Even with the give away, the first short handed goal by Rittich was a bad low percentage expected goal. He was out of position & didn’t make the save.
The second goal was worse.
Steve Valliquette and Clear site Analytics states that when an NHL team lets in low percentage goal (let alone two) they lose 86% of the time.
Hopefully Rittich is able build on the rest of the game because his teammates know those are saveable shots and I imagine he’s losing faith.
They put him in a bad position on the first one, and he couldn’t bail them out. But the second one is what starts to drain faith.
The Toffoli short handed goal in Montreal was another one. It was a bit of a broken play as he lost track of the puck, and a short handed breakaway (kind of as he was caught when he lost the puck).
Yeah it was a short handed break, but again, that’s where they need him.
A shot like that, on the ice from point blank range is a low percentage expected goal in my opinion. I’m willing to say it’s up for debate because of the circumstances leading up the shot.
Either way those goals have to stop for Rittich to win. That was back breaking.
I imagine they know all this, and the coaches are trying to work on his confidence, which is everything.
His body language of surprise and disbelief after goals also needs to stop in my opinion. To me that’s an expression of not having confidence. This is what made Kipper great & unflappable. He was stoic and would move on to the next save.
Hopefully he’s feeling better about the rest of the game.
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