Rittich's stats over the 8 games following Smith's injury last February is as bad as Smith has been for a year since his injury.
Thankfully, through the first two-thirds of this season Rittich has been one among the top ten goalies in the NHL and nowhere near as bad as Smith. I'm sure last season was a learning experience, and I'm glad that we can all see now that a subpar 8-game stretch while Rittich was a rookie did not provide us with sufficient information to determine that Rittich is not a No. 1 goalie.
We do however have enough data to conclude that Mike Smith is no longer a No. 1 and is not a reliable partner in a tandem. We need to find an upgrade on Smith more than any other team need heading into the stretch.
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