Player Discussion Robin Lehner – Part 1

[ADK]

Lehner was on point last night (not counting shootout). If we played all three periods rather than just two we would have won the game in regulation. Also the game tying goal was a fluke/ puck luck.

 

[joshjull]

What are we debating? I don't think whether Lehner is good or bad at shootouts is really in dispute. Nor do I believe the notion that goaltenders periodically give up bad goals is disputed.

Call me crazy, but I think a goal-by-goal (or shootout-by-shootout, or game-by-game) reassessment of goaltenders is silly. All goaltenders have weaknesses, and shootouts are definitely a big weakness of Lehner's. But many use each GA or shootout as a pretext to delve into the same tired arguments that were made all spring, summer, and early-fall.

Well said.


Lehner was solid to good for most of the night and did enough to help us win prior to the shootout. Looking at the shot charts/graphs for last night. Its quite a bit different than last year (granted its 1 game). He faced a lot of quality shots from the slot last night. Which I expected to be the case this year.

 

[haseoke39]

The frustrating thing is that the fix for lehner covering his posts is so simple. Stop going skate to post. Start going pad to post. A few years ago I had to do this in beer league because the skate blade and skate itself leave too much room for a bobbling puck to trickle either under or over even when you think you're covering it. And yet lehner has had this problem for a couple years now. Guarantee you coaches tell their players to try and stuff it against the post on him.

 

[Jim Bob]

The frustrating thing is that the fix for lehner covering his posts is so simple. Stop going skate to post. Start going pad to post. A few years ago I had to do this in beer league because the skate blade and skate itself leave too much room for a bobbling puck to trickle either under or over even when you think you're covering it. And yet lehner has had this problem for a couple years now. Guarantee you coaches tell their players to try and stuff it against the post on him.

http://ingoalmag.com/analysis/devils-schneider-breaks-vh-reverse-vh/

Or maybe he needs to watch that video and read the article...

 

[haseoke39]

http://ingoalmag.com/analysis/devils-schneider-breaks-vh-reverse-vh/

Or maybe he needs to watch that video and read the article...

I mean, they do a good job of breaking down his positional options, and I think he should go with what he feels comfortable with there in terms of sealing holes above the ice and being ready to move. I'm just saying, with all the tricklers he's let in just over the skate blade and such, he could just be making contact between pad and post and never worry about the kind of bad goal again.

 

[haseoke39]

The picture on this article from the Buffalo News actually shows it beautifully.

Skate is to the post. Puck is in the net. With room to spare.

Depending on how your pads line up, you might be able to go either over OR under the skate.

This drove me mad as a 'tender when I would let in something like that. I've seen it too many times from Lehner. He needs to get his actual pad against the post, not the skate blade. If this is his constant technique (and I think it is), opposing coaches should be telling their guys to try to stuff it whenever you've got him down because there's always going to be a couple inches between the post and the pad that he can't fully cover, it could slip under or over the skate blade just like that.

 

[haseoke39]

First goal of the game again yesterday. Get your pad against the post. His skate blade comes off the post a little there, but (a) that's called giving yourself leeway, and (b) not even sure his skate moved a full puck-width there. May have easily just slid under the skate blade where the pad elevates it above the ice surface.

 

[haseoke39]

Here's Carey Price doing it right, pad to post:

Here's Jonathan Quick doing it right, pad to post:

Here's Mike Hutchinson with the Jets doing it right, pad to post:

Each of these guys is actually getting the skate INSIDE the net. If you try to stuff it against the post on these guys, you're gonna have to lift it 6-8 inches, over the full pad. If you try to stuff it against Lehner, who hits the post with his skate blade and figures "I'm good," you can pretty easily slip it just over or just under the skate/skate blade, which extends for more than the width of a puck past the pad.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I also think Lehner needs to work on his reverse VH and SHS. I don't know why it's such a probably for him.

 

[Yatzhee]

First goal of the game again yesterday. Get your pad against the post. His skate blade comes off the post a little there, but (a) that's called giving yourself leeway, and (b) not even sure his skate moved a full puck-width there. May have easily just slid under the skate blade where the pad elevates it above the ice surface.

I've said it since his first season with Buffalo. He's weak on the posts, and not just with his ability to hug it. He stands with the pads crossed at the top while play moves down low, leaving a 5 hole low gap. Its been exploited a few times because he's not fast enough to close the hole.

Anyways, we need a better goalie.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

Does this one put pad on post or skate on post though?

 

[Jim Bob]

TBN is on the ball. Lehner made this switch after like 2 or 3 games.

 

[LaxSabre]

 

[LaxSabre]

 

[LaxSabre]

Brian Koziol‏ @BrianWGR -
Lehner: "I felt good and relaxed, I think we played a good game, I think we played the right way".
Lehner: "We followed the game plan, I think we have a great game plan, we just have to do it".
Housley on Lehner: "A compliment to him, he comes back and plays a really strong game, when we did give up opportunities, he came up big".

 

[LaxSabre]

Sabres goaltender Robin Lehner is a lot like Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor. People tend to focus on the flaws and question their long-term ability at the game's most important position. Lehner knows those critics are out there. Need proof?

With a 32-save shutout Tuesday in a 1-0 victory over Detroit, Lehner's save percentage soared from .894 to .913. Lehner said "Because when I have good numbers it doesn't matter anyway." Besides, Lehner added, the focus shouldn't be on him. It should be on what happened in front of him.

Sure, Lehner was the First Star with his sixth career shutout, but it was made possible because Buffalo played smart. "As I said from Day One, I think we have a great game plan. We've just got to do it. We got it deep. We flipped pucks out when we were in doubt. We didn't force plays. That third period, we were just flicking it out, putting it in and we kept them going 200 feet back to get it, and we had the numbers back home. It's hard for teams to do that."

Said Lehner: "I felt we played really solid defensively. They really helped me out, helped me out on rebounds. I think we played a solid, good game. We have things we can get better at, but on the defensive end I think it was good."

Rest Of The Article -
http://buffalonews.com/2017/10/24/lehners-numbers-improve-sabres-goalie-impressed-teams-smarts/

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[TehDoak]

Lehner let’s in a soft goal late? Where have I heard this before?

 

[stokes84]

Maybe the decal on the back of his helmet should've clued us in that he didn't have the mental makeup.

 

[Samsonite23]

How can it be possible that he is so bad on his posts? Coaches must have gotten on him in the past right? It seems like a relatively easy fix.

 

[Beerz]

Still can't believe we gave a 1st round pick for Jax Teller.

 

[rbochan]

This is not an NHL caliber goaltender.

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

This is not an NHL caliber goaltender.

He is an NHL goaltender, just not an average NHL starter. If hes happy to take a big paycut and do backup services, let him stay. That's just about as far as I'd go with Lehner. Otherwise, let him be someone else's problem.

 

[haseoke39]

Still can't believe we gave a 1st round pick for Jax Teller.

This is the problem with letting a guy whose self avowed strategy for picking goaltenders was just "biggest Swede or Finn you can find." Sometimes the snark was honest. No sense that Murray knew how to evaluate a players fundamentals or athletic ability at that position.