One-game Scouting Report for MIke Smith and Corey Crawford

From game 4 of the 2012 opening-round series between the Phoenix Coyotes and Chicago Black Hawks

Mike Smith's goaltending was the difference in the game, as the Phoenix netminder stopped 30 of 32 shots; including 10 saves on Chicago scoring chances.

The 6'4", 218 lbs Smith finished the regular season with a  38-18-10 record, a 2.21 goals against average, and a .933 save percentage. He has a career save percentage of .914 during the regular season, and .943 during the playoffs.

The 6'2", 208 lbs. Corey Crawford finished the regular season with a 30-17-7 record, a 2.72 goals against average, and a .903 save percentage. He has a career save percentage of .910 during the regular season, and .916 during the playoffs.

My scouting reports for goalies focus on their ability to make saves, make big saves, control rebounds, and maintain good balance. The results of these attributes are added together to produce the goaltender's rating. The highest possible rating is 4.00, while the lowest possible rating is 0.00. The higher the value the better a goalie has played.

The first number involved in the calculation is the percentage of saves a goalie makes without giving up a rebound. For example, if a goalie makes 10 saves and gives up only 1 rebound his "no rebound percentage" is .900. Again, the higher the number, the better a goalie performs.

The next number in the calculation is the percentage of safe rebounds a goalie gives up for each rebound allowed. Rebounds deflected outside of the main slot are considered safe. As such, a safe rebound is defined as a rebound outside of an imaginary line drawn from each goalpost to the corresponding board-side hash mark. As an example of this calculation, if a goalie gives up 10 rebounds and deflects 9 of those pucks outside the slot, his "safe rebound percentage" is .900. Again, the higher the number, the better a goalie performs.

The next number is the percentage of saves that would be considered "big saves". A big save is defined as any save made on a play that would be considered a traditional scoring chance. As an example of this calculation, if a goalie makes 5 big saves on 20 shots his "big save percentage" would be .250. Once again, the higher the number, the better a goalie performs.

I also track how a goalie controls the puck. I do this by tracking his successful or unsuccessful pass-attempts, as well as his successful or unsuccessful attempts to dump the puck out of his zone. The resulting numbers are used to produce a ratio of successful plays for every 1 unsuccessful play.


SHORT-HANDED GOALTENDING RATING

 Both goalies demonstrated poor rebound control while short-handed.

Smith had a below-average SH rating despite stopping all 4 shots he faced short-handed. He allowed dangerous rebounds on 3 of his 4 saves, as 3 rebounds landed in the slot. Smith made 1 successful pass while short-handed.

Crawford's rating of 1.00 was even lower than Smith's. Crawford stopped the only shot he faced short-handed, producing a dangerous rebound.

SMITH	41	50	CRAWFORD
O REBOUND %	0.250	0.000	O REBOUND %
SAFE REBOUND %	0.000	0.000	SAFE REBOUND %
BIG SAVE%	0.000	0.000	BIG SAVE%
SAVE %	1.000	1.000	SAVE %
	41	50
SUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS	1	0	SUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS
UNSUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS	0	0	UNSUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS
PUCK PLAYS RATIO	N/A	N/A	PUCK PLAYS RATIO
	41	50
GOALTENDER RATING	1.25	1.00	GOALTENDER RATING
	41	50

OVERALL GOALTENDING RATING

Smith's impressive even-strength rating of 2.02 helped push his overall rating to a slightly above-average 1.93. His rating was the product of an impressive save percentage, and solid control of the many rebounds he produced. Overall, he stopped 30 of 32 shots, and produced rebounds from 27 of those 30 saves. Impressively, only 12 of those 27 rebounds ended up in the slot. He made 10 saves on Chicago scoring chances.

Crawford's even-strength rating of 1.81 also helped his overall rating. His overall rating was saved by his ability to keep the many rebounds he did produce out of the slot. Overall, he stopped 16 of 18 shots, and allowed rebounds from 15 of those 16 saves. He did a great job allowing only 6 of those 15 rebounds to land in the slot, and he made 4 saves on Phoenix scoring chances.

SMITH	41	50	CRAWFORD
O REBOUND %	0.100	0.063	O REBOUND %
SAFE REBOUND %	0.556	0.600	SAFE REBOUND %
BIG SAVE%	0.333	0.250	BIG SAVE%
SAVE %	0.938	0.842	SAVE %
	41	50
SUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS	14	10	SUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS
UNSUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS	3	0	UNSUCCESSFUL PUCK PLAYS
PUCK PLAYS RATIO	4.67	N/A	PUCK PLAYS RATIO
	41	50
GOALTENDER RATING	1.93	1.75	GOALTENDER RATING
	41	50

Please keep in mind, these are simply one-game scouting reports. As such, they are only meant to reflect each goalie's play during this one game.