GDT: 1/5/19 - 11:00PM EDT - Tampa Bay @ San Jose

[Rschmitz]

He just has to fix the rebound issues.

 

[BeingTheThunder]

We've seen this every year from him, his inexperience kind of cancels out of his youthfulness. I remember his a quote he had saying his body hardly feels fatigue because he's so young, he just needs to get around the mental slump of having bad games. Hope he figures that part out soon because he has serious advantage over the majority of goalies with his youth.

Hopefully he figures it out real soon. The ability to shake off those bad games is what separates the really good goalies from the great ones. They avoid having a string of crappy games in a short period of time...

 

[LightningStrikes]

BBB!

Bring back Bishop!

 

[DFC]

Hopefully he figures it out real soon. The ability to shake off those bad games is what separates the really good goalies from the great ones. They avoid having a string of crappy games in a short period of time...

It's always been the problem with Tukka Rask.

Consistency is always the last thing to come though, and the reason most goalies don't really hit their prime until they're close to 30. That ability to get focused night in, night out, takes some time to develop, usually.

With Vasy, it seems like you can tell where his head's at by how much he's struggling to control rebounds. I mean, even at his best, I wouldn't call his rebound control great, but Oct-Dec of both this year and last year it was pretty good, only to go off the rails in the second half. It's concerning when a lot of easily controlled shots wind up kicked right into the slot or the circle. And our D always begins to underperform as soon as that starts happening. I don't think it's a coincidence.

 

[JoVel]

BBB!

Bring back Bishop!

Yeah make Bishop our starter and we'll have Vasy fresh for playoffs once Bish gets injured.

 

[Sky04]

BBB!

Bring back Bishop!

Having quite a season in Dallas actually.

 

[The Macho King]

He just has to fix the rebound issues.

I don't think this quite grasps the issue. His rebounds go out far by design I think, and generally our D is great at cleaning them up (we don't allow a lot of second chances). I read an article about how some goalies use harder pads to get those rebounds to go out further, while others use softer pads so they go slower and shorter. There are pros and cons to each, the D just has to be aware and adjust.

I think his biggest issue is when he's off, it's tracking the puck. He probably lets in more shots from the blueline than any other goaltender I can think of. Pretty weak screens can totally fool him. He sometimes picks up pucks off of the stick late, which means that while he has amazing reflexes, sometimes he doesn't give himself enough time to react (fourth goal against SJ is a good example).

 

[DFC]

I don't think this quite grasps the issue. His rebounds go out far by design I think, and generally our D is great at cleaning them up (we don't allow a lot of second chances). I read an article about how some goalies use harder pads to get those rebounds to go out further, while others use softer pads so they go slower and shorter. There are pros and cons to each, the D just has to be aware and adjust.

I think his biggest issue is when he's off, it's tracking the puck. He probably lets in more shots from the blueline than any other goaltender I can think of. Pretty weak screens can totally fool him. He sometimes picks up pucks off of the stick late, which means that while he has amazing reflexes, sometimes he doesn't give himself enough time to react (fourth goal against SJ is a good example).

I agree and disagree on the rebounds. I do think he likes to kick pucks to the corner, or sometimes just far out, by design. But lately pucks are bouncing off him pretty randomly and it's taking both him and the D a second to pick them up. When he's "on," he's smothering a lot more pucks than he is now, or playing them to the D.

Agree totally on tracking though. That's always been his biggest issue, even after pucks hit him. I'm not sure that he loses more pucks from the blueline than other goalies, but I would bet money he loses pucks in his feet (after they hit him) more than any other goalie, or pucks directly in front of him (the Andrew Shaw goal). I think this only becomes a real issue when he starts relying too much on reflexes, which may always be a delicate balance for him, because his reflexes are second-to-none. But when he relies too much on them, things can get chaotic in front of the net.

 

[Rschmitz]

There is no way he should feel comfortable with the frequency or quality of rebounds he gives up, by design or otherwise. It's very common amongst young goalies to struggle in that area, and its been his biggest weakness going back to the his draft scouting report.

When he's off his game like two nights ago, he reacts to everything so much slower which effects basically all of his skills

 

[BeingTheThunder]

I agree and disagree on the rebounds. I do think he likes to kick pucks to the corner, or sometimes just far out, by design. But lately pucks are bouncing off him pretty randomly and it's taking both him and the D a second to pick them up.

This is the key. Vasy's style of play has always included kicking out rebouncds, either near or far, but always by design. When his issues mount are when he is unable to control where the rebounds are going.

Also remember from early on in his career, thinking how crazy it is that he can make such incredible saves at times and then turns around and gives up a goal from out near the blue line with no one in front for a screen. He just whiffs on it. Doesn't happen as frequently as it used to but it still happens. Just like the second Kane goal the other night. TERRIBLE.

 

[Werewolf]

The analysis on Vasi here is just plain bad. Don’t care to elaborate. Carry on.

 

[God King Fudge]

No worries about a loss. They weren't going to go undefeated the rest of the season. The key is to not have multiple games in a row with the low effort that was put in during the SJ game. That's why they slid so far. The losses are going to come, but you can't get too lazy for too long. It'll always come back to bite you in the ass.