Can Roloson Touch Khabibulin’s Shutout Record?

So, that Dwayne Roloson trade is working out okay, isn’t it?

With last night’s blanking of the Maple Leafs, “Roli” now has three shutouts in ten games played since being added from the Islanders for minor leaguer/prospect Ty Wishart. More importantly, the team’s goaltending has been stabilized, good feelings are radiating from the crease, and the team is blossoming into an actual contender.

And as for Roloson, statistically speaking, he has a chance to tip-toe into the Lightning’s team record books.

The Lightning’s record for shutouts was set by Nikolai Khabibulin in 2001-2002, when he recorded seven goose-eggs in seventy games played. For you statistic freaks out there, that means he blanked Lightning opponents… um… ten… percent… of the time. Yes. Ten percent.

Roli has three shutouts in ten games, so he is shutting out opponents in… thirty percent of games.

The Lightning have 31 games left, and we can assume that Roloson will see the lion’s share of starts. If he starts thirty games (probably unlikely), he would only need to maintain a 15% shutout average to tie or pass the ‘Bulin Wall (with a rather unlikely total of 7.5 shutouts).

If Roloson starts twenty games (probably low) and maintains a 20% shutout average, he would tie Khabibulin.

Obviously 30% will be a nearly impossible rate to maintain, but it is still possible, on a strong, streaking team, to approach the number seven. Watch Raw Charge for updates.

(Nolan Whyte writes about the Lightning at Raw Charge and at Frozen Sheets Hockey. Follow his tweets @nolanwhyte.)

Can Dwayne Roloson touch Nikolai Khabibulin’s team record of seven shutouts?