Why Golden Knights rookie goaltender succeeds at shootouts
David Pastrnak looped to the left of the offensive zone in the third round of a shootout Dec. 5 at Boston’s TD Garden.
The NHL’s leading goal scorer in 2020 skated to the slot. He faked a wrist shot, then pulled the puck to his backhand to attempt to stuff it into the net by the left post. It was a sharp move from one of the league’s premier snipers.
It also didn’t work. Logan Thompson stayed with his opponent the whole way and stretched out his right pad to make the save.
Pastrnak could only skate back to the bench afterward, but he had no reason to hang his head. He lost to one of the best.
Thompson is 25-for-29 (.862 save percentage) in his career in shootouts. He’s 11 attempts shy of qualifying for the NHL record book, but if he did he’d rank second all-time behind Boston’s Linus Ullmark (.889).
Thompson’s shootout victims already include 11 All Stars. It doesn’t matter who tries to score on him. He’s confident every time he steps in the crease.
“I just like my odds one-on-one against a guy,” Thompson said. “I don’t really care who I’m going against.”
Thompson didn’t just become good at shootouts overnight.
He’s loved practicing against breakaways since youth hockey. It’s something he’ll still do with the Knights sometimes with a skate winding down.
Not every skater or goaltender enjoys the challenge a shootout provides. Thompson, whose competitive instincts allowed him to go from undrafted to the NHL, relishes it.
“There can be a lot of goalies that are really good at stopping pucks, finding pucks through screens and stuff,” left wing Paul Cotter said. “When it’s you one-on-one with a player coming down on you, it’s a whole new skill. He’s worked on it.”
Thompson practices shootouts, but he doesn’t study them. He said he doesn’t watch video of upcoming opponents because he doesn’t want to overthink what he’s going to do. He just wants react to the shooter.
His athleticism allows him to keep up no matter what his opponent might try.
Thompson, at 6-foot-4, can come out of his crease to challenge skaters. If they decide to drive by him instead, Thompson’s quickness side-to-side allows him to recover.
Captain Mark Stone compared Thompson’s mobility to former Knights goaltender Malcolm Subban, who is 21-for-22 in his career in shootouts.
“(Thompson) just kind of covers a lot of net,” center Chandler Stephenson said. “He’s quick and just moves well. He almost baits you into where he wants to put you and you have nothing left after that.”
Thompson also gets a boost from a rare trait: He’s a right catch.
Seventy-eight goaltenders have appeared in an NHL game this season. Five — Arizona’s Karel Vejmelka, Colorado’s Pavel Francouz, Los Angeles’ Cal Petersen, Washington’s Charlie Lindgren and Thompson — wear their gloves on their right hand.
Most NHL teams only practice against left-catching goaltenders. That means Thompson gives them a look they almost never see.
Defenseman Nic Hague pointed out, for example, a common move for left-shot skaters involves shifting the puck from their backhand to forehand and shooting below the goaltender’s blocker. If they try to execute that same sequence against Thompson like they always practice it, he can just grab the puck with his glove.
Goaltender Adin Hill, who has only ever had one right-catching partner other than Thompson, said opponents have skated by the Knights’ bench during shootouts upset their usual move found a mitt.
“You’re just expecting that to be the goalie’s blocker, right?” Hill said. “You’re so used to, ‘I’m shooting there, that’s blocker high.’ Now that’s a catch.”
Thompson’s handedness wouldn’t matter if he didn’t have the ability to back it up. But he does.
It’s another piece of the overall package that’s made him 13-7 as a starter this season and a contender for the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year. Two of those wins came down to whether he could make enough saves in a shootout.
It’s no surprise, given his skills and personality, that he delivered by stopping 11 of the 12 attempts he faced.
“I’m a really competitive guy,” Thompson said. “That’s something I don’t think will ever go away. I will always like that one-on-one stuff.”
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.