Islanders vs. Maple Leafs - Jan. 11th, 7:00pm - TSN4, Fan 590
- Thread starter CarltonTheBear
- Start date
I looked at the goals. None of them were glaringly bad or soft by Jones.
Two were tipped: Horvat & Romanov (off Nylander's stick)
I didn't think Jones could come out to challenge Romanov
a) because it happened so quickly
b) there was an Islander in front of the net and another on the other side of the net - if Jones came out to challenge the shooter, Jones would be more exposed to a centering or cross crease pass to an open cage
I slowed down the video on the Giordano clear. He retrieved the puck and got it away within a second. He couldn't throw it down the middle due to Palmieri in close and a dman on the center of the blue line. Trying to throw it to the left of Palmieri and the right of an Islander nearer to the boards risked interception because both their sticks were in that lane and Palmieri's was nearly head high - it would not be easy to lift it safely over his stick. So he went to the left of the Islander nearer the boards to his non-stick side. Palmieri's stick skated into it to knock it down - seemingly somewhat unintentionally. More often then not a NHL dman clears the zone in that situation. Giordano read it, arguably made the right decision on where to do with the puck - delayed by the positions of the Islanders and I think he got a little unlucky.
Having said that, Giordano seemed spent in last year's playoff and he isn't what he used to be.
I do not understand why Giordano is used as much on the PK as he's been used. Leafs PK is 24th - may be the worst characteristic of the team. I think they miss crease clearers like Muzzin & Holl. Might have helped on the first goal. Brodie & Giordano let Palmieri park in the crease untouched. Maybe Benoit or a another physical dman should be tried more there. Brodie & Giordano are blocking shots and getting in lanes but were not engaging physically. Maybe McCabe with one of them and Benoit with the other.
Two were tipped: Horvat & Romanov (off Nylander's stick)
I didn't think Jones could come out to challenge Romanov
a) because it happened so quickly
b) there was an Islander in front of the net and another on the other side of the net - if Jones came out to challenge the shooter, Jones would be more exposed to a centering or cross crease pass to an open cage
I slowed down the video on the Giordano clear. He retrieved the puck and got it away within a second. He couldn't throw it down the middle due to Palmieri in close and a dman on the center of the blue line. Trying to throw it to the left of Palmieri and the right of an Islander nearer to the boards risked interception because both their sticks were in that lane and Palmieri's was nearly head high - it would not be easy to lift it safely over his stick. So he went to the left of the Islander nearer the boards to his non-stick side. Palmieri's stick skated into it to knock it down - seemingly somewhat unintentionally. More often then not a NHL dman clears the zone in that situation. Giordano read it, arguably made the right decision on where to do with the puck - delayed by the positions of the Islanders and I think he got a little unlucky.
Having said that, Giordano seemed spent in last year's playoff and he isn't what he used to be.
I do not understand why Giordano is used as much on the PK as he's been used. Leafs PK is 24th - may be the worst characteristic of the team. I think they miss crease clearers like Muzzin & Holl. Might have helped on the first goal. Brodie & Giordano let Palmieri park in the crease untouched. Maybe Benoit or a another physical dman should be tried more there. Brodie & Giordano are blocking shots and getting in lanes but were not engaging physically. Maybe McCabe with one of them and Benoit with the other.