Skinner vs. Brossoit goalie matchup in Western 2nd Round

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.

Laurent Brossoit was once considered a potential goalie of the future for the Edmonton Oilers.

Now he's the Vegas Golden Knights No. 1 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Stuart Skinner, who was selected by the Oilers in the third round (No. 78) of the 2017 NHL Draft prior to Brossoit's final season with them, has taken his place as the heir apparent.

They'll meet in Western Conference Second Round, and each goalie's ability to manage the pressures of being a first-time playoff starter, which includes teams targeting perceived weaknesses with far more regularity, could be the difference that determines which one moves on.

Stuart Skinner, Edmonton Oilers

Skinner earned the starting job in his first full NHL season despite the Oilers signing veteran Jack Campbell to a five-year, $25 million contract ($5 million average annual value) as the would-be No.1 on July 13. The rookie improved as the season went on, playing in the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game and cementing himself as the playoff starter with a strong performance over the final six weeks of the season. He had ups and downs in a six-game first-round win against the Los Angeles Kings, including being pulled from Game 4 after allowing three goals in the first period, but just as he showed a growth mindset all season, Skinner bounced back to close the series.

Get to the middle: Skinner (6-foot-4, 206 pounds) utilizes his big frame effectively in tight, so unless the Golden Knights can make plays all the way across the crease or create open backdoor chances, they are better off trying to create offense higher in the zone. Skinner's on-ice goal map has more goals between the face-off dots right up to the top of the circles, where he's put into more of a reactionary position with his hands rather than with his body. It shows up in the results on plays across the middle of the ice as well, with significantly better results on the side-to-side passes and plays below the hash marks that typically lead to more goals, and worse numbers on east-west plays from above the hash marks into and through the high slot.

Lateral and quick:Skinner has done a great job over the past couple of seasons narrowing his stance to make it easier to keep up with increasingly lateral attacks in the NHL, but getting that big frame square and set isn't as easy as it might be for smaller goalies, so it's no surprise that creating some type of side-to-side movement and getting shots off quick are big factors in goals against him. Plays across the middle of the ice accounted for 56 percent of the tracked regular-season goals and 47.3 percent in the first round, both well above the average of 36.4 percent among the 6,695 goals tracked for this project since 2017.

Quick releases and one-timers were also a factor on half of the 50 tracked regular-season goals, well above the 37.2 percent average, and though it's not surprising to hear it's important to get a big goalie moving side to side, those numbers reiterate how key it is against Skinner.

Glove, far side: The "8" above Skinner's glove in the regular season might jump out, but his mid- and high-glove goal percentage was as expected at 24 percent in the regular season. It jumps to 31.6 percent in the playoffs, however, and shots against the grain, which catch a goalie moving one way by shooting in the opposite direction, were a factor in a couple of those, as well as both just over the pad. Those types of against-the-grain plays were a factor in 30 percent of his regular-season goals and 31.6 in the first round, almost double the tracked average (18.5 percent), once again driving home the importance of getting Skinner moving before you shoot.

Rebounds and breakaways: These were two areas where Skinner underperformed this season, but pucks tend to come off his pads hot, so it's important not to camp too close to the crease on low shots. As for breakaways, a shooting mentality in 1-on-1 situations was the best way to take advantage of a tendency to get caught a bit deep in his crease.

Laurent Brossoit, Vegas Golden Knights

Coming off hip surgery in the offseason, Brossoit cleared waivers and started his comeback in the American Hockey League before injuries to other Vegas goalies gave him a chance to reestablish himself in the NHL. He played 11 NHL games, which means we don't have 50 goals to chart from the regular season. There's no point in looking back to previous seasons, in part because there was a different coach, different systems and therefore different scoring chances, but also because goalies are constantly evolving; Brossoit regained mobility and an ability to get into new positions, especially on his posts, after a hip injury that plagued him since junior hockey was repaired. So we're left with 23 goals from the regular season, another 13 in a five-game first-round win against another former team, the Winnipeg Jets, and a lot of extra video work looking for tendencies.

Against the grain: More than half of the goals (52.2 percent) on Brossoit in the regular season had an against-the-grain element, with shots, deflections or dekes directed to the opposite side the goalie is moving to follow the play. Though that dropped to 23.1 percent in the first round, it's still above the average of 18.5 percent, and the totals included three breakaways when Brossoit opened the five-hole moving laterally and three of five clean-shot goals in the regular season, with a tendency to slightly overplay the short side evident at times off the rush.

Net play not there: Edmonton did a great job making Los Angeles goalie Joonas Korpisalo go side to side on cross-ice plays from near or below the goal line, taking advantage of his tendency to reach rather than shift across, but Brossoit is less likely to leave himself similarly exposed. Able to get into and off his posts better since hip surgery, Brossoit was better than most on dangerous low plays across the middle of the ice this season and has only given up three goals off low-high plays (8.3 percent) in the regular season and playoffs combined, well below the average of 17.1 percent.

Low hands, high shots, blocker side: Brossoit holds his glove and blocker lower than many of his peers, projecting them out in front of his pads almost down by his knees, but his goal totals middle and high on the glove side were below the tracked average of 23.6 percent in both the regular season (17.4) and first round of the playoffs (23). The blocker side (21.7 percent), however, was a bit higher than the 17.2 percent average in the regular season and notably above it in the first round (46.2). Brossoit does sometimes flatten out and retreat a bit with players holding the puck on the flanks on the power play, which contributed to a Mark Scheifele goal in Game 3 against the Jets and was a tendency the Oilers exploited on Korpisalo.

Lateral and quick: Brossoit is great at staying within his structure and not overextending himself, but the best way to open him up is lateral plays, which were a factor on 58.3 percent of his goals this season, and quick shots or one-timers, a factor on 41.6 percent.

Traffic: Screens exacerbate both trends, accounting for more than 30 percent of the goals scored on Brossoit this season, well above the 20.5 percent tracked average.