Quote:
Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina
Seperate from concerns over Smiths play I’m surprised people don’t see the rationale in starting him
You need to manage Rittichs starts. Overplaying him could be a huge factor in an early exit from the playoffs. So he was likely going to play against the Caps or Canes. With the early start tomorrow it’s basically back to back
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Yep, 100%.
The coaches usually take a goalie's recent success against specific teams to heart. Rittich was recently great in a lopsided Carolina game and managed to get the win.
Just like using Smith once again vs Detroit, who he had beaten a few weeks prior as well.
If we just ran with Rittich until we face an "easier" team, it would have been Feb 14th in Florida, almost an entire month after Smith's last start (Jan 18 vs DET). Like it or not, Smith is going to get games until there's a better option simply so Rittich doesn't get run into the ground.
There are a bunch of difficult matchups this month that Rittich likely gets all of: SJ, @VAN, @TB, @PIT, NYI, ANA, @NYI.
On the flip side there are some more favourable teams that Smith will likely get most of the starts against: @FLA, ARI, @OTT, @NJ (back to back).