Goaltending, defense

[Konk]

Detroit should've just left town without Mike Green and one of Howard or Mrazek, and taken MVS, the NYI 1st, and Halak with them on their way out.

It sounds like Mrazek won't be qualified this summer because Detroit won't be able to afford to qualify him. He's not only better than Halak or Greiss right now, but I think this kid is due to become one of the best goalies in the NHL in the next few years. If Detroit decides to deal Howard and keep Mrazek for their rebuild, then the Islanders should still be interested. Either goalie and Green in a packaged deal would do wonders for this team right now.

Snow needs to do something soon. The Metro is extremely tight and if the goaltending and defense shitshow continues, they will miss the playoffs and JT will walk.

 

[SCMURRAY]

Looking at goalies above the league average .912 sv% that appear attainable: Dell, Kuemper, Miller, Lindgren, Khudobin. While none of these really jump off the page expect for Dell...its possible all can be acquired and paired with a D trade might help save this team

 

[ekill08x]

Detroit should've just left town without Mike Green and one of Howard or Mrazek, and taken MVS, the NYI 1st, and Halak with them on their way out.

It sounds like Mrazek won't be qualified this summer because Detroit won't be able to afford to qualify him. He's not only better than Halak or Greiss right now, but I think this kid is due to become one of the best goalies in the NHL in the next few years. If Detroit decides to deal Howard and keep Mrazek for their rebuild, then the Islanders should still be interested. Either goalie and Green in a packaged deal would do wonders for this team right now.

Snow needs to do something soon. The Metro is extremely tight and if the goaltending and defense ****show continues, they will miss the playoffs and JT will walk.

I want to believe you about Mrazek but his numbers the last two years have been atrocious. We definitely need team defense just as much as a goalie. Mayfield and Pelech need to see less starts

 

[duster19]

I don’t understand the KHL/NHL dynamics. Is there anyway that the isles could get Sorokin over here? Maybe after the Olympics?

 

[saintunspecified]

I don’t understand the KHL/NHL dynamics. Is there anyway that the isles could get Sorokin over here? Maybe after the Olympics?

"adoption"

 

[Konk]

I want to believe you about Mrazek but his numbers the last two years have been atrocious. We definitely need team defense just as much as a goalie. Mayfield and Pelech need to see less starts

Not two years, basically last year and so far this year... more like 1.5 years. That may seem like a nitpick, but it's important because the Red Wings as a whole have been bad during that timeframe. Prior to that, they were in the playoffs and he was playing over 50 games putting up .920+ save percentage. I definitely think he can get back there, he's only 25 years old. Typically goalies start entering their prime at around 25-27 and he has the talent, pedigree, and he's demonstrated it previously.

 

[ekill08x]

Not two years, basically last year and so far this year... more like 1.5 years. That may seem like a nitpick, but it's important because the Red Wings as a whole have been bad during that timeframe. Prior to that, they were in the playoffs and he was playing over 50 games putting up .920+ save percentage. I definitely think he can get back there, he's only 25 years old. Typically goalies start entering their prime at around 25-27 and he has the talent, pedigree, and he's demonstrated it previously.

Did some research and watched him some. Hes very athletic. More than Halak and Halak is a pretty athletic goalie. I would like to add him and a defensemen like Erik Gudbranson as a shutdown guy and maybe, just maybe, we slowly start to give up less goals. Season is far from over and we are still in a competitive spot, even after Winnipeg kicks the $#!t out of us on Saturday. After the freeze I think those are two moves that wont cost much in terms of assets and we could really have more of a complete roster. I still would call up Toews as well. Pelech is OKAY as one bottom pairing but I would like to see him with Toews for a few games instead of Mayfield, Hickey or Seidenberg. Hopefully de Haan is back soon and we could really have everyone in place.

 

[Konk]

Did some research and watched him some. Hes very athletic. More than Halak and Halak is a pretty athletic goalie. I would like to add him and a defensemen like Erik Gudbranson as a shutdown guy and maybe, just maybe, we slowly start to give up less goals. Season is far from over and we are still in a competitive spot, even after Winnipeg kicks the $#!t out of us on Saturday. After the freeze I think those are two moves that wont cost much in terms of assets and we could really have more of a complete roster. I still would call up Toews as well. Pelech is OKAY as one bottom pairing but I would like to see him with Toews for a few games instead of Mayfield, Hickey or Seidenberg. Hopefully de Haan is back soon and we could really have everyone in place.

I thought CdH was done for the year? I haven't kept up with the latest on that, so maybe I missed something.

With that said, CdH was part of the shitshow on D when he was healthy. I don't think him coming back is going to make much of a difference.

 

[BarBeauWahlDobLok]

It's gotten to a point where the goaltenders look confused after making a save. Now, that's not good!

 

[PK Cronin]

I thought CdH was done for the year? I haven't kept up with the latest on that, so maybe I missed something.

With that said, CdH was part of the ****show on D when he was healthy. I don't think him coming back is going to make much of a difference.

Heard it might not be as bad as it was originally thought, but I haven't seen anything definitive posted one way or the other yet.

 

[PROMputt]

Looking at goalies above the league average .912 sv% that appear attainable: Dell, Kuemper, Miller, Lindgren, Khudobin. While none of these really jump off the page expect for Dell...its possible all can be acquired and paired with a D trade might help save this team

Yes to Dell, Kuemper and Kudobin, add Lehner
No to Miller and Lindgren(looks nice but very young and not nearly enough NHL experience)

 

[Lame Lambert]

 

[beach]

Did some research and watched him some. Hes very athletic. More than Halak and Halak is a pretty athletic goalie. I would like to add him and a defensemen like Erik Gudbranson as a shutdown guy and maybe, just maybe, we slowly start to give up less goals. Season is far from over and we are still in a competitive spot, even after Winnipeg kicks the $#!t out of us on Saturday. After the freeze I think those are two moves that wont cost much in terms of assets and we could really have more of a complete roster. I still would call up Toews as well. Pelech is OKAY as one bottom pairing but I would like to see him with Toews for a few games instead of Mayfield, Hickey or Seidenberg. Hopefully de Haan is back soon and we could really have everyone in place.

Gubranson is too slow

 

[islesfan186]

I don’t understand the KHL/NHL dynamics. Is there anyway that the isles could get Sorokin over here? Maybe after the Olympics?

I have a bad feeling that kid will never wind up playing in NA. And if he does, I don't think it will be with the NYI. Maybe it's just my isles fan pessimism

 

[MJF]

And starting in goal, number 33, Christopher Gibson

 

[leeroggy]

FYI for all . . .

Lehner has played in 7 of Buffalo's last 8 games:

Dec 22	Phi	W, 4-2	1	2	2.00	33	35	.943	0
Dec 19	Bos	L, 3-0	0	1	1.03	30	31	.968	0
Dec 15	Car	L, 5-4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dec 14	@Phi	L, 2-1	0	2	2.07	25	27	.926	0
Dec 12	Ott	W, 3-2	1	2	2.01	24	26	.923	0
Dec 10	@STL	L, 3-2	0	3	2.81	42	45	.933	0
Dec 8	@CHI	L, 3-2	0	3	2.77	48	51	.941	0
Dec 5	@Col	W, 4-2	1	2	2.00	35	37	.946	0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Buffalo has only scored 20 goals in their last 8 games and Lehner is 3-4.

In our last 8 games:

Thu, Dec 7	· @ Pittsburgh	· L 4-3 OT	16-9-3	26-32
Sat, Dec 9	· @ Boston	· L 3-1	16-10-3	31-33
Mon, Dec 11	· Vs Washington	· W 3-1	17-10-3	29-32
Wed, Dec 13	· Vs Dallas	· L 5-2	17-11-3	34-27
Thu, Dec 14	· @ Columbus	· L 6-4	17-12-3	25-35
Sat, Dec 16	· Vs Los Angeles	· W 4-3 OT	18-12-3	33-29
Tue, Dec 19	· Vs Detroit	· L 6-3	18-13-3	37-22
Thu, Dec 21	· Vs Anaheim	· L 5-4 OT	18-13-4	26-40

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Putting Lehner's last games into our schedule (yeah, it's not scientific but so what?)

His Colorado performance wins the Pittsburgh game
We still lose to Boston
We still beat Washington
Dallas goes to OT, winner unknown
We beat Columbus
LA - Carolina is not comparable
We beat Detroit easily
We beat Anaheim easily

Instead of getting 5 points in our last eight we get at least 11 points. 6 more points put's us in a tie with Washington atop the Division, tied for 2nd in the Eastern Conference and tied for 3rd in the league.

And don't tell me how much better Buffalo's defense is.

Lehner's price is going up rapidly.

 

[Tres Peleches]

The thing that stands out to me this year with Greiss is how awkward he looks in making saves. Even when he stops the puck, it just doesn't look right, like he is just throwing his entire body into a spot and hoping the puck hits it as opposed to tracking the puck and making deliberate motions to stop it.

 

[burana800]

I believe that the problem is structural / coaching. It seems that nobody knows what the hell they are supposed to do.

 

[YearlyLottery]

I believe that the problem is structural / coaching. It seems that nobody knows what the hell they are supposed to do.

The coaches cannot just make these guys forget how to play goalie. It is not like they are having off years, they are having historically terrible years. They do not look like NHL goalies and truth be told they didn't look like it last year either really until Halak went off at the end of the season.

Halak has looked better as of late, but still not what we need. He had a decent game last game and has look pretty good against Winnipeg as of now. Isles still need a long term answer in net and Mrazek interests me a ton. He is a guy who would be a potential long term answer to the Isles goaltending woes. It is hard to believe this guy is still only 25 with how long he has been around in the league.

Snow should be calling up Detroit ASAP to see what they want for him.

 

[burana800]

The coaches cannot just make these guys forget how to play goalie. It is not like they are having off years, they are having historically terrible years. They do not look like NHL goalies and truth be told they didn't look like it last year either really until Halak went off at the end of the season.

Halak has looked better as of late, but still not what we need. He had a decent game last game and has look pretty good against Winnipeg as of now. Isles still need a long term answer in net and Mrazek interests me a ton. He is a guy who would be a potential long term answer to the Isles goaltending woes. It is hard to believe this guy is still only 25 with how long he has been around in the league.

Snow should be calling up Detroit ASAP to see what they want for him.

Was talking about the defense which has been horrible lately too.

 

[YesCubed]

Did some research and watched him some. Hes very athletic. More than Halak and Halak is a pretty athletic goalie. I would like to add him and a defensemen like Erik Gudbranson as a shutdown guy and maybe, just maybe, we slowly start to give up less goals. Season is far from over and we are still in a competitive spot, even after Winnipeg kicks the $#!t out of us on Saturday. After the freeze I think those are two moves that wont cost much in terms of assets and we could really have more of a complete roster. I still would call up Toews as well. Pelech is OKAY as one bottom pairing but I would like to see him with Toews for a few games instead of Mayfield, Hickey or Seidenberg. Hopefully de Haan is back soon and we could really have everyone in place.

gudbranson is barely an upgrade over seidenberg

 

[Hunn]

Halak is clearly a better goalie both now and career-wise. The problem is he is almost surely gone by the end of the season and we are stuck with Greiss. I don’t know much about that Swedish guy, but the Russian guy most probably won’t come over here: he is a starter for a top team in the KHL, gets tons of cash, I don’t think he’s that interested to play overseas for ELC money. So, the task is not just to apply a band-aid, the task is to stop bleeding right now AND to address the goaltending after Halak.

 

[Jester9881]

From where I'm sitting, the main problem is defensive positioning. The young defesemen have a hard time sticking to their area leaving people open in crucial spots on the ice. Our FWD group is not good or deep enough defensively to cover for these lapses and ultimately the goaltending cannot make up for either. This team misses Kulemin and now Calvin de Haan in a big way. They suffered similarly when Cizikas and Clutterbuck missed time.

Your defensemen should never stray from their area (red/blue rectangles), and if they get into trouble they need to stay calm re-set and go to their spot (red/blue star).

It's not rocket surgery. Too many goals against we've had a defenseman chase the puck around the back of the net all the way to the blueline leaving his partner all alone trying to fight off two bodies infront of the net. Stop puck chasing, stay in your damn coverage area and if you get into trouble, don't panic and go directly to your spot.

 

[boredmale]

From where I'm sitting, the main problem is defensive positioning. The young defesemen have a hard time sticking to their area leaving people open in crucial spots on the ice. Our FWD group is not good or deep enough defensively to cover for these lapses and ultimately the goaltending cannot make up for either. This team misses Kulemin and now Calvin de Haan in a big way. They suffered similarly when Cizikas and Clutterbuck missed time.

To me the biggest problem is this team has way to many high risk turnovers when controlling the puck coupled with the goalie's letting in a few softies. Cut down both of these and we probably could cut out GAA by 0.50

 

[A Pointed Stick]

You can switch systems to make up for the problems on defense but the problems in net will likely remain. This seems like both a roster issue and a strategy issue. Maybe like some of us have said in the past this club needs to bring in a new GM and head coach with solid resumes to fix the coarse they are on.