Calgary’s 2018-19 starting goaltending issue that persisted for what felt like forever has definitely sorted itself out. Onward from about 32 games into the season, David Rittich has taken the reigns as the Flames’ de facto number one goalie.
As the Flames enjoy their rest before closing out the season and ideally a deep playoff run, now was a good time to revisit a previous data visualisation on Calgary’s goaltenders that I made earlier in the season.
Back then, after 18 games played, the Flames had given up 56 goals against. Now at nearly triple the games later, they’ve tightened up their goals against and are sitting at a comfortable 145, good for 12th lowest in the league. They’ll have to give up 23 goals in their next three games to match their 18-game pace.
So how have Rittich and Mike Smith been in net for the Flames? Rittich has played 30 games (27 starts) compared to Smith’s 25 (24 starts). Yet, with three extra starts, Rittich’s still given up fewer goals than his counterpart.
With 145 total goals against, there’s definitely enough goals to compare the goalies with. The visualisation breaks down the how goals have been scored on the Flames’ goaltending tandem and tells the season story. Goals are broken up by situation, as well as danger (when applicable) as determined by Natural Stat Trick.
As previously mentioned, Rittich’s given up fewer goals than Smith, despite playing more games. They’re actually fairly close in terms of goals allowed, so the breakdown immediately shows what types of shots beat which goaltender more often.
At even strength and on the penalty kill, Rittich tends to give up more low-danger goals than Smith does; however, the inverse is true for high-danger shots. Smith gives up the bulk of high-danger goals and this has been true for much of the season. Rittich has excelled in terms of making high-danger saves and has earned a good reputation for doing so.
Penalty kill
A total of 34 power play goals have been scored on the Flames’ 21st-ranked penalty kill. Despite Smith being better at low- and medium-danger shots, most shots on a power play tend to be higher danger, and Rittich undoubtedly has that locked down. His high-danger SV% on the penalty kill is better than Smith’s overall penalty kill SV%. That goes to show that Rittich’s been a big factor in preventing a lot of power play goals against.
| Danger | Rittich SV% | Smith SV% |
| Low | 0.818 | 0.880 |
| Medium | 0.865 | 0.920 |
| High | 0.815 | 0.645 |
| Overall | 0.835 | 0.802 |
Even strength
At even strength, the Flames have allowed 100 goals. While Rittich has given up more low-danger goals, his SV% isn’t too far from Smith’s. Both goalies are actually below league average, but stopping low-danger shots at a 95%+ efficiency isn’t going to cause much disdain.
The larger difference between the goalies is their medium- and high-danger performances. Rittich has been far better. Even with more playing time, Rittich has Smith beat in both SV% as well as total goals allowed in those situations.
| Danger | Rittich SV% | Smith SV% |
| Low | 0.956 | 0.964 |
| Medium | 0.949 | 0.901 |
| High | 0.863 | 0.797 |
| Overall | 0.930 | 0.901 |
Power play
Last time I made the visualisation, Smith had given up one low- and one medium-danger shorthanded goal. Now Rittich has given up two shorthanded goals of his own, but both of them were high-danger. However, giving up just four shorthanded goals against has the Flames right in the middle of league; they’re tied at 10th lowest shorthanded goals against with six other teams.
| Danger | Rittich SV% | Smith SV% |
| Low | 1.000 | 0.667 |
| Medium | 1.000 | 0.875 |
| High | 0.778 | 1.000 |
| Overall | 0.930 | 0.901 |
Other scenarios
Smith gave up one penalty shot goal to Andreas Athanasiou when they were in Detroit. The Flames have given up four empty net goals trying to mount a comeback, and two goals against were credited courtesy of their two shootout losses to Washington and Tampa Bay.
The takeaway
It’s pretty clear now more than ever that Rittich has put together one of the best seasons for any Flames goaltender in recent memory. In fact, he might even be considered for the Vezina Trophy come June. The visualisation definitively shows that he’s been better than Smith, but he’s actually been much better than the majority of NHL goaltenders.
The Flames have comfort knowing Rittich is backstopping them to victory more often than not, and they’ll look to make a big splash to end the season. Wherever they end up in the standings and postseason, one thing is certain: we all owe Big Save Dave a big massive jumping hug.
Jobu was looking at club stats today. Flames are currently
– MOST Giveaways in the NHL
– 3rd MOST Takeaways
– 3rd BEST in Faceoff Wins
– 4th LAST in Blocked Shots
– LAST in Hits
– 3rd BEST in Faceoff Win Percentage
– 2nd in Shooting percentage
– 11th MOST PIMs per game
– 7th best Goals Against per game
– 2nd Best Goals for per game
– 15th Best in shots for per game
– 4th Best in shots against per game
– 8th best PP
– 11th WORST PK
This tells Jobu a few things.
– Despite not blocking shots, the number and quality of shots is still extremely low.
– Were in the box too much. Byng Effect? Wideman Effect? Our PK isn’t good enough to take this many penalties… something to cleanup here.
– The number of giveaways needs to be lessened, though this is likely a cause of Peters’ quick-up-ice approach. Number of takeaways balances this out somewhat.
– We don’t hit – likely because Peters doesn’t want his players to be caught tangled up or out of position. This would also attribute to the number of takeaways as were playing the puck/pass more than the body.
Food for thought (and comment).
Wow! Thanks for this. Very interesting. Worst at giveaways eh? That’s pretty nuts. We’re generally really good at takeaways, as you’ve pointed out, especially in the offensive zone. I wonder how many of our giveaways are from the neutral zone? It seems like when we’re having our off games, the major problem is inability to transition from the d-zone to the o-zone, from bad passes through the neutral zone. I know Peters has mentioned this poor transition game from time to time: when we’re playing our best games, we aren’t too bad at this.
I want to point out that, if I’m correct in my observations here, TJ Brodie is a huge asset to a strong transition game. The nights he’s having a monster of a game, he is playing extremely well in the transition side of the game, and allowing us to break out from the d-zone. He is the guy who would be racking up all of the “third assists” if that were a stat. Obviously Gio is good at this too, as is Andersson, but really TJ is the one that to me excels the most at this, and is why he is such a great player to have on our team. When he is hustling out there, with his great skating and passing skills, we are a much better team.
I also think this is another asset that we now have over the Gio-Hamilton pairing, is a strong first pairing that can just move the gosh danged puck so well. Dougie gave it away far too much from what I remember. I am hoping that Hanafin can learn a thing or two from Brodie. The way the latter plays should hopefully help with Hanafin’s transition game, as it needs some work. I think Hamonic has also been a stellar passer this season compared to last, which could be for a variety of well documented reasons.
But man, when we don’t play well, I really think its a suffering transition game, among other things, that get us down.
My guess is Brodie leads the giveaways for defenceman.
Yes Brodie leads both giveaways and takeaways for D, I’m ok with it cause he balances out while helping team production. Johnny leads the whole team in giveaways while Mony leads the takeaways.
Good to know re Monahan. That stat is a tribute to how he has excelled at his defense and back checking (as well as forechecking) and general effort lately
Mony has always been one of the top takeaway guys on the team for years now. It’s just one of those quiet stats we never hear about.
When you have the a lot of the time you have to expect more giveaways.
Good info! For me the most important stat is 33W – 13L – 5OT – 71pts.
Most of the ones that jump out are the cause of one thing: the Flames as one of the better possession teams in the league, has the puck for majority of the game. Easier to give away the puck when you always have it. Cant really block shots when you have the puck (although losing Russell doesnt help). Cant hit the other team when you have the puck.
Also shout out to Ryan on F/O front. Mans a beast
Wow “Cant really block shots when you have the puck” what a ridiculous comment. It’s not like this team has been possession monsters. On average we get 3 more shots than our opponents. Good teams tend to outshoot us at times as well. There are plenty of shots that the boys could block and do somewhat. If you want to be more accurate you could say the boys are going after the puck instead of standing in the shooting lanes blocking shots. That would not sound so ridiculous. However chasing can be less useful than blocking at times, blocked shots can also end up in your net too.
When you are in the shooting lanes blocking pucks you sometimes don’t block the puck or don’t block it entirely. Some goalies hate it because it obstructs their view of the shot and the puck. And sometimes the defender tips the puck. I think Brodie has had two own goals that way this year, not blocking necessarily but tipping them, certainly.
I’m totally okay with blocking being down.
Calgary is fifth best for shots for/shots against differential at 155.
155, like I said we average 3 shots more per game(51×3=153 so I was real close). However it really seems like 20 or more teams really suck this year as opposed to 10-15. We don’t often out shoot the good teams in the league yet. We are getting out shot 20 games a year instead of 70 lol, it’s an improvement.
Blocking shots can also increase injuries. Hitting also increase potential injuries. As does fighting. (ask Frolik).
Injuries = games lost.
Have the Flames have been lucky to avoid the injury bug…. or smart?
Results (71 points and leading the West) speak for itself. I’m good with what we are doing.
sorry, ask Travis about fighting.
Yes, the team can always block more shots, they are last in the league. Im saying because the team style and ability to keep play away from the defensive end means theres less opportunity to block shots – i mean it literally makes logical sense.
Not giving the boys an out, just saying, you look at the top 10 teams with the most blocked shots, and its OTT, DAL, PHI, EDM, CHI, ARI, NYR. Do you want to be fans of any of those teams – I dont. Only decent teams at the top are like SJS and PIT.
I’d break out the PK numbers Smith and BSD…
BSD: 30Gp — 18 SHGA
MS: 25Gp — 16 SHGA
We have 34 Short Handed Goals Against? How does that relate to PK numbers as SHGA come on the PP? Is that supposed to be shots per goals against (sh/ga)?
Since December first the Flames are 18th in PK(13th worst) and 5th in PP. We were second in PP in January but 11 worst PK.
If Detroit is interested in a top 4 D, we might want to make a move on Anasthiou. Good cap deal and his size, age etc fills a slot in Calgary. Get on the phone Tre.
I put that questions to the boys on the fan and they seem to think that detroit would be looking for way too much for Athanasiou. But i do like the idea myself. Great pick up for justa playoff run and 3 mil for 1 more season sounds good too.
What top 4 do you propose? I think that’s a great idea if the Flames could move Brodie and a 3rd?
Gio Andersson
Hani Ham
Vali Kylin
4 of those defencemen are 22 and under and have zero NHL playoff experience. I can live with 3 of 6 young D but not 4 going into the playoffs with no experienced back ups. That spells a first round exit. Brodie is part of the glue that is this team.
Brodie is the easiest to replace. Hamonic would be a mistake to ship out. Hani has too much value and potential.
Trade Brodie while his value is high! He is riding the coat tails of Gio.
Trade Brodie and Gio will not get the Norris. Gio is riding Brodie’s coat tails. ALL GIO’S BEST YEARS WERE PAIRED WITH BRODIE!!!!
Here’s a thought: They make each other better
I would imagine it would have to be Hani as DET is going rebuild and would want youth + picks/prospects, not vets.
If that’s the case, I’d pass. Hanifann has way too much potential, plus he will be the #1 d in the next 2 seasons.
Hmmm? Looking at DET, I could see a less “sexy” trade happening. Say an “Insurance plan” in play for guys like Howard & Ericsson or Kronwall? So, some D-Depth/EXP Rather than going for a home run offensive type player?
Of course that wouldn’t get DET one of our top 4 D or any of our D for that matter…imo.
I was just intrigued by the idea of Athanasiou. Don’t think they should do it though. I think the Flames will stand pat with what they got and make no moves going into the deadline unless a season ending injury occurs before that time.
I dunno. Howard and Kronwall would be pretty “sexy”.
lol, yah senior sexy old time fun.. Not sure any of DET’s old guard actually improve our Flames, let alone at a price.
I think with Kronvall we might have to overpay for name value. He has slowed down but I do like the idea of him paired with Anderson to provide some mentorship.
Kylington deserves to play as well.
Totally agree Rittich is the man. The curious thing about this statement is that I base that on the soft goals Smith gives up and if low danger = soft then Rittich let’s in more of those. So I think what this really says is stop the f’ing puck!
Tre has been working the phones with the Red wings Ken Holland. No I am not “pals” with Conroy like another poster on here, but my source is pretty reliable as we played together in Europe and he does know the right people in the organization. The holding point on what could be quite the blockbuster trade is Ken Hollands ask of one of the flames top 4 D as well as their first pick. 1 player potentially from the wings is a rental and the other has decent term left at a decent cap hit for his “scoring” ability. The first trade the Flames do will be with the Wings….
Anthousiou and Nyquist for our 1st and Brodie? Let’s hope so!
That’s really messing with the chemistry.
I would be completely surprised if BT made that move.
Maybe in the off season but not now.
Would the team really miss Brodie. He is a “good player”, but I personally feel replaceable. Everyone who plays with Gio looks pretty good. If Brodie and what should be a very late 1st can bring in another top 6 scoring winger and goaltending insurance I am all for it. 25th-31st pick is not theoretically going to land you a stud. I feel a late 1st rounder, which is a gamble, for a bonifide sure thing already in the dance player is a no brainer. Just my thoughts.
Did you see Howard play the Flames when Smith was in net…He made smith look like Vasilevski. He was Horrible. His GAA and save% might be a little better but smith has the same amount of wins in 9 less games. No thanks on Howard. Flames already have an old crappy back up
That would be like taking a double barrel shotgun and blowing both your feet off in one shot. No.
Not at all.
If the Flames were to move Brodie in a trade like you suggest I think the deal would be more complex than you suggest. First both brodie and Nyquist have some form of NTC. It’s probably easy to expect that Nyquiats would say yes to a cup but I can’t imagine Brodie going sure trade me to a team doing a rebuild while we are in a cup hunt.
Secondly the deal would need for the Flames to get a D back; say Kronwell as a rental. Kronwell also has to waive his limited NTC; everything I have read suggests he wants to retire wing. We would either have to add a decent prospect or add a conditional pick to the picture. We win the cup and Detroit gets our 3rd next year we don’t win and they get a 5th. If somehow all that came together the Flames could look like this:
Johnny/Monny/Lidholm
Tkachuk/AA/Nyquist
Frolik/Backs/Neal
Bennett/Janko/Ryan
Hathaway
Andersson/Gio
Hamonic/Hanifin
Kromwell/Kylington
Valimki
Prout
Would that make them more of a contender?
Retire, that’s brutal for Calgary.
I hope its Mantha!
Both Mantha & Anthousiou are very good young players, but I believe Anthousiou maybe more versatile, he is listed as “C, LW, RW”(LHS) as Mantha is listed as a straight forward “RW”(LHS).
Giving up a top 4 D and not getting one back would not be a smart move heading into the playoffs. We have some forward depth but after Vali comes back up there is nobody left. I hope our GM is smarter than that.
I could see Shillington being the odd man out.
He has been playing like a future top 4 D, so there is that…..
You can never have too many good young D……….unless the expansion draft is around the corner.
We only have 4 forwards worth protecting and a boat load of D to protect. So trading a young D for a young stud forward makes sense…
WW
I want Mantha just for a punching bag for Hamonic…I still consider his action while Hamonic was completely defenceless to be gutless and cowardice…no thanks.
Mantha would be great on a line with Tkachuk.
There is no way Detroit us dealing him UNLESS we gave up a kings ransom.
I’ve spent a lot of time on this website the last couple years or so but just decided to start posting. I love talking about big trades the flames could potentially make but at the same time any players that we give up that’s worth anything is glue on this team and very important. And any prospects and picks shouldn’t be in play unless it’s a low round pick for a decent player that would be useful come playoff time. What I’m saying is this team is playing some really good hockey so don’t mess with what’s working and don’t shorten our future for something that might not even make us better
Disagree Eggy, buts thats why this is an open forum. Every team that has won the cup makes a trade going into the playoffs, whether they are playing good or not. Already established depth forwards are more valuable than late first round gambles.
Washington made one minor defense depth trade two weeks before the deadline last year. That is pretty much all we need to do. See how everyone performs together in the playoffs and make major adjustments in the offseason.
This. No need for big additions when the team is SECOND IN THE LEAGUE
Actually they made 3 trades acquiring 4 players. 2 of them minor leaguers the other 2 being Michal Kempny and Jakub Jerabek. Yes all minor trades, depth trades, but trades none the less…..none the less, now I sound like Cassie Campbell 😁
Right, minor trades. They gave up a third and a fifth round pick for minor depth pieces. If Stone is healthy we won’t need it. A top-ish AHL D on a two way for a 5th-7th round pick I’m okay with. Someone who can finish the season on the farm and help when/if needed. Maybe sign AOM to an ELC as last resort insurance. He is 41 4 6 10 +11 on what has been a sketchy defense core. Quietly doing your job is a good thing for a young defenceman like him.
Sorry 3, I couldn’t find the third one. One could assume that was an AHL deal. They did not add a Stasny or Tartar, or anyone else to upset their mojo.
Kick the tires on Mcelhinney, Miller, and Greiss. If you can get them cheap, do it.
Tre goes for it and trades our 1st and Kylington for the real Breadman!
Trading Brodie at this point makes zero sense to me. Why would Tre to do that to Gio? Gio’s top three seasons he has had Brodie as his D pairing. Leave him be at least until the off season, don’t mess with that chemistry mid season. Even then, I don’t trade Brodie in the off season. Why mess with one of the top D-pairings in the league in the middle of stanley cup window?
Trade is dead for now. Hollands asking price was to high. To be continued….
My Psl Conroy says your full of poop.
WW
Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me, why should you not speak to me? And why should I not speak to you?
Lol….!!!!
What a fake prick!!!!!!
WW
That comment goes for both Hrudey and Incel….
More than likely the same poster anyway…..
WW
Up yours you useless piece of monkey excrement. I honestly hope someone shoves their foot so far up your racist, arrogant arse someday. I have defended you in the past, now I join everyone else who would love to see you banned. You human piece of condescending filth. Point your accusations elsewhere. WW I think I honestly hate you.
This is probably what the majority of users on this forum wants to say but never did
Yeah. What he said.!!!!
WW
Bravo!
@Em durp
Which one?
The real WW. Guy is a piece of filth.
@Hrudey
I’m not here to make any friends Fee fee…..
WW
You are a sad, sad old man. Creating imposter accounts of yourself, playing of it, then accusing other posters of being imposters. Seriously what the heck is wrong with your head. Get help because obviously you are ill. Done with your garbage.
If any thing is sacred, the human body is sacred.
@Em durp
You do realize it’s one guy operating both accounts?
He trolls himself and others.
Dont let him get under your skin.
We appreciate your posts and your sharing your source of information.
Remember, we’re here to have fun. 😎
So WW is also the imposter WW? Now thats a nut job. Flames talking with Montreal now for some reason. Who would they go for there?
I’m not surprised. He’s a troll but kinda funny.
Some of you guys let him bother you too much.
Ignore him if you dont like his comments.
@Jour
Are you always so stupid or is today a special occasion? I don’t know what it is that makes you so stupid but it really works.
I could make a monkey out of you, but why should I take all the credit? Your “not surprised”…..If you believe this dribble then you are as dum dum as them.
WW
Just finished watching the Rangers Flyers game: Hayes would be a yes if the deal was right. Simmonds based upon that game and the two against the Flames would be a definite no.
Ya I watched the game too just to scout them out, Not sure there is a huge step up fix for the flames between those two teams, pretty meh as far as available players go anyways.
Y’all are massively overrating Athanasiou IMO.
Philadelphia Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said Monday that captain Claude Giroux is the lone untouchable….what would it take to get Carter Hart? Insurance goalie for playoffs? Parson and Hart…..wow that would look pretty good down the road.
I believe what he said was that Giroux was untouchable and a “bunch of guys it wouldn’t make sense to trade”.
One can dream. Can you imagine having both goalies from the 2017 juniors gold medal game on one team!! Don’t think that has ever happened.
@The Great WW
You asked me if I was stupid.
My answer to you laddie is this…
I’m not an Oilers fan.
So no. I’m not stupid.
Good evenin’ to ya then 😄
Oh and btw.
Some of the words that you use are so eerily the same words that the other WW uses like ‘dum dum’ for example.
No one else uses those words except both of you.
You throw a stone into a pack of dogs the one who Yelps the loudest, is the one who got hit.
Ok….but what if it hits two dogs? Like a ricochet or something. Never mind….to many edibles tonight🤩
So yeah, with the trade talk, the exposure of WW infact being both WW’s, and other posted stats we lost sight of the actual article. BSD is rocking it. I personally, as posted in previous articles have 100% confidence in this man. My only concern is if he is injured, who backs up Smith. I am one of the few that still believes in Smith, but have no faith in Gillies. I still think a veteran trade deadline popcorn eating goaltender is required…..or Carter Hart. Insurance exists for a reason.
Goalie insurance would be nice but not if the price is too steep.
@ Hrudey
Easy feefee, the period imposter (Incel) and I are obviously different posters…..
WW
Did you have to google what a “feefee” is?
Or are you familiar with the term?
WW
Wow, give it up already. You are both WW and the imposter and now most know it. I am here to talk hockey, not play your stupid mind games. Just get help already. You obviously lack attention or have some mental issues you need to sort out. Good luck.
And honestly I did have no idea what a “fee fee” was either. After the Google search I now do. I am sure you have alot of custom made fee fees around your lonely house…you are disgusting btw. Sick sick man. Just get help.
@WW
Are you a Male model?
I dunno’… the old WW (bigger head in avatar) was crotchety, cruel and condescending at times, but in the end worth reading and responding to. Vaginasal and hrudey complex seem to be about twelve and make my eyes bleed when I have to scroll through their drivel. They are “johnny-come-lateley’s” to the blog and I wish they’d clean it up or get the feck out!
Actually I have been on here a while, but Stajan is no longer on the team so I changed my name and Avatar. Not looking to bicker just wanted to clear that up. Not a newbie. Glad you support a guy who makes fake accounts to troll though. Keep up the good fight and try cold cucumbers on your eyes to help with the swelling.
I’m not a believer in blocking shots. How many guys go down with injuries from not letting the goal tender do his job. Shot blocking is for teams with crappy defense.