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Originally Posted by nik-
He wasn't even in the conversation of being able to attempt a save on the second goal, and it's not because it was some amazing play. His lateral movement came way to late to even be able to attempt a save. No one knows if he would have saved it, he probably wouldn't have, but a legit goalie at least puts himself in the ballpark of a save.
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Um, had he made that save it would have been highlight of the night. It was a cross crease pass for a 2 foot putt into an open side. The only way Berra prevents that from going in is if he deflects the pass - and if he does it's a great play by him. Your defenseman has to prevent his man from getting his stick on that. Here is the goal.
What the hell is he supposed to DO there? He has to cover the near post because the second worst Av on this play, Guenin, lets Wheeler just walk right around the net and if he hadn't thrown it cross crease he could've come out and shot it himself.
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I would also debate the "snipe". He made himself small and got beat, like we've seen before.
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He could have challenged more, but look at the context. Little comes over his own blue line and O'Reilly makes a poor decision to rush right at him. As a result, the Jets get to blow through the neutral zone at full speed. Johnson doesn't adjust for this and gets beat to the outside, allowing Ladd to get position for a quality free shot from a scoring position.
Multiple Avs defenders screwed up that play, and if Ladd isn't allowed to come across the line with that kind of speed, a) he probably doesn't get that shot off, and b) if he does Berra has more time to react at least. It's not an unsaveable puck, but it's also not a goal that should be called "his fault", his teammates have to have some responsibility for mitigating the quality of a chance like that.
I guess my overall point is that while everyone wants to lay this at Berra's feet the Avs would be much better served to recognize the serious problems revealed last night with respect to their defensive structure, before they end up having to play the Sharks in the postseason and get absolutely crushed.