Is Evgeni Nabokov The Answer Behind Ben Bishop?

This week the Bolts by the Bay staff give their thoughts on Evgeni Nabokov and whether or not the Tampa Bay Lightning need to test the waters for another backup.

Question: Is Evgeni Nabokov an adequate back-up or should the Lightning entertain the thought of another option such as Martin Brodeur or another available goaltender via trade or free agency?

Lauren Burg ( @TBLightning491 )

This is a difficult question to answer since it’s still relatively early in the season. Evgeni Nabokov‘s only had three appearances and is 1-2, though that number could easily be 2-1 if the team had performed a little bit better against New Jersey to conclude their last homestand. He also has limited the opposition to two goals, throwing out the entire team collapse in Minnesota.

Those are great numbers for a backup because they’re giving the team a chance to win practically every night. For me, that’s enough to say Nabokov’s currently an adequate backup. If he starts having a whole bunch of rough outings and can’t right the ship, that’s when I believe Steve Yzerman and company should look at other options.

On the flip side, if he keeps performing well why hurt his and the teams confidence by actively pursuing a replacement? Let them play with minimal distractions. That will prove important in the Lightning’s playoff push.

Dan Herrejon (@danherrejon )

This is a great question especially in light of what happened to the Lightning in last year’s playoffs. Clearly, the team played as if they had little confidence in backup netminder, Anders Lindback, which then translated to signing a veteran with a staunch resume like Evgeni Nabokov.

More from Editorial

Of the current free agent goalies, the top three in my mind are Ilya Bryzgalov, Martin Brodeur and Tomas Vokoun. Brodeur has the lowest save percentage at 90.1% and given his age, I’d eliminate him from this conversation now.

The question surrounding Vokoun has to be his health. He missed all of last season dealing with blood clots. It is difficult for a backup goalie to keep in game shape when they aren’t seeing the level of work that the number one guy is but to miss an entire season at 38 years old, I would pass on Tomas Vokoun.

I am willing to ride Nabokov at least until it becomes evident that he loses the confidence of the team in front of him.

That brings us to Nabokov and Bryzgalov. Where Nabby gets my vote is two things. In last two years, Nabokov has played in more games than Bryzgalov by almost 20, with a non-playoff team and has a much better save percentage.

Having said all that, Nabby is off to a somewhat shaky start this season but part of that issue is playing the second game of a back to back is tough on the whole team, especially the backup goalie. I am willing to ride Nabokov at least until it becomes evident that he loses the confidence of the team in front of him. I believe that is what happened with Lindback last year. Once he lost the locker room’s confidence, he spiraled downward in his performance. Coach Jon Cooper has to be cognizant of avoiding that for Nabokov.

Angelo Resciniti ( @lightningscribe )

As far as I’m concerned, Evgeni Nabokov is perfect in his role as back-up goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning and the the Tampa Bay Lightning job is perfect for Nabokov. This marriage of veteran and team is as close to a win-win for the Bolts as when veteran defenseman Darryl Sydor was brought in from the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2003-04 season. All Sydor did was elevate a team on the rise to a team winning The Cup. Nabokov could prove to be just as big a difference-maker for the 2014-15 edition of the team.

Evgeni Nabokov is perfect in his role as back-up goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning

One rough outing does not a career in its twilight make. Agreed, Nabokov struggled in net in that deflating road-trip ending 7-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild last week. But it could easily be argued that the whole team struggled that night in finishing an already-successful 10-day road trip with injuries mounting, a winning record guaranteed, and home cooking just a few hours away.

To show his consistency, Nabby has the same career GAA in 86 playoff games as he does in the regular season. The Bolts sure could have used him in net during last season’s truncated playoff appearance. At that point he had played in more playoff games than the whole Lightning roster put together.

Oh yeah, he is good in the room, too, with a sense of humor that helps keep the team loose and laughing.

The Lightning are lucky to have Evgeni Nabokov as back-up to Ben Bishop in goal this season. Nobody dost break up this winning tandem before they have a full season to lead the Bolts to the promised land.

Tasha Meares ( @heartagramgirl )

This question is a bit of a double edged sword. If you get into the business of over-analyzing things and fawning over the numbers, then somewhere at some time there is always going to be someone out there who is better than we have at work disposal right now.

Before we get too deep into this one let’s get back down to basics.

Last season with the New York Islanders, Nabokov played in 40 games where he held a 15-14-8 record. In that period of time, he was Nabokov was able to maintain a Goals Allowed Average of 2.74 and a Save Percentage of .905.

Would another goaltender have fit in with the team in the same way that it seems like Nabokov has?

Unfortunately, this season is about as unfair of a comparison as you could possibly get. So far this season, he has only suited up for three games with the Tampa Bay Lightning where he has a 1-2-0 record. In this amount of time, Nabokov has a Goals Allowed Average of 3.02 and a Save Percentage of .873.

During the Minnesota game, the entire team played like they either hadn’t seen ice time in the last six months or that they had just finished running a triathlon prior to taking the ice. The boys were tired, and this was an all-around team fail, not one of those instances where you can squarely place all the blame on your netminder.

Were mistakes made? Sure, but those mistakes were evenly distributed among the team.

At the end of the day, I don’t get the same vibe from the team that I did when former Lightning goaltender Anders Lindback took the ice. When Lindback was around, the team did not play with the same confidence and vigor that they did in front of Ben Bishop. Is that 100% based on Lindback’s skill or was there something else at play? The world may never know.

The good news is, the past is in the past and we have a whole lot of hockey in front of us.

Until Nabokov does something that clearly proves that he is not the man for the job, then this Lightning fan is going to have to throw their support behind the Kazakhstan native and trust that Steve Yzerman and Jon Cooper know just what they are doing.

Tim Chiasson ( @chiassontb )

The answer, for me, is simple; you always stay interested in upgrading every position. The Tampa Bay Lightning got a rude awakening in the playoffs last year when Bishop went down and their season came off the rails.

That happened because they didn’t upgrade the back-up position; one of the most important positions from a depth standpoint. In the off-season they brought in Evgeni Nabokov to solidify that spot. Is he the right guy? I’d say probably not.