I think the Tatar goal was soft. It's the type of goal where the puck is shot at him and it goes through him between his arm and body. Part of the problem is that he's on the goal line as if he's out a foot the puck hits him in the stomach like most Flames shots on opposing goaltenders that are better positioned. Flames would have scores six goals last night if Price was letting that kind of shot through.
Last edited by Erick Estrada; 11-16-2018 at 09:36 AM.
I think the Tatar goal was soft. It's the type of goal where the puck is show at him and it goes through him between his arm and body. Part of the problem is that he's on the goal line as if he's out a foot the puck hits him in the stomach like most Flames shots on opposing goaltenders that are better positioned. Flames would have scores six goals last night if Price was letting that kind of shot through.
That's my read too - why was he so far back in his net! It wasn't a soft goal from a reaction POV...it was soft because he wasn't in position.
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That's my read too - why was he so far back in his net! It wasn't a soft goal from a reaction POV...it was soft because he wasn't in position.
My brother is a goaltender (and a goaltender nerd actually) and he just hates Smith's positioning. Says he got away with that for his career by having lightning quick reaction times but he's not as quick as he used to be and the change in goaltending equipment is exposing him.
He now has a 30.8% quality start ratio, only Matt Murray behind him at 30%.
David Rittich is 83.3%, second in the league behind Miller for goaltenders that have 6 or more starts on the season.
It's probably time to find out if Rittich can sustain those numbers over a higher workload. I get that there's a lot of outrage about Smith but the only thing more worrisome about his play is if Rittich faceplants like he did last season when given the opportunity to start. If that were to happen we would be staring at 2015/16 all over again with no options in net.
He definitely looked like he was starting to rebuild the foundation last night. He had a few lucky breaks (Hanifin making the save to keep it 2-1 as Smith tried to get back in net comes to mind), but from where he was coming from this was what we were hoping to start seeing.
It wasn't the 2-2 goal either. As much as I think the 2nd goal is not likely one a top goalie is kicking out to the slot... he'd played well, and had earned enough rope back to believe that they only needed to solve Price once more to easily take this. But then Sportsnet showed the replay of Smith diving to make the save as they cut to commercial, and I realized "ah crap, 3 won't be enough" (4:03 of the recap below). He looked like a waterpolo goalie making a diving save... halfway down the net. It was 2-2, and Smith had made quite a few notable saves up to that point, but he was garbage the rest of the night.
That's my read too - why was he so far back in his net! It wasn't a soft goal from a reaction POV...it was soft because he wasn't in position.
Too far back in his net......not in position........Sounds like something a goalie coach should be working on with him......I know, broken record....coach can only do so much; Smith has an attitude...etc....Can't get rid of Smith, Not sure if Rittich is a 1A, prospects floundering; why not bring in a former NHL goalie as a short-term consultant, like Oates in LA for their power play? former teammate Dwayne Roloson maybe? Just for a chat.
Maybe Smith does need a week off like Price had. Start in Vegas next Friday.
the funny things is, IF Smith didnt #### the bed we would have been saying that Price did the same for the Habs in a loss. His 2nd goal was pretty bad positioning as well. All we needed was average goaltending to come out on top last night.
Didn't see much of the game, but based on the shot count and the reactions on CP, I thought the even strength high danger chances would have been even more tilted in the Flames favor than they were (12-9). Even so, in the NHL you need to win games 2-1 somewhat regularly and it seems as though the Flames played the exact type of game that would get you to that score. Except for the most important position on the ice.
I am all for getting onboard the Rittich train, but if Smith can't play better than he has, Flames have a real problem.
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Habs 3 Flames 2
