When the Columbus Blue Jackets lost in five games to begin the Stanley Cup Playoffs vs. Pittsburgh, fans couldn't help but lament the play of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
The 1OB Jackets' MVP, likely Vezina winner and Hart Trophy finalist saw his numbers implode in the postseason. After posting a 2.06 goals-against average and .931 save percentage (both league bests) in the regular season, he won just one of five starts vs. the Pens, posting a 3.88 GAA and .882 SV%.
But here's something we really failed to consider at the time: Maybe the Penguins are just wizards.
Not, like, actual wizards, with capes and hats and a spell they can cast to turn goaltenders into newts (they get better). Instead, they might be hockey-playing wizards, capable of scoring goals with such ridiculous efficiency that the usual standards of hockey goaltending prowess need to be thrown out.
Consider the following chart.
| Reg. Season SV% | PLAYOFF SV% | |
|---|---|---|
| sergei Bobrovsky | .931 | .882 |
| braden holtby | .925 | .887 |
| craig anderson | .926 | .936 |
| pekka rinne | .918 | .777 |
So what can we gain from this? Something pretty crazy is happening with Pittsburgh this playoff season.
Facing Bobrovsky, the Penguins made him post a save percentage that would get the average goalie sent back to the AHL in a heartbeat. Going up against Washington's Braden Holtby, Pittsburgh made another Vezina finalist post the save percentage of an AHL backup. And taking on Nashville's Pekka Rinne in the first two games of the finalist, Pittsburgh has forced the longtime NHL stalwart into a save percentage that looks like mine at a drop-in session.
Ottawa's Craig Anderson, meanwhile, was excellent, perhaps making him a wizard as well. Or maybe the playoffs are just the ultimate small sample size come to life, the kind of world where it truly doesn't matter how you win, it just matters how many you win, and with a multitude of snipers on the ice and the ability to score in waves, Pittsburgh has rode the perfect storm to the precipice of a repeat Cup title.
So what of Bobrovsky? After the playoffs, there was talk he was open to seeing a sports psychologist. There were even calls in some quarters to go to Joonas Korpisalo in the playoffs, and a small minority has wondered out loud if it's time to trade Bob while the trading is good (seriously, I've seen it).
Certainly he didn't look great at times in the playoffs, fumbling rebounds and struggling when Pittsburgh got the puck south of the goal line. The collected yet athletic goaltender we saw for much of the season did appear more frenetic in his crease than usual.
But maybe, just maybe, there was some randomness at play, and he was facing a really, really darn good offensive team that is as hot as any we've seen in the postseason since ... maybe ever.
After all, Bobrovsky's other high-pressure numbers have been pretty good. Playing for the Russian national team, for example, he had a .930 save percentage in the preseason World Cup of Hockey, and his Olympics mark in 2014 was .952.
So maybe a sports psychologist will work. Maybe his playoff woes are just who he is, and we'll be hearing about #PlayoffBob yet again a year from now.
Or maybe the Penguins are just wizards.
