Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Sure, give Gillies an opportunity. There really isn't much to lose at this point (besides Gillies' confidence if he gets lit up). But at this point it's a hail mary. The guy is rocking a .864 SV% in the AHL this year - he doesn't even crack the top 50 in the league. So Gillies has actually been playing worse in the AHL than Smith has been playing in the NHL. Maybe he plays better against NHL shooters than AHL shooters, but I doubt it.
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I'm not arguing that Gillies has been good, but the inexperienced defense in front of him has to be playing a huge part in his terrible AHL numbers this year for a guy to fall that far off the map.
There is no reason to keep playing Smith when he can't even be relied upon to make the easy saves. He may not set the world on fire given the chance, but I guarantee you Gillies doesn't let the kind of beer league garbage goals in that Smith has been doing each and every game.