Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
Here is the thing, though:
Mike Smith's best stretch of the season occurred between 23 November to 8 December. He started five games, and won 6. It happened at a time when Rittich was struggling:
David Rittich 4 GP 4 GS 0W 2L 1 OTL 0.900SP 3.05 GAA
Mike Smith 6 GP 5 GS 6W 0 L 0 OTL 0.936SP 1.59 GAA
It makes me wonder about how much the pressure and responsibility of the situation contributed to Mike Smith's performance. I am not confident, but I am also not ready to write him off down the stretch more even in the playoffs. The playoffs are an entirely different type of game where pressure matters a lot, and players will often come through with surprising performances. Who knows? Maybe being "the guy" is a part of what makes Smith perform better. He came through when the team needed him the most earlier this season. Why couldn't he do it again?
Yeah, we are all cherry-picking numbers in this discussion to make some dramatically different points; but doesn't that just go to show that playing and succeeding or failing in the position is a hell of a lot more than just stopping pucks?
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You don't think playing to keep your job as a starting NHL goaltender is pressure? He sure wilted under that. I'm not willing to experiment on him rising to the occasion in playoff games, and I bet Treliving isn't either.
The goaltending as a whole is a scary scary issue this season. Rittich is doing fine, but he's still unproven. The entire tandem could sink us at any point really.