In front of the net: make way for the survival instinct!

UPGRADE DAY

With six weeks remaining on the schedule, the playoff race enters its most intense phase and this is when survival instincts become essential. Goalkeepers who feel that adrenaline rush are the ones most likely to lead their team to a successful conclusion.

Rest assured ! We do not pretend to know who feels what precisely, but at this point, the goalkeepers of the teams drafted or not are those who have the most pressure. It doesn't matter what kind of season they're having, all that matters now is living that sense of urgency and just refusing to lose.

In the East, it's a seven-team race for two spots. Losing is no longer an option for the Islanders, Penguins, Sabres, Senators, Panthers, Capitals and Red Wings. As excellence is rarely achieved with a switch that is suddenly thrown “ON”, the best clue as to what is to come is probably the performance of the goalkeepers over the past two weeks.

We already know that in the West, barring an exceptional streak from the Nashville Predators or the Calgary Flames, the eight teams participating in the playoffs are known.

The playoff fight is happening in the East and the chart at the bottom of the page shows how the concerned goaltenders have performed since February 20 in terms of wins, losses, overtime losses, save percentage and goals-against average .

Sorokin reassures!

Of the group, the Islanders are the best-served team in net with their elite goaltender, Ilya Sorokin. He's on a nine-game streak with over .900 save and moved up to second in our top 30, just 44 points behind leader Linus Ullmark.

As Semyon Varlamov is a top auxiliary, do not expect the Islanders to slow down, but they have played more games than their pursuers.

Net guarding is a question mark for the Penguins. Is Tristan Jarry fully recovered from his injury? On the Buffalo side, the threesome is incomprehensible, while all the data points to greater use of Craig Anderson. Do they really want to make the playoffs? Bof! They've only missed them for eleven years in a row. Why not twelve?

The Senses to watch

The Senators will be ones to watch. Coming back to action, Cam Talbot finds himself with a fine challenge ahead of him and Mads Sogaard impresses as backup keeper. At the Panthers, Sergei Bobrovsky has a golden chance to restore his image and he has been playing well for some time. It's up to him to finally achieve something special in Florida.

In Washington, we seem to have thrown in the towel and Darcy Kuemper, recent Stanley Cup winner, does not make a difference. In Detroit, Ville Husso has struggled lately and Magnus Hellberg shouldn't be counted on too much.

Goalie performance since February 20
(games yesterday not included)

ISLANDERS (72 points)

Ilya Sorokin * (3-1-1/,955/1 ,58)

Semyon Varlamov (1-0-0/1,000/0.00)

PITTSBURGH (71)

Casey DeSmith (1-1-0/.907/3.43)

Tristan Jarry (3-2-0/.888/3.41)

BUFFALO (68)

Craig Anderson * (1-1-0/.942/2.17)

Eric Comrie (2-0-0/.896/3.95)

U.P. Luukkonen (1-2-0/,838/5.95)

OTTAWA (68)

Mads Sogaard * (2-0-0/.939/1.50)

Cam Talbot (3-1-0/.906/2.51)

Kevin Mandolese (0-1-0/.906/3 ,15)

FLORIDA (68)

Sergei Bobrovsky * (3-2-0/.933/2.02)

< p>WASHINGTON (68)

Darcy Kuemper (3-2-0/.881/3.58)

Charlie Lindgren (0-1- 0/.868/3.42)

DETROIT (65)

Husso Town (2-3-1/.903/2.82)

Magnus Hellberg (0-2-0/.872/5.03)

*best goalkeepers who played at least two games since February 20