Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
What do people really expect from the 1st game at that position? Goalies are all about reflexes. Do you expect Major League batters to be 100% dialled in for the 1st game of spring training? Goaltending is similar.
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I disagree. While the defence hung him out to dry, Rittich is having troubles tracking the play entirely.
The first Oilers goal he read the play incredibly poorly and had a much delayed push-off to get across the net as a result. Bouchard was wide open on the right, not a single Flame on him.
And Benson was doing this. See, right away I'm thinking "pass, pass, PASS" if I'm a goalie.
Well, this is where Rittich is positioned at the time of the pass hitting the tape of Bouchard.
He is literally JUST starting his push off. Leaving half the empty net to shoot at.
You can pine it off on preseason nerves and sluggish reflexes, but to me this is the result of a terrible read on an obvious play.
EDIT - Here's Scheifele on goalies and Price in particular. He describes this exact play in great detail in the bolded.
Quote:
A lot of people think playing goalie is just all reflexes and rebound control, but that’s only 25% of the battle. At this level, 75% of it is reading the play and knowing guys’ tendencies and being the smartest guy on the ice.
As a goalie, if your team turns the puck over and you’re facing a 3-on-2, your brain has to make all these little micro-decisions to read the play in the span of a few seconds. For example, you might first look at the open man and notice that he’s a left-handed shot on the left side. That means he can’t open his body up for the one-timer in the middle of the ice. If the pass comes across, it’s going to take him a half-second to control it and shoot from the outside of his body. So you might cheat a half-step over to the puck carrier’s side to take away his angle, because you know that the lefty getting it is the least-bad situation.
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