The world’s best money goaltender has suddenly become susceptible to a certain shot location. Trend or fluke?
I woke up this morning to this text from a current NHL goalie: “How wild is it that 95 percent of the goals on Vasilevskiy have been blocker side? I think the last eight straight have been.”
Using InStat Hockey, I went back and tracked all of Toronto’s shots during the first four games of the series, and at first glance it doesn’t appear that the Leafs are targeting the left side of the net. 40.5 percent of the Maple Leafs’ 132 shots on goal went towards Vasilevskiy’s blocker side, 21.5 percent were in the middle of the net, and 38 percent were fired towards the Lightning netminder’s glove hand.
What’s interesting is that during the 2022-23 regular season, Toronto’s shots on goal were balanced. The Maple Leafs put 36 percent of shots blocker side, 29 percent middle net, and 35 percent glove side. Here’s what I think they may have identified: Vasilevskiy has a difficult time stopping high blocker side shots, especially when traffic is present. And so far in the series, the numbers suggest targeting that area of the net is working for the Leafs.
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