Clusterf*&@! Quick clusters of goals against are killing the Leafs
Originally posted at Pension Plan Puppets...
I wanted to take Jonas' nice research one step further and add a goaltending column to see if there was any sort of pattern...Here's Jonas' table with my goalie column added in:
Date | Opponent | Goalie | Result | Final Outcome |
October 23rd | Philadelphia | Giguere | Two goals in 1:51 | Loss (5-2) |
November 2nd | Ottawa | Giguere | Two goals in 2:26 | Loss (3-2) |
November 3rd | Washington | Gustavsson | Two goals in 0:53 | Shootout Loss (5-4) |
November 9th | Tampa | Giguere | Two goals in 0:19 | Loss (4-0) |
November 16th | Nashville | Giguere | Three goals in 3:30 | Win (5-4) |
November 26th | Buffalo | Gustavsson | Two goals in 1:45 | Loss (3-1) |
December 2nd | Edmonton | Giguere | Two goals in 0:36 | Loss (5-0) |
December 8th | Pittsburgh | Gustavsson | Three goals in 3:08 | Loss (5-2) |
December 9th | Philadelphia | Giguere | Two goals in 1:19 | Loss (4-1) |
December 16th | Calgary | Giguere | Three goals in 0:57 | Loss (5-2) |
As you can see, J.S. Giguere has been in goal for 7 of the 10 games where the Leafs were torched.
To my mind, this pattern of clustered goals against, coupled with a longitudinal look at Giguere's save percentage (nicely assembled by SkinnyFish) is yet further evidence of Giguere's ongoing decline.
Looking at his Giguere's play of late, I hope Gustavsson gets the bulk of Leaf starts going forward and that Burke and the MLSE brain trust are working out what their goaltending options are for next year.
Giguere has played strong at points this season. His save on Gionta in the dying seconds of the first game of the season is likely to be one of the few memorable moments from the 2010-11 season. However, I agree that Gustavsson needs to get the majority of starts for the remainder of the season. Let's hope that his play against Atlanta was simply an aberration. Giguere won't be back next season with the Leafs unless he agrees to a backup role at a significant decrease in salary, so it's time to see if the Monster can live up to his moniker.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it's more than the goalies out there in those 2-3 minute stretches. The Leafs have a very young team that plays young, and some veterans that play even younger (I'm looking at you Komisarek and your penchant for passing the puck to the other team in prime shooting spots). Their confidence is easily shattered and when something goes wrong they seem to forget their teachings and become mesmerized by the puck. They stop doing simple things like chipping the puck out off the boards, or simply holding onto it if there is no play and forcing a faceoff and time to regroup. Unless Burke can make some significant upgrades on this roster, I don't see how any goalie could do much better than either of their starters have done so far. It is nice, after the Raycroft-Toskala years, to finally not bemoan the lack of quality goaltending.