Holtby, Schneider show value of switching goalies in playoffs

The immediate success of goaltender switches for the Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils during the Stanley Cup Playoffs highlights the importance of being able to change course in a series.
History shows this to be the case.

The Pittsburgh Penguins changed between Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury and even Jeff Zatkoff during their runs to the Stanley Cup the past two seasons. The Chicago Blackhawks used Scott Darling in place of Corey Crawford at times during their 2015 championship season.
"When you are down 0-2 you are just looking for anything to build some confidence on, like anything," said former NHL goalie Alex Auld, a radio analyst for Sportsnet 650 and a goaltending coach in Vancouver, "And for me, what stands out for both these teams is that it is unique you are going back to your original starting guy rather than going to the backup."
The Capitals fought their way back into the Eastern Conference First Round against the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 3-2 win Tuesday in double overtime of Game 3. Braden Holtby, in his first start this postseason, made 33 saves.

Washington trails the best-of-7 series 2-1, with the three games decided in overtime.
Philipp Grubauer started the first two games for the Capitals as a reward for his strong play during the final month of the regular season, but he lost Game 1 and was pulled in Game 2 after allowing four goals on 22 shots. He has a save percentage of .837 in 105:23.
It was a similar story with the Devils. Cory Schneider, the erstwhile No. 1, was the backup to Keith Kinkaid for the first two games of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Schneider lost the starting job through injury and ineffectiveness during the final four months of the season. He was 0-10-2 with an .863 save percentage from Dec. 27 to the end of the regular season.
Kinkaid allowed 10 goals in less than five periods and was pulled during the second period of Game 2. The Devils lost the first two games on the road.
Schneider started Game 3 on Monday and made 34 saves in a 5-2 home win, and will start again in Game 4 of the best-of-7 series Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; GOLF, SN, TVAS2, MSG+, SUN).
"There is more upside in the fact you are going back to a Vezina Trophy winner in Holtby rather than saying, 'Hey we're going to our backup or even 1B,'" said Auld, who replaced injured starter Dan Cloutier in the 2004 Western Conference Quarterfinals for the Vancouver Canucks and won two games against the Calgary Flames before losing Game 7 in overtime. "Maybe mentally that gives the rest of the team a boost. Maybe it just allows them off the hook for a minute to get their confidence back.
"It's the same with [New] Jersey, you are going back to the guy who is more proven, more of a pedigree. I think it could help the psyche of a team."

Change may be necessary, but it is not always easy on the psyche of the goaltenders involved.
"I feel like when you play, you get in a groove. You lose, you come back in, you don't have to overthink stuff; you can have a short memory no matter what," said Fleury, the No. 1 with the Vegas Golden Knights, who finished a sweep of the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference First Round with a 1-0 win Tuesday. "When both guys can go in, sometimes you can maybe get you thinking a little more about stuff you don't need to."
In 2016, Fleury lost the starting job when he sustained a concussion late in the season. Murray, a rookie, took the job and ran with it all the way through the postseason. Fleury played one game, Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final, against the Lightning.
Murray was injured warming up prior to Game 1 of the first round against the Columbus Blue Jackets last season. Fleury helped the Penguins defeat the Blue Jackets in five games and the Capitals in seven in the second round. But Fleury gave way to Murray after a 5-1 loss in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Ottawa Senators and never returned.
Despite added mental pressure, playoff goalie swaps have worked several times before.
Cam Ward was a 22-year-old rookie when he replaced struggling starter Martin Gerber in Game 2 of the 2006 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Montreal Canadiens; he finished the season by lifting the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Darling replaced Crawford during Game 2 of the 2015 first round against the Nashville Predators and started the next four games, but was pulled in Game 6. Crawford played the rest of the way and helped Chicago win the Cup.
Part of the reason the change can work is because playoff teams usually have two good goaltending options. It's not as if they are turning to an emergency goalie like the situation in Chicago on March 29 when Scott Foster, a 36-year-old accountant, played in relief for the Blackhawks. Starter Anton Forsberg was injured during warmups, and backup Colin Delia was injured during the third period of a 6-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets at United Center.

"What happened in Chicago, with Mr. Foster there a few weeks ago, that's one of the coolest events I have ever seen, but that doesn't happen very often," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "These are all National Hockey League goaltenders. Sometimes they are hot, sometimes they are not, but Schneider has proven himself in this League to be a good goaltender."
Perhaps the most comparable goalie to Holtby and Schneider is Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who won the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 but didn't start the playoffs.
Giguere, the starter all season, left the Ducks late in the season after his son, Maxime-Oliver, was born needing eye surgery. Giguere missed the first three games of the first round before making a relief appearance in Game 4 against the Minnesota Wild. He won Game 5, eliminating the Wild, and never looked back.
Now that they are in the lineup, Holtby and Schneider are trying to author the next goalie-switch success story.
"I just viewed the playoffs as a fresh start for me and a new season," Schneider said Tuesday.