Strands of brown hair were astray on top of Juuse Saros' head Saturday, drips of sweat looking for their escape after the Nashville Predators finished practice at Bridgestone Arena.

The goaltender, generously listed at 5-foot-11, already had removed his skates — and three or four inches from his height. His unkempt hair did little to make the NHL's shortest goalie look any taller.

"I was never a big guy growing up," he said a day after his team's 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks in Game 3 of the NHL playoffs series. "I learned to play the game kind of within my height, so I never really thought about it that much."

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Others have, especially announcers on national broadcasts, who seem to bring up Saros' size. Over and over. Every. Single. Game.

The only time he thinks about it is — well, when it's brought up to him.

"During my draft year it was a big thing," he said. "There was a lot of thought about it."

Quinn Hughes on Juuse Saros: 'Take his eyes away'

Saros has eight inches on the shortest goalie to ever play in the league, Hockey Hall of Famer Roy "Shrimp" Worters.

Fine, Worters last played 87 years ago.

Sure, the average goalie height these days is 6-2.

But does Saros' size affect his play?

His two All-Star selections and Vezina Trophy finalist season indicate otherwise.

Still, one stat suggests being on the smaller side impairs his ability: save percentage on screened shots.

According to Sportlogiq, Saros had an .863 save percentage on such shots during the regular season, putting him 49th out of 54 qualified goalies. The theory goes that because he is short, he is easier to screen.

The Canucks are plenty aware of this. Four of the five goals they scored in this series came when Saros was screened.

"We know Saros is a great goalie," Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes told Sportsnet after Game 1. "We're just going to have to take his eyes away."

Numbers don't lie

Saros' 2.02 goals-against average through three games puts him sixth among 18 goalies who have appeared in a game this postseason.

His .880 save percentage, which puts him 12th, tells another story.

While the two numbers don't seem to jibe, a simple look at the low number of shots (50) Saros had faced through three games explains the discrepancy. That's just over 16.6 shots per game, and the fourth-fewest shots against.

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"That's a challenge," Saros said. "You want to see more shots, but I think in the playoffs you're so wrapped up within the game. . . . I haven't really felt like (it was a problem), even though there have been longer periods of time that I haven't faced shots."

He said the energy of the crowds, along with the stakes, make it difficult to daydream.

"In that way, it's maybe a little easier to stay in the game, even without that many shots," he said.

Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina. Follow his work here.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators' Juuse Saros shortest goalie in NHL; does it affect his game?