Islanders Goalie Tandem Ranked Best In The League

The New York Islanders have the best goalie tandem in the league according to Kevin Weeks. I for one, agree with this statement.

When Barry Trotz and Mitch Korn came over to the New York Islanders, fans were rightly excited to see what would happen with the defense and goalie. Both Trotz and Korn have a phenomenal track record when it comes to developing goalies.

Thomas Greiss and Robin Lehner won the Jennings Trophy last season, and Lehner was in the Vezina conversation. Now, for the second year in a row, the Isles goalie situation is outstanding.

The NHL Network had Kevin Weaks on to discuss the best goalie tandems in the league and he believes it’s the Isles who have the best duo in the sport:

In nine starts this year, Thomas Greiss has a .938 save percentage (leading the league) with a 1.98 goals against average. That’s just ridiculous numbers for the veteran goalie, as Darcy Kuemper is the only goalie in the league with a better goals against average.

Where Greiss thrives is 5v5 situations. Since the start of last year, there is not a goalie in the league who has a better save percentage at 5v5 than Thomas Greiss.

At 5v5 this season, he had a .948 save percentage and a 1.66 GAA according to Natural Stat Trick. He’s been off the charts, but he’s only one half of the Isles tandem. Semyon Varlamov has been pretty solid himself.

Varly, as his teammates call him, has a .917 save percentage and a 2.56 goals against average in nine starts. A huge step in the right direction after a down year in his final year in Colorado.

In 5v5 save percentage, Varlamov is a .930 which is 12th overall. His goals against average is 1.99 which is sixth overall in the league. Their combined .926 save percentage is .022 better than league average to put that in perspective.

Boston, Arizona, Edmonton, and Dallas also made the list. Arizona has the same save percentage as the Islanders but they are being carried by Kemper not so much Raanta so it’s easy to see why the Islanders got the nod over them.

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For arguably the second year in a row, the Islanders have the best one-two goalie punch and they lost one of their pieces in free agency last year. If the Isles continue to score a reasonable 3.11 goals per game this team should win a lot of games with their goalie play.