Series Preview: How the Goaltenders Match Up in Blue Jackets vs. Penguins

It's the most important spot on the ice in any playoff series: In the crease.

Series can be won or lost by the men in the masks and pads, and Blue Jackets vs. Penguins delivers an intriguing matchup. In one corner sits Sergei Bobrovsky, the Jackets goalie who has one Vezina Trophy on his mantle and might have another come summer. In the other are Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury, goalies who each have a Stanley Cup ring.

Columbus Blue Jackets

What more can be said about Bob?

He was the NHL's first star for December and second star for March. He played in the All-Star game, and he seems to be the odds-on favorite for the Vezina Trophy given to the NHL's top netminder each season.

The Blue Jackets' all-time leader in wins, Bobrovsky has turned in a career year, leading the league in goals-against average (2.06) and save percentage (.931) out of netminders that have played in 25-plus games. He also won 41 games, tied for second in the NHL, and posted seven shutouts, good enough to tie for third.

Perhaps the NHL's quickest and most athletic netminder, Bobrovsky was nearly unsolvable in March, going 9-1-1 with a 1.09 GAA, .967 SV% and 4 shutouts. The advanced stats love him too, with Bobrovsky leading the NHL in goalie point shares (14.9) and goals saved above average on both Hockey Reference and Corsica Hockey. And just for fun, his high danger save percentage, according to Corsica, is 85.41, second in the league behind Curtis McElhinney.  

However, if there's any knock on Bobrovsky, it would be his playoff record. He's suited up in 13 career playoff games with a career record of 2-6-0, a 3.49 goals-against and .890 save percentage. Those numbers are clouded a bit by seven early-career games for the Flyers, only three of which he started, but even in 2014, Bobrovsky was merely good rather than great, posting a 3.17 GAA and .907 save percentage.

Are those numbers merely an aberration, a small sample size clouded by early-career struggles and facing an elite attacking team in 2014? Bobrovsky's solid international play, including a .930 save percentage at this year's World Cup of Hockey, would seem to indicate so. And if so, the Jackets would seem to have an advantage between the pipes.

Joonas Korpisalo will serve as the team's backup but is not expected to play much if at all short of injury or in a blowout situation. The 22-year-old Finn finished the year 7-5-1 in 14 games with a 2.88 goals-against and .905 save percentage.

Pittsburgh penguins

The Penguins have two Stanley Cup-winning goaltenders to choose from. Matt Murray was the backstop a season ago, while Marc-Andre Fleury was the team's netminder for the 2009 Cup win.

All indications are Murray will start this time around, perhaps a good omen in this series for the Pens given Fleury's moment to forget when he left his own net to try to play the puck in the waning moments of Game 4 last time around.

All kidding aside, Fleury at age 32 has been a strong netminder for many a year (and Pens fans won't ever forget his Cup-saving save in 2009) but his stats in 2017 have left something to be desired. On the season, Fleury has started 34 games, going 18-10-7 with a 3.02 GAA and .909 save percentage. Per Corsica, his goals saved above average mark of 5.32 is 18th among goalies with at least 1,000 minutes.

Murray is just 22 but appears in line to get the nod for the start of the postseason after a stellar postseason showing a year ago. After just 13 NHL regular-season starts, Murray took over the net with Fleury injured last postseason and put up a 2.08 GAA and .923 save percentage on the way to the team's Cup win.

This year, he has started 47 contests and played in 49, going 32-10-4 with a .923 save mark and 2.41 GAA, numbers that have him on the fringes of the Calder Trophy discussion as it is still officially his rookie season. Per Corsica, his GSAA of 20.54 is fifth in the league. Murray also has won four consecutive starts to close the regular season, posting a .931 save percentage in that time span.

Murray also got the call to play in four games against the Blue Jackets this year, going 2-1-1 with a 3.16 GAA and .909 save percentage. Still young, he has the experience of a Stanley Cup run behind him and the unflappable focus of a veteran. And that's part of what makes the battle of the goaltenders so important and intriguing in this first-round matchup.

Whether there is a smidge of concern about Murray's health remains to be seen, as he didn't play either of the last two games, with 21-year-old Tristan Jarry being called up to play in the season finale while making his NHL debut. The Pens have said Murray was merely resting with home ice sewn up, but Jarry wasn't sent down today with a handful of other Penguins, fueling some speculation there could be more to the story.