AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2009 > January > 08 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USHigh SA/G = High GAA…Really?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Logic would dictate that the more pucks that get fired at the net…the higher the chances are of goals being scored, (DUH4). So, when one looks at the Thrashers league-worst 3.63 GAA, it’s not a far stretch to link it to the abysmal 32.8 SA/G stat.
But…is it really just that simple?
Well, looking at the NHL team stats, we see that there are two teams with higher SA/G than the Thrashers have. The Tampa Bay Lightning give up shots to the tune of 32.9 per game and the Florida Panthers do so at a shocking 34.6 rate. Must have something to do with all that heat and humidity down there, eh? Anyway, so… logic dictates that their high shots against totals must equate to a high goals against stat as well, right?
Not quite.
See, while the Bolts allow the second most shots against per game in the league, they only give up 2.92 goals per game…that is 21st in the NHL. The Panthers? Well, true they give up more shots than anyone else but they allow a mere 2.72 goals per game. That’s the 11th best GAA stat in the league.
So…what gives?
We look no further than the men ‘tween the pipes here. First, the Thrashers’ keepers…
Kari Lehtonen: 4-10-2 with a 3.37 GAA and .902 SV%.
Johan Hedberg: 6-7-3 with a 3.58 GAA and .888 SV%.
Ondrej Pavelec: 3-6-0 with a 3.55 GAA and .884 SV%.
The high goals against number isn’t surprising, especially given how many shots that they face…but what matters here is the saves percentage.
Case in point, let’s now take a look at the men that man the nets down in the Sunshine State… shall we?
Mike Smith… who just recently turned away 27 of 28 Thrashers shots last Sunday in Tampa Bay’s 4-1 win in Atlanta… is currently 9-12-1 with a 2.53 GAA and a .919 SV%. Same losing record as Atlanta’s goalkeeping trio, but the amount of goals allowed is a good three quarters of a point lower than Kari’s and more than one whole point better than Moose and Opie’s. This is caused by his saves percentage being 0.17% better than Kari’s, 0.31% and 0.35% better than Pavelec’s.
Mosey on down the Tamiami Trail to Sunrise, Florida and we find Tomas Vokoun sporting a 9-12-1 record with a 2.80 GAA and .916 SV%. He’s split time with Craig Anderson who is a very impressive 9-4-5 with a low 2.35 GAA and impressive .933 SV%. While Vokoun’s numbers are good, take a look at Anderson’s…the SV% is .031 better than Kari’s and his GAA is 1.02 goals better. In fact, prior to allowing five goals on forty-five shots in Montreal last Sunday, he was sporting a 2.20 GAA.
Hmmmm…so, even though these goalies see lots-o-rubber flying in their faces, as do the Thrashers goalies, they seem to have the ability to turn away a considerable amount more of the shots than do the guys in the Thrashers’ net.
Thus…more shots being saved by the goalie equates to a lower GAA and, therefore, more games that his team has a chance to be victorious in, (DUH5). This is specifically true in the case of the Florida Panthers who are only 19th in the league in scoring, only netting 2.65 per game, but are 18-16-6 on the season and only three points out of a playoff birth.
In Tampa Bay’s case, true their record is only 11-18-10…but they only score goals at a 2.38 per game clip, 28th in the league. However, the solid work by Smith in the Lighting goal has helped them to come out of a game pointless in only 18 of 39 games.
Which brings us back to Atlanta. That all three goalies have a GAA well over three can be linked directly to a pedestrian at best saves percentages. The amount of shots that they face certainly do not help matters at all…but, as we can see, isn’t totally to blame for the high number of goals scored on them. It also contributes greatly to the Gawd-awful, league-worst 72.2% “effective” penalty kill.
When we look back on the amount of one-goal losses…and games in which empty netters accounted for two-goal margin losses…the difference between saving 88 or 90-ish% percent of the shots faced and 91 or 93-ish% of the shots equates to one or two goals here and there.
And so many times this season, that has been the difference between a win and yet another close loss.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By maali
January 8, 2009 9:31 AM | Link to this
right. but here’s the thing. for one, that SOG number doesn’t take into account the A/B shots, nor the missed shots, nor the ones that would not have gone directly into the net, but were still shots at the goalie. when you factor those into the official SA total per game, we’re REALLY looking at upwards of 50-60 per.
so kari/moose/pony make 27 out or 29. or 46 out of 50. really they’re stopping probably 40 out of 42, or 55 out of 59.
really? are you really pointing at the goaltending as the reason for the loss in tight games? they’re not superheros, they’re just dudes. maybe if the team considered putting some effort into their game and playing like it’s their job, or moreover, playing like they had any PRIDE in themselves, then maybe we wouldn’t have to analyze the goalie stats and look at how much difference a percentage makes. but hey, you know, pride in self has become a rare commodity. few of the thrashers seem to have any so sure, why not. let’s heap it on the few guys who do show up to play.
:)
:-*
By Stats
January 8, 2009 9:38 AM | Link to this
RH - Great point. I have commented on this from a statistical point of view in the past. In past years, you could pretty much translate ATL’s SA/G and GAA as directly related. Under JA’s system, not so much.
As I said a few months ago, a MAJOR concern with our players in this system is not the shots allowed, but the quality of those shots. Penalty kill is a major problem, but the broader stats show a bigger issue.
Scoring is up, but the goal differential and shots differential have gotten slightly worse (that is farther apart). We are on pace to be as bad or worse on shorthanded goals allowed. Penalty minutes are up. Most notably, we lead the league in giveaways as a team and Kovy leads the league individually.
Ironically, ATL does not have a “blown” game or “stolen” game this year.
A blown game is defined as: a game in which the team scored 4 or more goals, allowed 25 or fewer shots but lost or a game in which the team scored 5 or more goals and allowed 26-30 shots, but lost. A stolen game is a game in which the team scored 2 or fewer goals, allowed 30 or more shots and won or a game in which the team scored 3 goals and allowed 35 or more shots and won.
In other words, goaltending isn?t losing any games (it isn?t winning games either). What I believe the system has created is an up tempo game with lots of shots on both ends and lots of penalties and turnovers. The problem is that we lack TALENT. Therefore, the system is MAGNIFYING this fact. We end up with MORE of the penalties, MORE of the turnovers and FEWER of the shots. Thus, the pressure is increased on goaltending. It is not just shots on goal and save percentage anymore it is a problem of “quality shots on goal.”
To make an analogy, it would be like the Golden State Warriors trying to run-n-gun with the Lakers or Suns or like the Detroit Lions trying to play a run-n-shoot offense against the Patriots. If you have less talent, the disparity just gets worse.
I am not saying the system is bad or won’t work, we just do not presently have the personnel for it. Until we fire the GM and get someone who can get good personnel here (by trade or draft), it really won’t matter.
Instead of saying that we lost a one-goal game because of a low save percentage, I would say we lost the game because of one extra penalty that we did not kill or because of one extra turnover creating an easy score.
By Rawhide
January 8, 2009 9:42 AM | Link to this
maali - hon…I’m just presentin’ the numbers. If you choose to factor the A/B shots in with Kari and Pavs and Moose’s stats,fine…but then, wouldn’t it be fair to do the same with Florida and Tampa Bay’s goalies as well?
If so, then that would make there numbers better as well.
I’m I heaping ALLLL the blame on goalkeeping? Nope…but it is part of the equation, ya know.
Also, how many times this season has our goalie let in am early first period goal? See also, Pavs’ performance against Boston last month…Kari vs. Toronto on Dec. 22nd when a rebound was put back in to open the flood gates.
Or the first goal Boston scored on kari two Sundays ago. It wasn’t an early one, but it went through his glove. In a 2-1 loss, that stands out huge.
Plus, there is that ugly 0-4-0 record Lehtonen has in games where the defense did step it up and held the opposition to under 30 SOG.
Again, I’m just presentin’ the numbers.
By Stats
January 8, 2009 9:45 AM | Link to this
By the way - Happy New Year everyone.
Sorry the last post ran together. I thought I put paragraphs in there.
I’m rusty I guess.
By Trixie (Rawhide's Secretary)
January 8, 2009 9:55 AM | Link to this
Mr. Stats - Paragraphs have been inserted for you.
Happy New Year to you as Well.
By ranallo10 (in AT)
January 8, 2009 10:05 AM | Link to this
Happy New Year to you as ell.
Hmm…now even Trixie can’t get a W when she needs it most.
By truehockeyfan
January 8, 2009 10:05 AM | Link to this
Early in the year this team lost several real close one goal games. I believe this hurt their mental attitudes. Does anyone know how many one goal games this team lost? HOw many games were lost by two goals giving up a EN at the end of the game. when we take these facts into consideration, this team could be in the hunt for a playoff spot if we only one 25% of those games. Just a thought.
By ranallo10 (in AT)
January 8, 2009 10:22 AM | Link to this
Here’s a clip from a Blue Jackets message board:
Well, not to sound like this season is over, but if they do not make a deal until February, this season will be over. Come Saturday they will be losers of 4 straight, just the way to squander a 4 game winning streak. Of course, now they have an excuse, injuries. There is always an excuse with this team and their management group.
There are deals to be made, but if howson wants “to hold on to his bullets” the only thing this team will be getting is more Kris Beech.
Here can be their new marketing slogan “Your Columbus BlueJackets, yes we are a medicore AHL team now, but if you buy tickets (Suckers!) we might be good in 2020.”
Does that happen to sound very familiar?
By Trixie (Rawhide's Secretary)
January 8, 2009 10:32 AM | Link to this
Mr. Ranallo…and you wonder where your Christmas bonus went!
By glovesave29
January 8, 2009 10:45 AM | Link to this
Said it before - WE DON’T HAVE A GOALTENDING COACH. Sure, Steve Weeks played the net, but he never works with our keepers in practice. He’s over running drills. The Bolts and the Panthers have goaltending coaches…and for those who have gone over to the IceForum when TB is practicing there will attest…they actually WORK on their craft with a trained professional coach (gasp). When facing all this rubber and an inferior defense, you develop bad habits. If no one points them out, you continue to develop them. Now, I am certainly not blaming the goalies for all of our ills - there is MORE than enough blame to go around. And a goalie coach is not the ONLY solution…but c’mon, it can only help. Get the goalies confident and on track and that can be energizing to the whole team. Confindence grows from there. You know your guy between the pipes is really on his game, it gives the teammates a bounce in their step - the feeling you cannot let your goalkeeper down as he continally saves your behind, so come hell or high water, you are going to score enough to walk away with a win. The opposite is true today…we know we are undertalented, the goalie gives up a goal (usually not the fault of Kari and company) and the steam goes out of the sails - then we mail it in for the rest of the game.
By ranallo10 (in AT)
January 8, 2009 10:47 AM | Link to this
Don’t take it personally Trixie, W’s aren’t easy to come by for Thrashers and fans alike.
By Brett
January 8, 2009 11:41 AM | Link to this
Rawhide nice points about the goaltending situation. One thing I’ve noticed is the soft goals. Kari seems to give one or two up every game. It also seems once the other team scores Kari loses all confidence in his abilities. He has skill but his mental game is questionable. He needs to invest some money in a good Sports Psychologist! I still believe Kari will have a solid NHL career it just won’t be in ATL. Also Fire WADDELL
By Buzilla in CT
January 8, 2009 12:24 PM | Link to this
BREAKING NEWS: WADDELL FIRED!!!!
By polskidawg
January 8, 2009 12:29 PM | Link to this
So RH, what you and others are saying is:
There is a serious (substantial or sustained rather than trivial or insignificant) dearth (a scarcity or lack of something) of talent (a person or people with an exceptional ability) in the Thrasher organization (efficiency in the way separate elements are arranged into a coherent whole) – top (the most important position or most senior rank, or the person occupying it) to bottom.
By ranallo10 (in AT)
January 8, 2009 12:59 PM | Link to this
Kovalchuk was named to the All-Star team.
By Rawhide
January 8, 2009 1:24 PM | Link to this
ranallo - Yes, it does sound familiar…but I think the CBJs might actually be closer to the promise land then the Thrashers right now.
Brett - He needs to invest some money in a good Sports Psychologist…yup, and with John Smoltz now bolting for Red Sox Nation, the one he used may have a few openings now.
glovesave29 - I was counting on you to bring up the goaltending coach issue.
Thanks! You are now on the payroll. Trixie will be forwarding the paperwork.
polskidawg - Yup…I think that sums it up rather nicely!
Zilla - You’re such a tease! You had me checkin’ headlines!
By Ag Baverhausen
January 8, 2009 1:44 PM | Link to this
You know, I was just thinking.
So the writing’s on the wall, and I think we all pretty much can see that Kovy’s not going to resign here. He’s gone, just like Hossa, Savard and the rest.
But you know what? I bet D-Dub actually believes that Kovy will resign. I think he’s that out-of-touch, and thinks that he’ll be able to persuade Kovy to stay a Thrasher.
After all, this is the guy who thought he could lure Scotty Bowman out of retirement to coach the Thrashers. Seriously thought that. Scotty Bowman. Remember?
Completely out-of-touch.
By ranallo10 (in AT)
January 8, 2009 1:52 PM | Link to this
Rawhide — Well that’s a DUH5 statement…11th place in their conference compared to 14th in the other. But, are they any closer to the promise land than Atlanta was two years back?
Or better yet, are you envious of the Columbus Blue Jackets or their fans?
By Rawhide
January 8, 2009 2:06 PM | Link to this
Ranallous Maximus - “Envious”…uh, maybe.
See, they have already done there what we should have already done here…changed the direction of the franchise with a GM replacement.
In June of 2007, after finishing the first two seasons after the lockout with 74 and 73 points, they made the change bringing in Scott Howson.
last season, the improved to 34-36-12 for 80 points. So far this season, they are 18-18-3 and only three points removed from a playoff spot.
Sure would be nice to be that close.
If the CBJs do make the playoffs this year and if the win at least one game…it’ll leave the Thrashers as the only NHL without at least ONE playoff victory.
If I’m not mistaken, the only other pro sports franchises with ZERO playoff wins are the Charlotte Bobcats, the Houston Texans and the “new” Cleveland Browns.
All teams that began play after the Thrashers.
By Buzilla in CT
January 8, 2009 2:18 PM | Link to this
Sorry Rawhide. I was bored at work so I decided to cry wolf…
I bet you were happy for a minute though
By Mr. Knowitall
January 8, 2009 2:37 PM | Link to this
Bored at work?
Question of the Day
What event must take place in order for the ASG to remove Don Waddell from his current position as General Manager of the Atlanta Thrashers?
The Trick??? You must condense your answer to only one sentence.
GO! Let the speculation begin….
By Steely Dan
January 8, 2009 2:43 PM | Link to this
“What event must take place in order for the ASG to remove Don Waddell from his current position as General Manager of the Atlanta Thrashers”?
Uh, Bruce Levenson has to sober up from his 4-year long drunken stuper?
By Buzilla in CT
January 8, 2009 2:53 PM | Link to this
one sentence:
Move the team to Hartford….
;0
By Thrasherbob
January 8, 2009 2:57 PM | Link to this
Mr.knowitall
Don Wadell trash talks Elisha Cuthbert.
By Bob
January 8, 2009 3:01 PM | Link to this
Rawhide, you’re not seeing the big picture here. The big picture is that Anderson’s system coupled with our lack or talent is allowing too many quality chances. Shot allowed is not the only story, it’s the number of those shots that are quality chances against our guys.
So, not only do our goalies face a relatively high # of shots, I would hazard to guess they face more quality shots than any other goalie in the league.
While our dmen this year have decent offensive ability, we have no defensive dmen (besides Exelby and Valabik, and they both stink), we are simply bad in our own zone.
Think about Ray Ferraro’s comments in our recent game “it’s like an open skate into the Atlanta zone” which shows how forwards regularly are allowed to walk into our zone unimpeded.
If you want to look for stats, I’d point you towards looking at scoring chances per game for our opposition (scoring chance is supposed to rate a quality shot, as opposed to just a SOG thrown from anywhere at the net). I’d hazard to guess that we lead the league in scoring chances allowed.
By Bob
January 8, 2009 3:12 PM | Link to this
What event must take place in order for the ASG to remove Don Waddell from his current position as General Manager of the Atlanta Thrashers?
The lawsuit with Belkin must be finally settled.
By Scotty
January 8, 2009 3:19 PM | Link to this
That is interesting what glovesave29 said about us not really having a goaltending coach. I was wondering about that the other day.
We have no goalie coach and our goalies give up 3.37 goals per game and higher. Umm, so just what isn’t Don Waddell seeing here?
As for “Mr. Knowitall’s” question: Like what Rawhide has to say about them, Levenson and the rest of the Spirit Clowns are going to have to gain some “testicular fortitude”.
By Tony C.
January 8, 2009 3:59 PM | Link to this
‘zilla- dude. that wasn’t cool. I was excited for a minute.
I would like to second glovesave’s point on an actual golaie coach-Weeks doesn’t seem to be the guy for the job to me in the 1st place. Not to diss the guy-he’s asked to wear about 4 different hats since he started with the organizaion: video, player personnel, “skills coach” (WTF-ever), and (supposedly) goalies coach.
Now that seems to be asking an awful lot out of a single person to me.
But I don’t see why you would have a guy with a sub-.500 career be the guy you tap to coach your players. Granted, Weeks did play for some pretty sorry teams, but the best NHL season he mustered was barely over .500 (I mean by like 3> games here folks-depends on how you factor ties)!
You look at Carolina-Ward had a very disappointing sophomore season-what did they do? They hired Tom Barrasso. You know the guy, goaltending wunderkind that was drafted straight out of high school and played in the pros the next winter-2 Cups while he and Francis were with SuperMario and the Pens. Career win % of .530 (BTW that number includes World Jr.s, Canada Cup and Olympic totals as well as NHL), playoff numbers take a dip, as you’d expect to .512-still not shabby.
Let’s compare his numbers with Weeks (not really fair, I think everyone would agree Barrasso was blessed with a much better skillset than Weeks): a career .441 winning % with a .250 win% in postseasonal play.
Now, we (meaning Le Thrash) do not have the history that Carolina/Hartford has (by this I mean length of time as a franchise), but still, even without having former players like a Ron Francis in the fold (and wow, how lucky is Carolina to have him!?), I think you hire a guy that at least had a .500 win% to be your goalie coach right?
Or you could always hire a guy that’s a fellow alum.
Right DW???
By glovesave29
January 8, 2009 4:41 PM | Link to this
I understand your point Tony, but I don’t necessarily think you need to be a player of considerable stature to be a good coach. Case in point - Francois Allaire is the man behind the “butterfly style” and the goalie coach to Patrick Roy and JS Giguere. He is an excellent teacher and tecnician. Never played above the senior hockey level. Kari and Ondrej play the butterfly style to some degree…logical thought says to find a goalie coach that employs those theories. Ah, my never do two words find themselves so diametrically opposed as logic and thought with regards to our local team.
By Tony C.
January 8, 2009 4:44 PM | Link to this
last bit above should read “…having former players like Tom Barrasso & Ron Francis…”
one sentance game:
Poppa Turner asks Beau “Hey-I see where they’ve ruined the Braves-how’re your teams doing?”
By Alan
January 8, 2009 4:56 PM | Link to this
A little off-topic, but it looks like fans of a high school hockey team have their own “Nasty Nest”.
By Tony C.
January 8, 2009 5:33 PM | Link to this
glovesave-
True, I guess what I was saying is that if you’re going to get a former pro, don’t get a sucky one.
I agree that the coach need not be a former pro-I think that sports is a great illustrator of the maxim: Those that can, DO…Those that can’t, teach. Look at Bobby Cox, for example, he was a so-so player at his best (Think a baseball version of Thorburn), but clearly the man is one of the greatest coaches of all time. So rather than hiring Weeks because he is a fellow North Michigan alum, maybe DW would’ve been better served to hire one of Allaire or Tretiak’s disciples from their schools.
I think we can safely say that Moose is basically player/coach as far as goaltending goes, but still goalie health and training has been something I’ve always wondered why Le Thrash skimp on-I mean after 6 years of having your starting goalies always loose time to a groin injury (even before Glass-Crotch became the #1) DW finally had the strength coach develop a program to prepare the team’s goalies groins’ (grammar police tidy that up)! SIX YEARS of the exact same type of injury on over 12 different players-I think most folks would recognize that as a “challenge area” at the very least.
I was hoping we could get Vanbiesbruck (he struck me as being very good with his angles) to come be a coach for us, but it looks like he’s having too much fun with his Junior team.
Bottom line, it’s little things like that that players notice. I’ve heard that call-ups from Chicago are kind of disappointed in the facilities used by the Thrash-everything except the weather’s impact on ice conditions can be controlled and improved by management, but apparently is not.
grr.
What I’m trying to say is:
FIRE WADDELL
By glovesave29
January 8, 2009 5:47 PM | Link to this
Tony - I’d love to get Beezer. The man was a human pretzel with perfect positioning and great form.
Who knows what kind of goalie coach Weeks would be…he’d have to actually DO some work with the goalies to give us anything to debate!
I did a quick tour through the webpages of all NHL teams…we are the ONLY one without a goalie coach. In fact, some teams have head coach, three assistants and a goalie coach.
We may not have THRASHERS history to pull from, but there is hockey history here. Dan Bouchard still lives here, and his former teammate Phil Myre coached the Panthers and Senators goalies. They were never lower than 6th in the league in GAA.
So, I guess what I am trying to say is…FIRE WADDELL!
By goose
January 8, 2009 5:49 PM | Link to this
Be on the look out at target for dirt cheap Thrashers Jersey. The other night I found an CCM adult large old blue style home thrashers jersey for $13. Compare that to the $100 ASG is selling them at Phillips Arena. I found them over in the mens cloths with a bunch of other 75% of items. FIRE WADDLE
By Barry
January 8, 2009 5:52 PM | Link to this
Not sure what types of shots goalies on the Panthers and Lightning are having to deal with, but I guarantee you they don’t have as much traffic and shots from the top of the crease taken against them as much as Kari and Co. are allowed to try and stop. I agree though that our goal tending has been average this year. Kari doesn’t seem to be getting better…he seems to be getting worse. He was supposed to use this year to show the Thrashers organ-i-zation that he could be their #1 stud goalie. That hasn’t been looking to promising yet.
By maali
January 8, 2009 7:01 PM | Link to this
yah yah, i know. i’m just saying, spread it all around. if you’re gonna air the dirty stats of the goalies, let’s see what the +/- is around this joint compared to teams with a similar GA/G. YOU KNOW I GET DEFENCIVE :-D
also fun would be listing the rockstars d-wad’s traded away for a rental player and/or some used pucks.
idk honestly. i’m tired of making excuses and tired of watching the games and saying outloud to anyone who might listen “this team is actually bad…” and they are! they’re not good or great with streaks of bad. they’re bad with occasional brilliance.
i’m glad i don’t have your job because honestly, i got no idea what to write about this team right now. wearing a bag over one’s head does not translate as well on the interwebs as it does in an arena. :-)
By Rockem Sockem Thrasher
January 8, 2009 7:42 PM | Link to this
Just noticed that the Chicago Wolves have called up Goalie Robert Gherson from the ECHL. This gives them 3 goalies on the active roster.
Either they are addressing a problem at the goal position or they maybe preparing for a move or trade from the Thrashers.
Chicago Wolves Link
By Alan
January 8, 2009 8:16 PM | Link to this
I found this and had to laugh.
Looks like we’re playing a pretty good game so far.
So far…
By Tony C.
January 8, 2009 8:59 PM | Link to this
Wow.
Did the boys read today’s blog?
Maybe they know something we don’t?
Either they’ve been replaced by dopplegangers or maybe they just decided that yes, they would like to play some pucky now.
GO BLUE !!!
oh and,
FIRE WADDELL
By Brendan
January 8, 2009 9:29 PM | Link to this
I gotta say it. The Thrashers have played well. They took hits to make plays. They hustled. They worked hard. They got some lucky breaks, especially that first goal. Boulton has been in 2-3 fights now. Valabik had a big response to the hit on Kozlov, as did other Thrashers. Kari has made the saves he’s had to make. And Slater’s goal was just TREMENDOUS. And so was Kovy’s reaction to Slater’s goal.
It’s presently 4-0. Scott Clemmenson was chased from the net after two period, and it’s Kevin Weeks in there now. Did New Jersey take the night off? Maybe. Maybe the Devils are entitled to a bad game every so often. Just not against a bad team like Atlanta. In the Atlantic Division, it’s probably going to come right down the final game of the season to determine who wins the division and who winds up 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th from the Atlantic Division. They will rue the day they let these two-points get away. There’s just a little bit left in the 3rd period.
Good job, Thrashers!! This was one of the better games of the season.
By Alan
January 8, 2009 9:43 PM | Link to this
This is probably the best effort I’ve seen this team put out all season. I’m shocked that the team came in and dominated. Good job, Kari, in getting and preserving the shutout — especially during that Boulton double minor.
Jersey’s failure to convert on all those PP chances they had certainly had to help Atlanta pad their PK numbers, too.
Why can’t this team play like that every night??
Brendan - I was watching the Jersey feed, and the guys remarked this was pretty much a must-win game for them. They were tied for first, but since Philadelphia won their game, they now have sole possession of first place in the Atlantic. So if the Devils decided to take the night off, tonight wasn’t the night to do it.
Another thing the Jersey guys mentioned is, until tonight, the Devils had not lost a game this season by more than three goals. The last time they lost b y three goals was a defeat back in November.
By Brendan
January 8, 2009 9:52 PM | Link to this
The NJ-guys are right, Alan. Every game and every point are essential to the Rangers, Devils, Flyers, and Penguins. It’s gonna be TIGHT. But, another truth is … there’s around 40 games left for the Devils to STEAL 2-pts. somewhere along the way.
In 2006, the Devils were 17-points out of 1st place in the Atlantic division. Guess what happened? New Jersey won the division in the final minutes, of the final hours, of the final game of the season. The Devils will bounce back from this. And if it looks like they are in some trouble, Lou Lamoriello will do what he does. There’s reason why the Devils always have “some shot” every year at winning the Cup. The position of General Manager is an important one. The GM oversees the direction of the team.
By Alan
January 8, 2009 10:29 PM | Link to this
But, another truth is … there’s around 40 games left for the Devils to STEAL 2-pts
I don’t dispute this fact at all. However, you just can’t take a night off. They very well have the ability to steal two points in the standings, but they could also end up missing the playoffs by those very same two points.
You never, ever slack off and take a night off. No night is a good night to take one off, but especially when the standings are as close as they are in the Atlantic. There might be half a season left for them to play, but every game makes a difference.