It seemed like Jonathan Quick’s best days were behind him, but the surprise trade sequence that saw him leave the Los Angeles Kings and eventually end up on the Vegas Golden Knights may have lit a fire in him.
In his first three games with Vegas, Quick is undefeated with a .939 save percentage and a shutout, a far cry from his performance with the Kings this season.
Now, three games is still a small sample to work with, so Quick may still have a lot to do to prove that he’s turned his game around. Tyler Yaremchuk and Mike McKenna discussed Quick’s recent play, and whether or not he can keep it up down the stretch for Vegas.
Mike McKenna: Quick has played well. He was very good against the Canes, but he didn’t face a single odd-man rush. My metric was always for how the team was playing, what type of chances are you giving up? A lot of odd-man rushes, that was the one thing I was always worried about.
He’s not seeing a lot of that, and our friend at the Athletic Jesse Granger just posted a great article about how goalie friendly the Vegas Golden Knights are. If you look at Natural Stat Trick, they’re 24th in total chances allowed, but only 20% of those are high-danger.
That’s the least in the NHL, just over 11 in a game. So, lowest-quality shot attempts by data-driven hockey. The two goalies in the league that have faced the lowest number of those are Logan Thompson and Adin Hill per 60 minutes.
So it is a very goalie-friendly place for Jonathan Quick to play, where they block a lot of shots in Vegas, and he gets to see pucks, and they tend to be from the outside.
And Jonathan Quick tracks the puck well, he’s got great reflexes when he has time to react and when he can see the puck, he can still be a great goalie in the NHL.
Is it sustainable? I think it showed in LA this season that he still struggles to face a lot of different situations that he hasn’t been tested with yet with the Vegas Golden Knights, and he probably won’t a whole lot down the stretch.
You may not really see Jonathan Quick get tested a whole bunch until you get to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, because right now, his numbers are almost the same as Laurent Brossoit in three games.
You look at the goalies that have all hopped in the cage for the Golden Knights, and their numbers look pretty good, even Jiri Patera last night, 30 for 33.
Quick’s played pretty well for the Golden Knights so far, and against Carolina, really good. Is it sustainable? We’re going to see.
The last five years don’t say that that’s the case, but behind that system, behind what Cassidy puts in front of him, it’s a really good fit for Jonathan Quick.
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