Pekka Rinne vs. Jonathan Bernier

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.
Pekka Rinne helped lead the Nashville Predators to the Stanley Cup Final last season, but it didn't stop the 35-year-old from making a couple of subtle, yet significant, changes to his game while working with goalie coach Ben Vanderklok this season. Jonathan Bernier also tweaked his play this season with first-year Colorado Avalanche goaltending coach Jussi Parkkila and, after some time to adjust, the differences were noticeable in the second half.

RELATED: [Complete Predators vs. Avalanche series coverage]
Now Rinne and Bernier meet in the Western Conference First Round, which starts with Game 1 at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET, SN, TVAS, NBCSN, FS-TN, ALT).
Here is an in-depth look at each goalie's game:

Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators

Rinne continued to tweak his post play and eliminated a pre-shot hitch of tapping his blocker and glove together. The biggest change, though, was to his stance, especially on rush chances.
In the past, Rinne would get locked in low and wide early in these sequences, which not only delayed his lateral movements and limited his ability to properly track the puck side-to-side, but also forced him to work harder earlier in the play. Since the change, Rinne says he doesn't feel as fatigued, which will be important if the Predators go on another long playoff run.

Goal trends

Rush job: Despite the adjustments -- or perhaps because he was adjusting to them during the season -- Rinne was beaten cleanly, from distance, on several rushes. Rush chances accounted for 24 of the 30 "clean-look" goals, time to be set and see the release of the shot -- among the 100 tracked goals for this study.
Create traffic: Screens accounted for 18 percent of the tracked goals against Rinne, 4.4 percent below the average in breaking down playoff starting goalies for this project during the past two seasons. But that is down from 33 percent of the goals against Rinne last season, and the difference appears to be his own players not getting in his way as often, which was a problem in the past. It may also be a function of the adjustments, with Rinne's taller, narrower stance making it easier for him to shift into long shots with his body rather than reaching for them, which leaves fewer holes in his 6-foot-5 frame. It also helps explain why deflection goals are down to 18 percent this season from 27 last season.
Open him up in tight: Rinne's more familiar hunched-over stance returns as plays get closer to the net and, like any big goalie, the holes are bigger when the goalie is forced to move laterally, a combination that played a role in many of the 13 goals through the five-hole and nine under each arm Rinne allowed. All those numbers were down from last season, but the tendency to reach, and create holes, is apparent when play is closer to his net.
On the glass: Rinne is the most aggressive goalie in the NHL when it comes to playing pucks dumped behind the net, slamming his body into the boards or using save techniques to stop dump-ins that most goalies would leave for their defense. He'll even go behind the net to corral dump-ins high up on the glass, which is usually a no-no because of the increased risk of bad bounces that end up in front of an empty net, as well as the possibility of shooters faking the dump in and then firing at goal once the goalie commits toward the boards.

Jonathan Bernier, Colorado Avalanche

Bernier starts for the Avalanche after No. 1 goalie Semyon Varlamov sustained a season-ending, lower-body injury in late March. Bernier has experience with this situation this season. Bernier was in goal for nine of Colorado's franchise record-tying 10 consecutive wins from Dec. 27 to Jan. 23, as well as for the season finale win against the St. Louis Blues that secured a playoff berth. Patient and powerful on his skates, the 6-foot Bernier makes up for a lack of size with crisp, quick movements, including post-play improvements that allow him to maintain the mobility that is so important to his game on plays down low or behind the net.

Goal Trends

Rebounds in tight: The goals-allowed numbers along the ice outside of each skate are often indicative of open-net or tap-in opportunities, but for Bernier, 14 of those 23 goals (12 on the blocker side, 11 on the glove) came on rebounds. Bernier's chart numbers go up slightly when you convert them to a percentage because he had 95 regular-season goals to track instead of 100 used for majority of the goalies in this project, and his 26 rebound goals (27.4 percent) were six percent above the average of tracked goals during the past two seasons. Most of those rebounds were tight around the edges of the crease, in part because Bernier prefers a softer pad rather than some of the new technology designed to propel rebounded pucks further away from the goalie. Because Bernier plays closer to the top of his crease as a smaller goaltender, he has more distance to recover, and therefore less margin for error, when these second chances spill out to the side. Given how well Nashville's defense shoots the puck, controlling rebounds, and getting some help controlling the sticks of attacking players around his crease, will be important.
Around, not through him:Bernier's six goals between the legs were the lowest tracked for any starting goalie in the 2018 postseason. Add in nothing under his arm on the glove side, and two under the blocker arm, and it's clear he forces shooters to make good shots to the edge of the net because not much goes through him.
Not a bad angle: Opponents often see post play as an area to target specific tendencies but after making significant improvements to how he consistently moves into, seals, and moves off his posts using the reverse-VH technique, Bernier only gave up one bad-angle goal.
Notable numbers: Bernier was 10 percent above the average with 25 against-the-grain goals, where the puck or play is moving one way and shot or pulled back in the other direction.