Every detail matters to a NHL goaltender, including tiny ones the average person would never think of. If you’ve ever met a goalie before, this shouldn’t surprise you. They are a special breed.

A little over a decade ago, Stanley Cup winning goaltender Tim Thomas mentioned that he loved playing in Ottawa because the lighting in the arena was so good that he felt like he could see everything. The numbers back it up. In 17 career games in Ottawa, Thomas racked up a .938 save percentage and three shutouts.

It’s not just lighting that impacts what a goalie can see, either.

“Some rinks with the dark seats, too,” Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood told The Denver Gazette. “You play a team with black pants and black jerseys, it’s tough. Plus, screens, plus a black puck, it gets challenging to pick it up sometimes. Those home colors can be an advantage in net fronts.”

Having played almost exclusively in the NHL since 2017, Wedgewood has a pretty good grasp on which buildings have good lighting, and which ones don’t. Like any other goalie, he’s got some favorites.

“New Jersey comes to mind for me,” Wedgewood said. “Montreal is pretty bright. Toronto has good lighting. Never had an issue in Dallas playing on their home ice. I’d say the majority are pretty good. I’d probably say there’s maybe eight or less that really stand out throughout the year that are a little bit tougher.”

So, what are some of the buildings that need to step up their lighting games? The people want names, after all.

“Winnipeg is tough, I find. L.A. is pretty dark,” Wedgewood said.

It’s not all about the shots that a goalie faces, either.

Think about all the times inside of a game where the puck gets sent from one side of the ice to the other. Whether it’s someone dumping the puck in from center ice or a team clearing the puck on the penalty kill, goalies have to be ready at all times just in case it comes their way.

In some buildings it’s tougher to see when that’s actually happening than others.

“There’s definitely times where they’re dumping pucks from the far end on the (penalty kill) and you watch your goalie sometimes and they don’t leave the net right away,” Wedgewood said. “I know it’s coming, but is it on the wall? Is it off the wall? The long rims you’re just kind of waiting to see if it hits a stanchion. You want to get out there and play the puck but also don’t want to just go out blind.”

So next time you’re watching a game, and a goalie reacts like they didn’t see the puck, know that there’s a good chance they really didn’t see the puck. And it might not be because of the 6-foot-4, 200-pound player in front of them.

What I’m hearing

— Erik Johnson has been steady since returning to the Avalanche. In Philadelphia, Johnson wasn’t really playing all that much. Did that lack of playing time make the Avalanche question at all what type of player they were getting at the deadline?

“I still had a pretty good idea. We wouldn’t have got him if we didn’t think he would help us,” Avalanceh coach Jared Bednar said. “He provides some things, like the experience and he just looks really patient with the puck. He’s excited to be here. Those are all things that go into it. We felt like he could help us. He’s played really well since he’s been here.”

— Nathan MacKinnon has sometimes been the only Avalanche player skipping morning skate for the team lately. That’s led some fans to question whether or not he’s 100%, as his numbers had dipped for a little bit.

While the team likely wouldn’t say if he was battling something, there’s a plan in place.

“The most important time of the year is coming up and I let those guys kind of manage their own (schedule),” Bednar said. “We have the science behind it and some guys need some rest and some guys don’t feel great, and I let them do their own thing. I’ve been with some of these guys long enough that I trust them to do what they need to do to get ready.”

What I’m seeing

— Columbus faded in March and that might have killed its playoff chances, but it’s still been a great season for them after what they went through last summer. Kirill Marchenko is a really fun player to watch.

— If you’re going to stink, you might as well really stink. The Boston Bruins are 0-9-1 and have dropped to the bottom of the Eastern Conference, increasing their chances of getting a higher draft pick. Then you’ve got the Buffalo Sabres, who were the worst team in the conference most of the year. They’ve gone on a meaningless 7-3 run that won’t matter when next season starts. Don’t start winning when it doesn’t really matter.

What I’m thinking

— This will be an interesting Hart Trophy race to watch. Last year it was MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov going all out from start to finish. You knew it was going to be one of them. This year is different. MacKinnon has led the NHL in scoring most of the year, but has he been as dominant as last year? Probably not. Kucherov has caught fire of late to make a run at another scoring title. The Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl will be the only 50 goal scorer. Then you’ve got Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck who may steal some votes. The votes might be all over the place.

— The Calder Trophy looked like it might be a tough vote for most of the season as well, but Lane Hutson is starting to run away with it in Montreal. He might be the biggest reason the Canadiens are in a playoff spot. The only defenseman that has more assists than him is Cale Makar.