There have been plenty of problems this year and, for the first handful of games, you could weight them all more or less equally.
However, for the last 4 games, the goaltending has destroyed what were solid, and somewhat more promising, efforts from the team for the first half of the game.
Soft goals happen. Bad games from the goalie happen, just as all players have bad games. And when it does, you'll usually see a good team rally to try and overcome it.
But when it happens all the time, it becomes demoralizing. And once a team starts to lose confidence, they have no chance in a league as competitive as the NHL.
In the last two games in particular, the Flames were clearly the better team in the 2nd period and in both cases, the goalie (Hiller then Ortio) gave up two goals on two shots that changed the game. In in both cases, they were shots that could have been saved. Last night the goal in the first was beyond brutal. The Flames were clearly the better team and had substantially more scoring chances than the Habs. But one bad defensive play and they're down 4-2.
Again, these things happen and good teams overcome. But when it keeps happening, it's a disease that eats at a team.
Yes, the defense has been bad as well. But the thing is, every team has defensive breakdowns, they just become infinitely more noticeable when it leads to a goal.
And right now, pretty much every one leads to a goal. That destroys a team's confidence. Offensively as well as defensively. It is impossible to play well when you are worried that every mistake will end up in your net.
Until they start to get goaltending that they can count on, things will continue to get worse.
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