see what patterns emerge.

It's hard to imagine two more different paths to this Eastern Conference First Round series than the ones travelled by starting goaltenders Matt Murray of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Brian Elliott of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Murray won the Stanley Cup before his rookie season, then won it again last season. Elliott had to rebuild his game out of college, changing on the fly against the world's best shooters in the NHL, and will be appearing in the playoffs with a third different team in as many years.
RELATED: [Complete Penguins vs. Flyers series coverage]
Murray and Elliott's unique paths converge with Game 1 between Pittsburgh at Philadelphia at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET, CBC, TVAS, NBCSN, ATTSN-PT).
Here is an in-depth look at each goalie's game:

Matt Murray, Pittsburgh Penguins

Consecutive Stanley Cup wins by Murray, 23, should be more than enough to ignore what was a so-so first full season as the Penguins No. 1 goaltender. He finished with a .907 save percentage, down from .930 in his first season and .923 last season. A looser-than-usual defensive start for the playoff-weary Penguins, as well as nagging injuries that cost him time and affected his timing, were partly to blame for the dip.

Goal trends

High glove?:The spotlight of a run to the Stanley Cup Final illuminates the good and bad in any player's game. Winning back-to-back titles has allowed observers to focus on Murray's glove hand and identifying it as a possible weakness. Allowing 22 high-glove goals among his past 100 goals this season will do little to change the perception, even if his mid- and high-glove total of 27 percent is barely above the 24.6 percent average. Murray, though, is one of those rare goalies who moves better to his blocker side than to his glove, which can leave him late, off-angle and more stretched out on his glove side. He switched from more of a "handshake" to a "fingers-up" position with his glove in his second pro season to take away some of the space shooters see up high, but got caught dropping that glove early at times and with rebounds popping out of it at others.
Make him move:Side-to-side movement increases the chances of scoring on any goalie, and 70 percent of the 100 goals tracked on Murray involved some form of forced lateral movement, including 46 percent on plays that crossed the slot line, an imaginary line splitting the offensive zone from the goal line to the top of the faceoff circles. Although it isn't known how many of these chances Murray faced overall, it's a sign the Penguins gave up more high-quality chances this season than in the past.
Seven-hole seal:Murray's blocker position, with his right elbow sticking out to keep the stick blade on the ice, even in blocking situations, led to more goals under the arm and between the blocker and leg pad in the past but those numbers were each down this season.
Noticeable numbers:Murray's 19 against-the-grain goals, scored when the player or the puck was moving one way and pulled back to be shot in the other direction, included several that exploited a tendency to retreat straight back to his post, leaving him flat and off angle on the far side.

Brian Elliott, Philadelphia Flyers

Elliott, 33, played the final two games of the regular season after an absence of nearly two months following core-muscle surgery Feb. 13.
He allowed a couple of bad-angle goals in a 4-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, and had his first shutout with the Flyers in a playoff-clinching win over the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Elliott has overcome so much during in his career to suggest the time off will hurt him mentally, even after a sub-par, postseason (0-3, 3.89 goals-against average, .880 save percentage) with the Calgary Flames in 2017. He proved what he can do in the 2016 postseason, leading the St. Louis Blues to the Western Conference Final with a 9-9 record, 2.44 GAA and .921 save percentage.

Goal trends

Blocker side:For the second straight season, Elliott gave up more goals than most on clean shots where he was set and could see the shot release. Last season, they accounted for 33 percent of his goals, and this year it was 31 percent, almost nine percent above the average for goals tracked for this project in the past two seasons. Some of that is a function of depth: Elliott plays deeper in his crease and that can leave him exposed on higher shots. Most of those goals were scored mid- to high-glove. This year, the majority have been on the blocker side. Elliott's movement patterns appear to include a momentum-building C-cut with the lead skate more often when he's moving right, which causes a delay in his push and leaves him still needing to build angle and square up once he arrives.
One-knee down:Elliott has long made up for a passive positional game by maintaining reactive hands and not dropping into the butterfly stance by default. But his tendency to use a half-butterfly (one knee down), especially on rush chances down the right side, was costly on several clean looks this season. Most notable, two of the three goals to the blocker side against the Penguins came on clean shots off the rush when he dropped to one knee.
Notable numbers:Elliott gave up 33 goals on plays and shots against the grain, where the puck or play was moving one way and then was shot or pulled back in the other direction. That's more than double the average, but perhaps not shocking given his straight-line retreats against the rush, which can leave him flat along the goal line and off angle with his backside shoulder.