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The Puck Prospectus metric GVT (goals versus threshold) allows us to compare players at every position to determine who the true leaders are. This has been the week of the goaltender, as strong performances by Martin Brodeur, Tomas Vokoun and Jimmy Howard have allowed them to vault into the top 10, and may put Howard at the head of the Calder pack.
Puck Prospectus: Player Power Rankings
Three goalies shoot up the rankings into the top 10, while the top spot is occupied by the same old fellow.
Legend:
OGVT: Offensive GVT
GGVT: Goaltending GVT
DGVT: Defensive GVT
SGVT: Shootout GVT
GVT: Total GVT
Rank Player Last Week OGVT/GGVT DGVT SGVT GVT
1. Ryan Miller, G, BUF 1 24.4 -0.5 0.7 24.5
Comment: No goaltender has won the Hart trophy since another Sabres great, Dominik Hasek, in 1998, but no goaltender has posted a save percentage as high as Miller's 0.935 since the Dominator achieved 0.937 in 1998-99.
2. Miikka Kiprusoff, G, CAL 4 18.7 0.0 -2.2 16.4
Comment: Kiprusoff has played at least 74 games and won at least 39 every full season he's been in Calgary, and is currently on track for 71 games played and 42 wins.
3. Evgeni Nabokov, G, SJ 2 14.4 -0.3 1.7 15.8
Comment: Simply an awful week for Nabokov, who was blitzed for five goals in 16 shots by the Kings before being pulled, then four more by the Red Wings. He did manage to sandwich a one-goal win against the Blues between those.
4. Henrik Sedin, F, VAN 6 12.7 2.7 0.0 15.3
Comment: Hands up all of you who had Henrik Sedin at the top of the NHL scoring race in your preseason pools! Sedin has 12 multipoint games in his past 19 games and has leapfrogged Joe Thornton to lead the NHL with 62 points. The Canucks have also moved up to fifth from ninth in the West during that time.
5. Alex Ovechkin, F, WAS 5 13.2 2.3 -0.2 15.3
Comment: What's scarier: That the Capitals routinely score four to eight goals against their opponents, or that they can score eight, as they did against Atlanta, with only a single assist from their new captain? Ovechkin is recording more assists and fewer goals now that Nicklas Backstrom has emerged as a goal scorer.
6. Martin Brodeur, G, NJ 14 13.2 1.3 0.9 15.3
Comment: All in a week's work for Brodeur, who gave up a single goal in 58 shots in victories against Dallas and Montreal. Brodeur's shutout tied him for the league lead with five, and this is the fifth season in which he leads the league in that category.
7. Sidney Crosby, F, PIT 7 10.2 2.1 2.4 14.8
Comment: Crosby has been scoring at a decent clip, with another five points in his past four games, but the real worry for the Penguins is how they are getting lit up, with Florida scoring six on them and Philadelphia scoring seven.
8. Tomas Vokoun, G, FLA 26 16.8 -1.5 -0.8 14.6
Comment: Vokoun held the powerful Penguins to two goals on 48 shots. He then let in one goal against Montreal, but the Panthers scored none and lost. So Vokoun did better the next game, shutting Ottawa out completely. Only the Panthers could have their goalie post a 0.958 save percentage for the week yet still lose two of four.
9. Ilya Bryzgalov, G, PHO 3 14.0 0.4 0.0 14.5
Comment: Not a good week to be a Russian goalie. Bryzgalov let in four goals in three consecutive games, but his teammates scored enough to salvage a win against Edmonton and a shootout loss to the Islanders.
10. Jimmy Howard, G, DET 22 13.5 0.0 0.7 14.2
Comment: Two weeks ago the Red Wings were out of the playoffs. Now they are knocking on the door, and Howard is the reason why. In two weeks Howard has stopped 235 shots, posted a 0.959 save percentage, posted 8.1 GVT, and won five of seven games, including four in which the Wings were outshot, a previously unheard of occurrence in Hockeytown.
A version of this story originally appeared on ESPN Insider  .
Tom Awad is an author of Hockey Prospectus.
You can contact Tom by clicking here or click here to see Tom's other articles.
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