Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
Despite solid stats as a backup, Rittich seemed overwhelmed by the pressure of suddenly being the go-to guy for a team that was fighting for a playoff invite, struggling to a 3-4-1 record with a cringe-worthy .888 save percentage during that span.
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Boy I dislike narratives like this. I've posted the long version of my response a billion times but here is the short version:
Take away the one bad game (where he didn't get the benefit of a mercy pull) against Vegas and suddenly that is 3-3-1 and a league average .908 SV%. That includes Giordano's worst defensive performance of the season. And a few more pretty bad team performances against Boston and Colorado. And take away his overconfident giveaway against the Preds with a two goal lead and that becomes a .913
Rittich had a pretty bad game and the team wasn't very good in the second half. Sample size was way too small to be throwing around a phrase like "cringe-worthy" during that span, as if he cost us every game.