[PGT] Mike Smith loses the game with 2 abysmal goals against. Flames lose to Habs 3-2.

[PugnaciousIntern]

That performance reminds me of Elliott’s final days with the Flames.

Yikes

[bax]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

We managed to make a lot of Montreal fans happy this evening. When they scored it seemed like half the dome were Habs fans. This plus the chronically poor performance of Smith seemed to play on our team accuracy and luck...2 posts that I recall. In spite of outshooting Montreal 45 to 22, we couldn't seem to get the puck past Price.



My interest in attending games with Smith in the net is getting to an all time low. Tonight we walked out of the dome at about 5 minutes to go, we were so disgusted with Smith's last goal.



I hope they give the starting goalie to Rittich as soon as possible.

For real? You walked out on a one goal game with 5 minutes left?

[Aarongavey]

Disappointing start, an .870 sv percentage nominally drops Smith's save percentage. Not a bad start by Smith standards, but if he is going to aspire to an .880 save percentage (or dare to dream an .885 save percentage) he needs to start rolling some Smith quality .900 starts where he lets 3 goals in on 30 shots. I am sure Peters will continue to give Smith the bulk of the starts though. After Rittich gets the win on Saturday we should be primed for a few Smith losses against Vegas and the Jets.

[868904]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

What would you guys do if we start Rittich on Saturday, and as the Flames are known to do against the Oilers, the team fails to show up and they allow 5 or 6 goals?

With everyone begging for Rittich, i'm pretty sure this will happen. What better way than to have McDavid embarrass the Flames on HNIC. It's going to be a terrible night. I'm already assuming that's a blowout loss.

Sun will still come up the next day though, and they will still have to start one of the goalies next game.

[The Boy Wonder]

Originally Posted by 868904

With everyone begging for Rittich, i'm pretty sure this will happen. What better way than to have McDavid embarrass the Flames on HNIC. It's going to be a terrible night. I'm already assuming that's a blowout loss.

Sun will still come up the next day though, and they will still have to start one of the goalies next game.

You’d rather start smith Saturday???

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

The worse Smith plays, the more pressure there is on Rittich to prove he can carry the load. That’s not ideal.

That's exactly what I was thinking too.

That's why I wanted them to swap back to Rittich even after the decent performance for Smith in San jose. It's better that Rittich sees it as him being in a 1a/1b situation where he's in healthy competition with the other guy than "please take the reigns because Smith can't carry the load right now", which has more potential to put pressure on him mentally.

The kickstart Smith strategy has backfired. Now you hope Rittich has toughened up mentally since last season and that's not a gamble you want to have to make.

[Aarongavey]

The old Bill Peters
https://www.nhl.com/news/bill-peters...on/c-287347212

I don't think it is much of a competition. Eddie's played 10 games and he was poor in his last outing, let's not kid ourselves. We got one guy who is well ahead of the other guy, and the numbers back that up. That is what I see

When Peters said that Lack had played 10 games and had an .873 save percentage. Ward has a .905 save percentage. Old Bill called out ####ty goaltending.

On the Flames, Smith has an .875 save percentage and starts 70 percent of the games. Rittich has a .935 save percentage and starts 30 percent of the games. New Bill Peters says he would rather let in an extra 2 goals a game with Smith rather than try out the .935 goalie a little more. Maybe this is his maturation as a coach?

[Delthefunky]

I have a funny feeling Smith is going to start vs the Oilers :/

[Barnet Flame]

I’ve just seen it.

How much longer are Peters and Treliving going to let this happen?

We have a fantastic team. They often play other teams off the ice in games where we completely dominate.

Then we lose.

This can’t go on.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

What would you guys do if we start Rittich on Saturday, and as the Flames are known to do against the Oilers, the team fails to show up and they allow 5 or 6 goals?

And that is poor player management by the coaches...well Tre as well. And if Smith gets multiple starts trying to find his game, then the same should be afforded Rittich.

This situation should have been put to rest long ago.

[PugnaciousIntern]

So far, per shot against, Rittich has let in HALF (technically 0.52x) the goals that Smith has let in this season. That’s an absurd difference for two goaltenders on the same team.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

I’ve just seen it.

How much longer are Peters and Treliving going to let this happen?

We have a fantastic team. They often play other teams off the ice in games where we completely dominate.

Then we lose.

This can’t go on.

It can and it will, it is part of BT's wizardry with goaltending (his ability to amaze fans with his goaltending trades literally is why we all call him the wizard). When BT convinces Cristobal Huet to come out of retirement it will be his crowning goaltending achievement.

[direwolf]

Originally Posted by 868904

With everyone begging for Rittich, i'm pretty sure this will happen. What better way than to have McDavid embarrass the Flames on HNIC. It's going to be a terrible night. I'm already assuming that's a blowout loss.

Lol, that's the spirit! Seriously, the only way the Flames get blown out in that game is if Smith starts and the team fails to show up. The Oilers are a dumpster fire, and their recent win over the Habs doesn't change that.

If Rittich starts and the Flames bring the same effort they brought tonight, they'll walk away with the W.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

I’ve just seen it.

How much longer are Peters and Treliving going to let this happen?

We have a fantastic team. They often play other teams off the ice in games where we completely dominate.

Then we lose.

This can’t go on.

We should be firmly atop the division with the performances so far, to be honest. They've outshot/chanced teams in 16 of 19 games I believe?

At what point does getting the 36 year old on an expiring contract going no longer outweigh the season?

Flames just dont like to make it easier on themselves do they. Sometimes the amount of loyalty to certain guys actually does get in the way of the results this team has been striving for since this rebuild/iteration began in 2013.

You want the best chance to win? Go with the hot hand, always. And if the wheels fall off altogether then you actively seek out the solution until an answer is found. This is one position standing in our way. Just fix it, bill/brad.

Fix it.

[Manhattanboy]

New Flame goaltender Empty Net turned in a 1.00 save percentage and 0.00 GAA against the Habs. Look for him to start on Saturday in place of Mike Smith.

[The Boy Wonder]

Smith is -8 on the season... as in he’s lost the team 8 points singlehandedly in the standings.

In baseball terms he has a -4 WAR meaning he is essentially useless to have in the ice

[868904]

Originally Posted by The Boy Wonder

You’d rather start smith Saturday???

No, you start Rittich for sure. I’m just not expecting a good outcome given recent games vs the Oilers.

I’m just saying that I see a situation where after Saturday, it could look very grim with both goalies coming off bad games.

Rittich has played so well that I’m almost waiting for him to fail. Just like last year. He’s a great guy but he just doesn’t have the pedigree. Even in his one statistically good season in the AHL, the coaches still seemed to have more faith in Gillies.

I’d love for Rittich to surprise and become a legit number 1 but history just doesn’t support it. With his resume, there’s no way he should become a legit number one goalie in the NHL, but I’m hoping for a miracle.

[Aarongavey]

Who would have thought Smith would suck, Eric Francis said BT "nailed it" when he traded for Smith.

https://calgaryherald.com/sports/hoc...ke-smith-trade

If you can fool hockey minds like BT and Eric Francis, you can fool anyone.

[Breakfast]

From the Flamesnation write up:

Since Smith returned from injury on Mar. 11, Smith has started 21 games. He’s 7-13-1 with a 3.46 goals against average, .878 save percentage and .889 even strength save percentage. Of the 58 goaltenders who have played 400+ minutes in that span, he’s 52nd in goals against average, 58th in save percentage and 58th in even strength save percentage.

For comparison’s sake, David Rittich is sixth in goals against average (2.25), 12th in save percentage (.922) and 10th in even strength save percentage (.935), albeit in 11 appearances.

Jesus Christ.

[djsFlames]

58th? So he's basically in the basement of not starting goaltenders, but of regular backup goaltenders.

Why.
Are.
We.
Still.
Starting.
Him?