Style helps Golden Knights overcome goalie crisis

VANCOUVER --The goaltending injuries plaguing the Vegas Golden Knights have been overcome, in part, because of the unique approach of David Prior, their goaltending coach.
Vegas used five goalies in the first quarter of the season, including 19-year-old Dylan Ferguson on an emergency recall from junior. Yet, the style played by each goalie has been surprisingly similar. That similarity has helped the group to a 2.89 goals-against average and .903 save percentage. Vegas is 15-8-1 and in second place in the Pacific Division.

Veteran Marc-Andre Fleury, the No. 1 goaltender, waiver-claim acquisition Malcolm Subban, third-string Oscar Dansk and Maxime Lagace, Dansk's intended backup in the American Hockey League, each has played predominantly at, or beyond, the edge of his crease this season. Although it goes against the prevailing NHL trend of asking goaltenders to play deeper, Prior saw something in each goalie that convinced him they all could play his preferred style.
"I am looking for people who have demonstrated the courage to wait out situations longer than goaltenders that just default to the ice," Prior said.
Prior, who was Washington Capitals goaltending coach from 1997-2014 and held similar positions with several other NHL teams, is quick to point out he has no issues with goalies who drop to their knees sooner. Some were taught that way from an early age; others lack the quickness to wait out shooters and still get to the ice, or to move laterally to a new position after a pass.

Goalies with the patience to wait and the speed to beat side-to-side plays on their skates are the ones Prior wants.
"I am trying to find guys that can get over the discomfort level of when a shooter gets in so close you start to lose time to react and it's unsettling and you want to back off," Prior said. "Some seem willing to hold in there longer."
Playing consistently above the crease runs counter to the dominant trend of staying closer to the goal line, a style that makes it easier to stay on angle and shortens the amount of movement required as the play moves laterally. Some NHL goaltending coaches insist their goalies always have blue ice in front of their toes.
Prior's insistence on a more aggressive positional approach isn't as strict.
"Every one of them has a different starting point depending on their own physical capability," he said. "I don't draw lines and say this is where we are playing."
Prior does not want to see the Vegas goaltenders flowing backward with the play as it reaches the attacking zone.

"He likes you holding your ground, be on your feet as much as possible and not back in and give up the crease unless you absolutely need to," said Subban, who said he played deeper in his crease while in the Boston Bruins organization. "It's out over the crease now and then hold your ground. He doesn't want any backward momentum."
The challenge has been getting so many goalies to buy into the approach in a short period of time, a process that starts with changing practice habits. Prior focuses more on process than results, even if it means giving up more goals during practice sessions.
It was a big adjustment for Fleury, a 14-season NHL veteran who won the Stanley Cup three times with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was 3-1-0 with a .925 save percentage before getting injured Oct. 13. There is no timetable for his return
"It's unsettling," Prior said of Fleury's early attempts with the new process. "He wants success in practice to feel good about his game, and I eliminated that. I said, 'We'll do it the other way around, you have to play right.' He said, 'Well I am not used to giving up so many goals in practice,' and I said, 'Because you probably cheated all the time.' In the end, those [practice] saves mean nothing. I am encouraging them when the puck is in the net that they played it very well even though they got beat."
In that regard, Prior said it may be easier working with goaltenders already passed on by other teams.

Boston selected Subban in the first round (No. 24) of the 2012 NHL Draft, but he failed to make it through the second period of his two starts with the Bruins. The Columbus Blue Jackets didn't give Dansk, who they chose with the first pick in the second round (No. 31) of the 2012 draft, a qualifying offer for the 2017-18 season. Lagace, who was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Stars in 2012, became a free agent after not receiving a qualifying offer.
"I think because they have encountered failure in their careers, it's not quite as devastating that we don't emphasize stopping the puck in practice," Prior said.
Stopping pucks in games is more important. Subban, who is 4-2-0 with a .924 save percentage, now sees value in the approach Prior preaches, especially when he watches goalies who don't play that way.
"When I look at guys getting scored on, I notice how deep they are," Subban said. "Obviously, they want to be there, but I am just saying I'd be out further now. Challenging takes away the first option, the shot, and I think I have the ability to make some of those saves on the backdoor still, so I am trying not to sell myself short on the first option."