Anglesmith
Setting up the play?
But wait, there's more!This analogy is getting out of hand fast
Well, you need to spend some time over the weekend putting in work, and in future you take a bit more care when you're in dangerous waters and do what you can to protect your boat.What do we have to do to fix the hole in the boat?
But really, the whole point here is that some issues make other issues redundant. The quality of your goaltending isn't really a factor if you can't put your goalie in a situation to be a difference maker. During this losing streak, a common, consistent theme has been giving up extremely high-percentage chances (2-on-0s, breakaways, loose pucks sitting in our slot with Flames standing and watching, tip-ins, etc.). That is not the type of hockey where a top goalie can turn you from a loser to a winner.
Right now, Mike Smith isn't a superstar, but he's got a track record that shows that even if he's kept busy, if you can clean up chances against to allow just a few opportunities for great saves, he can win those games for you. He is still making a handful of great saves every game, but just the volume of those opportunities is such that even with a good number of them being saved, a good number are still getting in. He even has showed up this season that he's still capable of winning you a game you don't deserve, so long as you avoid the huge mistakes that are plaguing our game. I just honestly don't believe that there is any goalie in the league that could change the story from the last few games given the type of defence we've made and the type of chances we've allowed.
I'm not opposed to looking for an upgrade in net, if possible. We have nothing really invested in Smith and still need to worry about the next few years. SKRusty outlined a few scenarios which may make sense, some of which seem like good ideas, and others of which don't seem like likely improvements. But I just don't know why you wouldn't wait until you're playing a brand of hockey that makes it possible to fairly evaluate what Mike Smith is right now.