As Panthers figure out goaltending, backup Driedger making case for more playing time
Chris Driedger clears his mind and tries to go back to the basics. As a backup goaltender in the NHL, opportunities to start aren’t set in stone. That’s doubly true when the starter, despite his recent struggles, is a former two-time Vezina Trophy winner on a $70 million contract.
So when Driedger gets his opportunities to make an occasional start for the Florida Panthers, he knows he can’t afford to waste it. He has to be ready at any given moment, whether it’s days or weeks between starts.
“I’m just going out there and trying to reduce the distractions,” Driedger, 26, said Thursday. “I’ve always felt that when I’m playing my game, things tend to go well.”
And things have gone well, although it took longer than Driedger hoped. Nearly a decade after he was first drafted, Driedger finally has an identified, cemented role at the NHL level.
His role, officially, is the Panthers’ primary backup goaltender, with Sergei Bobrovsky still the headliner at the position.
But with the way the Panthers’ season has been condensed, Driedger is poised to get extended looks this season. Four of the Panthers’ first six games of the already shortened 2021 season were rescheduled due to COVID-19 issues in the opposing organization, first the Dallas Stars and then the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Panthers’ final 52 games of the season include eight back-to-backs, starting with their games Saturday and Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings, and only five instances with multiple days off between games.
Both goaltenders, Dreidger and Bobrovsky, will have to be ready.
Which is why coach Joel Quenneville is giving both game time early in the season.
“I think early on in the year, we wanted to make sure both guys are going and into it,” Quenneville said. “As we go along, then things can be sorted out by performance.”
Through two starts apiece this season, one each against the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets, Driedger has been outperforming Bobrovsky.
Heading into Friday’s slate of games, Driedger’s 1.92 goals against average and .934 save percentage are the ninth-best marks in the league among goaltenders with at least two starts.
Bobrovsky has a 3.35 goals against average, which ranks 40th among 51 goaltenders with multiple starts. His .879 save percentage? That’s 45th out of the 51 goaltenders.
Of the four goals Driedger has given up this season, just one has come at 5-on-5 strength. His .979 save percentage at full strength (47 saves on 48 shots) is second in the NHL. Bobrovsky is at a .905 efficiency at full strength, giving up four goals in 42 chances.
But it’s not just the small sample size of two games apiece this season. Driedger, albeit starting a quarter of the games compared to Bobrovsky (51 for Bobrovsky, 13 for Driedger), has outperformed as the backup since the two became teammates in the 2019-2020 season.
▪ Goals against average? Driedger is more than a full goal better (2.03 vs. Bobrovsky’s 3.23)
▪ Save percentage? Driedger is nearly 40 points better (.937 vs. Bobrovsky’s .899)
▪ Driedger has put up a quality start 76.9 percent of the time. Bobrovsky? Just 40 percent.
▪ Driedger’s .952 save percentage in five-on-five situations since the start of the 2019-2020 season is the best in the NHL among goaltenders who have faced at least 300 shots.
Not bad for a goaltender who never made an NHL start before last season and spent the better part of seven years trying to make his way into the NHL.
The Ottawa Senators selected Driedger in the third round in 2012. He signed a three-year entry-level contracton April 1, 2014, and made his NHL debut on March 26, 2015.
But after played in just three games over three years (no starts) with Ottawa, Driedger tested free agency. He signed a contract with the Springfield Thunderbirds, then the Panthers’ AHL affiliate, in July 2018. He signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Panthers in February 2019 before ultimately emerging as the Panthers’ primary backup goaltender to Bobrovsky.
“It has been a long road for me,” Driedger said.
His first career start last season was a 27-save shutout against the Nashville Predators on Nov. 30, 2019. He would end up starting 10 more games during the season, going 7-2-1 with a 2.05 goals against average and .938 save percentage.
He started the Panthers’ final three games last season before the NHL shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic while Bobrovsky dealt with a lower-body injury. The Panthers went 2-0-1 in those three games (an overtime loss to Boston; wins against Montreal and St. Louis). Driedger gave up just four total goals and recorded a .955 save percentage in that span.
“He played big games at the end of the year last year,” Quenneville said. “He was our go-to guy. He handled a tough situation extremely well. The way he just keeps his composure and his coolness is pretty unique. He doesn’t change it one bit.”
The success has carried over to the 2021 season. He held the Blackhawks to two goals on 25 attempts on Opening Night, with Chicago’s goals coming on a power play and in a four-on-four situation. He held the Columbus Blue Jackets to two goals on 31 shots Thursday before the Panthers lost in a shootout.
And when his next opportunity comes, he’ll be ready.
“It has been great, really exciting,” Driedger said. “Going into this, it’s not my rookie season anymore, so I am excited to get the ball rolling in the right direction.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 2:13 PM.
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