Your experience of goalie performance?

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@Tobbish wrote:

I just got curious what everyone's experience is when it comes to goaltending in the game? I was expecting more of a difference with the introduction of endurance bar, but I can't say I've noticed any real difference. I don't know for how many games it is now, but at least NHL 22, 23 and 24 (might be more), I've found that my choice of goalie doesn't matter. Well, I guess it matters, but not in the way you'd expect.

I've found that goalies around 75 (possibly lower) do every bit as good as the best rated with a bunch of x-factors. Every time I go for a good goalie, the cheap goals are still trickling in just the same. And the desperation saves? Can't say the supposed best goalies do any better there.

I play 99% franchise mode, on superstar with 3 min periods (10/10 attribute effects), and recently finished a season with the Rangers. Naturally I started Shesterkin (89 due to it being the third season) a lot early on, but he had trouble stopping anything and I had added Mads Sogaard (83, no x-factors) as my "backup". In the end, I decided to play them both share the load and compare their numbers. I did win the majority of the games, and neither percentage is impressive by an IRL-standard (Sogaard is pretty good for 41 games with 3 min periods). But almost 3% difference over 41 games is still significant, in favor of the less skilled goalie. It's not like I played differently or tried to give Sogaard better stats. Those of you who have tried to intentionally help your goalie at some point, I'm pretty sure is familiar with letting in a couple of cheap ones late, no matter how well you have defended previously.

Shesterkin - 2,19GAA and 85,7% (540 saves)

Sogaard - 1,85GAA and 88,4% (584 saves)

Since the games are based of probabilities based on skills, I get the feeling that the inperfections of the worse goalies make them somehow save shots that would have gone in if they had been in position (like a better goalie would be). It might be way off, but I have never ever felt I've had a great goalie who I can trust like real teams can in some cases. If I mess up my defence, Vasi or Demko or whoever will not save anything that... some random 77-goalie are not more likely to save.

What are your experiences? Offline and online, whatever you play.

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Its difficult to say because most people online play to beat the game, not the player. Certain scenarios will beat the goalie no matter how highly they are rated. My current goale (Hasek 99ovr) doesn't feel any better than he did when I got him at the beginning when the game was released. I still lose goals that you'd hope a higher rated goalie should save. 

You add in synergies, boosts and fatigue its impossible to say if the higher rated goalies are actually any better than a lower rated one. 

I do believe goalies need a bump to what EA calls the goalie precision score, or GPS. Not anything too significant to make goalies over powered but a 5-10% bump I think would drastically make the position more fun and less RNG/animation based. 

Someone even suggested a bump to the GPS to just the high danger shots inside of the 29ft area as described by the nhl and I think that’s potentially a solid idea as well, would just have to implement it and see what the community thinks. Keeping in mind that forwards are always gonna hate making goals harder. But cheap goals shouldn’t be that easy either. 

I play EASHL pretty much exclusively now, but in that mode, '24 is leakiest I have seen goalies in a while.  Every goalie let's in a laugher once in a while, but it's not an exaggeration that we see multiple per play session.  Something is off on how they process hugging the post as well as their 5 hole.  Bad angle goals all day long.  If it's part of their AI then it may not matter their rating.