GDT LA Kings vs the Nashville Predators

[Wrong Box Legwand]

I got to go too. The atmosphere was very hype... especially in the third. I've missed that, but it was back tonight.

 

[SeaBasstian]

Please do. I couldn't go tonight. What a game it was!

well here you guys go. they arent anything really great, shot from the 300s with a point and shoot, but ill share a few highlights

2-1 Goal

3-2 Goal

 

[Predsfan78]

These are some great shots! The 2-1 goal picture is awesome!! And the one with Horny in the air too.

 

[gratefulpred]

Great game boys! I've said it before and I will say it again, the 2 hour drive home goes so much quicker when we have the win.

Hopefully Monday's drive home will be just as enjoyable.

 

[MrMariusz]

Yes, Mazanec is better than Hutton. Your stats don't show the reality on ice. Maz has done much better esp. considering his age, where he is from and the number of games he played in a row. There is a reason he was named a rookie of the month. Hutton should be in his prime right now but he is not playing that way. He was a terrible pick - a mistake.
We could have kept Chris Mason instead of signing Hutton.

I agree with keeping Maz in net until Rinne returns. He is much younger and already shows as much, if not more, than Hutton did. Which is pretty damn incredible for a goalie who has had to adjust to the fastest league in the world in little to no time.

It is simply not normal for a goalie with Hutton's age and experience to get rattled so easily.

 

[triggrman]

I agree with keeping Maz in net until Rinne returns. He is much younger and already shows as much, if not more, than Hutton did. Which is pretty damn incredible for a goalie who has had to adjust to the fastest league in the world in little to no time.

It is simply not normal for a goalie with Hutton's age and experience to get rattled so easily.

Hutton has fundamental issues

 

[101st_fan]

Hutton has fundamental issues

So does Maz. The big question is which goalie gives the team a better chance to win on any given night? Anyone claiming that either goalie has a real advantage over the other in that simple category is using their heart rather than their brain. Both are inconsistent. Both are liable to get shelled on the first few shots faced and leave the team in a hole it won't recover from. Both are capable of performances like we saw from Maz last night and Hutton against the Sharks. Individual numbers, similar with a slight edge to Maz. Record, close with a slight edge to Hutton. Both are extremely liable to let in 3+ goals per game (7 for Maz - 5 in Dec, 9 for Hutton - 3 in Dec).

The team desperately needs one of them to step up if they are to have a chance at the post season. Pekka's injury shows just how much this team depends on stellar goal tending for its defensive reputation (13th in ES goals allowed in 2011-12 even with Pekka's .923 sv%, .239 gaa Vezina finalist season ... goals allowed ranking plummeting since with Pekka's injury and infection).

It's possible to cherry pick a three game stretch from either's game log where they look great ... both with two such stretches of good play. Those other 2-4 week stretches filling the logs are equally poor for both of them. Yet, Maz's bad weeks are dismissed while Hutton's good get that treatment here. The same inconsistency of play, yet the fans have decided which goalie's good streaks are the real him while the other goalie's bad streaks show his true level of play. The logical disconnect between the two assertions is glaring.

 

[token grinder]

you can use stats all day, but some things don't pass the eye test. I can't remember Mazanac giving up goals right after we score. Hutton seems to let in softer, more ill timed goals. I am ok when goalies are left out to dry and they give up goals. It happens. Great scorers are gonna score as well. It happens. Look at last night, Patrick Roy nor Ken Dryden was saving Kopitars laser beam goal. Same with Carters. Both of those were perfect shots. But when you are giving up wraparounds on your right, while your jock is on the left post still, you don't deserve to own the net. I want to like Hutton, I really do, but he is more suited to a start every 2 weeks, and he seems to be ok in that role. Maz has a great opportunity to get on a roll here. Detroit at home. Should be a good atmosphere against a team he has confidence he can beat. Then we have a road trip where we need 4 points out of. I would hope this team feels like they let a point and maybe two slip against Boston. We were in the game until Gaustad took his 6784867 penalty in the offensive zone. Then road games vs Florida and Carolina. We need 6 out of these next 8 points. We do that we likely find ourselves 4-5 points out of a playoff spot with a 5 game homestand.

But of course, we could also lose the next 5 too and t would surprise me.

 

[Predsfan78]

So does Maz. The big question is which goalie gives the team a better chance to win on any given night? Anyone claiming that either goalie has a real advantage over the other in that simple category is using their heart rather than their brain. Both are inconsistent. Both are liable to get shelled on the first few shots faced and leave the team in a hole it won't recover from. Both are capable of performances like we saw from Maz last night and Hutton against the Sharks. Individual numbers, similar with a slight edge to Maz. Record, close with a slight edge to Hutton. Both are extremely liable to let in 3+ goals per game (7 for Maz - 5 in Dec, 9 for Hutton - 3 in Dec).

The team desperately needs one of them to step up if they are to have a chance at the post season. Pekka's injury shows just how much this team depends on stellar goal tending for its defensive reputation (13th in ES goals allowed in 2011-12 even with Pekka's .923 sv%, .239 gaa Vezina finalist season ... goals allowed ranking plummeting since with Pekka's injury and infection).

It's possible to cherry pick a three game stretch from either's game log where they look great ... both with two such stretches of good play. Those other 2-4 week stretches filling the logs are equally poor for both of them. Yet, Maz's bad weeks are dismissed while Hutton's good get that treatment here. The same inconsistency of play, yet the fans have decided which goalie's good streaks are the real him while the other goalie's bad streaks show his true level of play. The logical disconnect between the two assertions is glaring.

I think the simple argument we're making is that Maz is a better goalie going forward. We should dump Hutton first opportunity we get to unload.
Getting Hutton was a mistake the organization made past summer. Maz on the other hand will keep improving and has already shown much progress and was rightfully awarded the rookie of the month in November. We've seen enough of both goalies to determine who should stay and who should go elsewhere. Maz is the one Preds should keep.

 

[101st_fan]

Quite frankly, the odds of winning are the same with either goalie choice we have on the active roster. So are the odds of a shelling.

Maz had the same opportunity to make the starting job his numerous times. Two, maybe three, good games then his wheels fall of just as bad as Hutton's after his two or three good game stretches. So far, NEITHER goalie has shown the ability to maintain any sort of good play.

 

[101st_fan]

I think the simple argument we're making is that Maz is a better goalie going forward. We should dump Hutton first opportunity we get to unload.
Getting Hutton was a mistake the organization made past summer. Maz on the other hand will keep improving and has already shown much progress and was rightfully awarded the rookie of the month in November. We've seen enough of both goalies to determine who should stay and who should go elsewhere. Maz is the one Preds should keep.

Maz probably will be a better goalie years down the road, but this year they are interchangeable. The win/loss total shows it ... the equally poor streaks of play show it ... the inability of either to put together more than three good games shows it ... the number of 3+ goal allowed games shows it ... the 0-5-1 stretch Maz just ended is worse than any stretch Hutton posted so far this year (he could equal it by losing his next two decisions in regulation).

Month by month record comparison ... Maz 5-4-1 in Nov, Hut 2-2-0 ... Maz 1-4-0 in Dec, Hut 3-3-1.

The guy on the one year, lower cap hit contract currently has the better record. Lost in this discussion is Hellberg who is signed through next season, just like Maz.

 

[Predsfan78]

Quite frankly, the odds of winning are the same with either goalie choice we have on the active roster. So are the odds of a shelling.

Maz had the same opportunity to make the starting job his numerous times. Two, maybe three, good games then his wheels fall of just as bad as Hutton's after his two or three good game stretches. So far, NEITHER goalie has shown the ability to maintain any sort of good play.

One of the main differences, however, is the fact that Maz has only played the N. American style hockey for a few months while Hutton has been acclimated to the rink and this style of hockey for years. I mentioned earlier that Hutton should be in his prime as far as goalies go but instead he has hit a wall. If that's the best he can do, I'm OK with just keeping Maz after this season is over.

We can look into the stats ad nauseum, but fundamentally, it seems, I see the forest and you see the trees.

 

[101st_fan]

One of the main differences, however, is the fact that Maz has only played the N. American style hockey for a few months while Hutton has been acclimated to the rink and this style of hockey for years. I mentioned earlier that Hutton should be in his prime as far as goalies go but instead he has hit a wall. If that's the best he can do, I'm OK with just keeping Maz after this season is over.

Have you even bothered to look at contract lengths? Your post indicate you haven't.

What Maz can be in a year of two does what for us right now? We don't need wins next season, we need them this week. Which goalie gives us a clearly better chance of winning NOW? I'll give you a moment to flip a coin.

 

[Predsfan78]

Have you even bothered to look at contract lengths? Your post indicate you haven't.

What Maz can be in a year of two does what for us right now? We don't need wins next season, we need them this week. Which goalie gives us a clearly better chance of winning NOW? I'll give you a moment to flip a coin.

We don't know what the org will do going forward and with respect to getting a real goaltender that can backup Rinne in case of an emergency (like we're having this season). If they do not acquire a seasoned goalie - they may need to decide between the two backups we have right now. In my opinion that honor should go to Maz.

Edit: Let's not forget the Preds put themselves in this situation by being so short sighted with respect to Rinne's recovery. What we're witnessing now are the fruits of their terrible decisions. This blunder, however, demonstrated clearly to me that Hutton is not the goalie Preds should invest any time in. Maz on the other hand still has a good chance to be a much better goalie, so I would be more open to spending more time with him, letting him play in AHL more if needed (where he was rocking it out, if my memory serves me right). Our chances to be in the playoffs are pretty much zilch (as much as it hurts to admit, and trust me it is not easy!), so I'm not too concerned about this season's fortunes. I'm more interested about Rinne's 100000000% full recovery for next season. Until then, we could play whomever in the net, but overall, Maz can be the future, and Hut can not.

 

[101st_fan]

We don't know what the org will do going forward and with respect to getting a real goaltender that can backup Rinne in case of an emergency (like we're having this season). If they do not acquire a seasoned goalie - they may need to decide between the two backups we have right now. In my opinion that honor should go to Maz.

Unless it's Hellberg next year.

What we do next summer has no impact on the team's play now. If Maz steps up this time and puts a string of solid starts together ... great. If Hutton does it next time he starts ... great. Both received numerous chances to do so this season and failed to do it.

 

[Predsfan78]

Unless it's Hellberg next year.

What we do next summer has no impact on the team's play now. If Maz steps up this time and puts a string of solid starts together ... great. If Hutton does it next time he starts ... great. Both received numerous chances to do so this season and failed to do it.

I'm far more impressed with what Maz demonstrated thus far considering all the of points I've made earlier (age, length of playing goalie, new rink size, new hockey style, new language, and so on). I'm very unimpressed with Hutton.

If Hellberg is better next year, more power to him. Hellberg also has more potential to grow than Hutton. Both Maz and Hell are better investments that Hutton.

 

[101st_fan]

I'm far more impressed with what Maz demonstrated thus far considering all the of points I've made earlier (age, length of playing goalie, new rink size, new hockey style, new language, and so on). I'm very unimpressed with Hutton.

If Hellberg is better next year, more power to him. Hellberg also has more potential to grow than Hutton. Both Maz and Hell are better investments that Hutton.

All you can talk is next year. For all of the platitudes about Maz's potential, there is nothing that can honestly be said about him currently giving the team a better chance to win based on record, stats, or season to date side by side comparisons. He and Hutton both show flashes of ability that last about 2-3 games then crumble for 5+ games.

There is a reason why Hutton was signed to a one year contract ... he is not the planned backup of the future with Hellberg, Mazanec, Saros, and Juvonen in the pipeline. He was a stopgap, experienced guy projected to start maybe 15 games behind a Vezina finalist while Hellberg and Maz developed in Milwaukee. Nobody had a crystal ball showing Rinne out for a freak infection. It wouldn't matter who was the backup with Rinne's infection, no backup we had in the pipeline or could have signed would fill those skates. Bryz put up worse numbers than Hutton before his injury. Hiller hasn't hit the market. Keeping Mason would have sent the fans howling after the Colorado game last season. Ellis? Bachman? Emery? Thomas? Looking at the signed FAs shows how shallow the pool was this summer.

 

[Soundgarden]

Mazenec is 22 and you can see he has potential. While Hutton is 28 and should be entering his prime and not giving up weak goals. He's just not an NHL caliber goaltender, his upside may be that he becomes a back-up like Hedberg or Clemmenson, but it seems unlikely that he'll stick around.

When Rinne had surgery last year it should have been clear that we needed a back-up with at least some experience, even if it was a stop-gap until our next goalie comes along.

 

[Predsfan78]

All you can talk is next year. For all of the platitudes about Maz's potential, there is nothing that can honestly be said about him currently giving the team a better chance to win based on record, stats, or season to date side by side comparisons. He and Hutton both show flashes of ability that last about 2-3 games then crumble for 5+ games.

There is a reason why Hutton was signed to a one year contract ... he is not the planned backup of the future with Hellberg, Mazanec, Saros, and Juvonen in the pipeline. He was a stopgap, experienced guy projected to start maybe 15 games behind a Vezina finalist while Hellberg and Maz developed in Milwaukee. Nobody had a crystal ball showing Rinne out for a freak infection. It wouldn't matter who was the backup with Rinne's infection, no backup we had in the pipeline or could have signed would fill those skates. Bryz put up worse numbers than Hutton before his injury. Hiller hasn't hit the market. Keeping Mason would have sent the fans howling after the Colorado game last season. Ellis? Bachman? Emery? Thomas? Looking at the signed FAs shows how shallow the pool was this summer.

OK, Mazanec is the better goalie right now, this season. He is already better than Hutton. Done.

 

[101st_fan]

Predicting what any goalie will do from season to season is barely more accurate than a crap shoot.

Scott Darling on an AHL only deal has better stats and a better record than Hellberg for the Ads right now.We have a lot of potential in the pipeline but how well that potential transforms into performance is a great unknown. Hellberg can't buy a win with a .915 sv% ... Maz has one win for December ... Hutton gives up too many soft goals but has a winning record ... meanwhile the guy on the Ads without a NHL contract is on fire and our $7mil per year goalie is out with a freak infection weeks after the initial possible return date.

Fisher and Hornqvist doubled their December ES goal output in a single game (not hard when they entered the game with a combined 1 ES goal) while the rest of the team remains snakebit 5on5. If either, or better yet both, goalie(s) can get hot this team might have a chance to make a run for the 8th seed. As long as neither can go more than three games before crumbling for weeks on end the team is going to struggle. The same goes for our offense ... until the team can score ES goals they cannot win consistently. The PP isn't enough to carry the team forward.

 

[101st_fan]

OK, Mazanec is the better goalie right now, this season. He is already better than Hutton. Done.

Based on emotion, not empirical evidence.

The "better" goalie wouldn't go 0-5-1 across late Nov through Dec 28. The "better" goalie wouldn't have one win in six starts this month compared to three wins in six starts for the lesser goalie. The "better" goalie wouldn't have a worse record overall. The "better" goalie wouldn't get pulled more often than the lesser goalie.


Maz has the potential to grow into a career NHL'er. He isn't there yet. The same goes for Hellberg. Right now Maz is just as inconsistent as the goalie you claim he's "better" than with the advantage of youth to grow beyond Hutton at some point in the future.

 

[Predsfan78]

Based on emotion, not empirical evidence.

The "better" goalie wouldn't go 0-5-1 across late Nov through Dec 28. The "better" goalie wouldn't have one win in six starts this month compared to three wins in six starts for the lesser goalie. The "better" goalie wouldn't have a worse record overall. The "better" goalie wouldn't get pulled more often than the lesser goalie.


Maz has the potential to grow into a career NHL'er. He isn't there yet. The same goes for Hellberg. Right now Maz is just as inconsistent as the goalie you claim he's "better" than with the advantage of youth to grow beyond Hutton at some point in the future.

Based on the fact that the entire league saw what he can do. He needs more experience but even at this point is a better, smarter goalie.

Maz played less games than Hut and so far has played more minutes (due to Hut being pulled probably), has better goals against average, faced more shots, allowed less goals, and has better SV% and has not been penalized. The team played much better right after Rinne went down which benefited Hut early on, but in the thick of team troubles Maz played like a better goalie.

39 MAREK MAZANEC 18 15 940 2.68 6 8 1 2 471 42 .911 0 0 0
30 CARTER HUTTON 19 15 899 3.07 7 6 2 0 463 46 .901 0 0 2

 

[101st_fan]

I really wish I could say one goalie was playing better than the other. Right now .. I cannot honestly do that. Both sucked in their starts against Montreal and Boston. Both are likely to give up 3 or more goals when the team struggles to score two + most nights. Neither has strung more than three wins in a row. Maz had a rough December ... 1-5-0 ... three or more goals allowed in five of his six starts ... pulled twice. Hutton wasn't much better ... giving up three or more three times ... pulled twice. All four wins this month featured one thing ... a two or fewer goals allowed ... a level both goalies had a hard time maintaining this month.

 

[101st_fan]

Based on the fact that the entire league saw what he can do. He needs more experience but even at this point is a better, smarter goalie.

Maz played less games than Hut and so far has played more minutes (due to Hut being pulled probably), has better goals against average, faced more shots, allowed less goals, and has better SV% and has not been penalized. The team played much better right after Rinne went down which benefited Hut early on, but in the thick of team troubles Maz played like a better goalie.

39 MAREK MAZANEC 18 15 940 2.68 6 8 1 2 471 42 .911 0 0 0
30 CARTER HUTTON 19 15 899 3.07 7 6 2 0 463 46 .901 0 0 2

So Hutton's three wins in December compared to Mazanec's one is because of how the team played immediately following Rinne's infection in October? OK ... interesting correlation. Hutton has three games this month where he allowed two or fewer goals, Maz has one. The difference in sv% is one goal per 100 shots faced. Since Maz replaced Hellberg both he and Hutton have four games where they've allowed 4+ goals. Maz was named rookie of the month for Nov, Hutton 3rd star of the week just two weeks ago.

 

[Predsfan78]

Why are we just looking at this month? That is just an arbitrary interval. If you look at the season so far the picture is somewhat different. Hutton should be performing much better than Maz - that was the expectation of the team since he was awarded the backup role. Now he is a more or less playing a backup to what was initially third in line backup.