First two saves by Demko very routine.
Huge whiff on Sutter's wedge shot by Montembault. Demko is a better outlet passer than half our D...hahaha
Nice to see us score goals but for someone watching to see how Demko's going it's kind of boring. But that's cool.
PP 1st period - even Myers can't make PP2 less static with Edler on it.
Hughes driving the PP1, still need an occasional winger switch IMO. Or just rotate the top umbrella.
Thing about Schaller is that he's working hard, and that is leading to goals. Good for him.
Jakey's goal shows the danger of a "small" rebound. Jakey just skates onto that rebound and pumps it in. If you're going to use your stick there, you have to direct it.
P1-12:54 This may be the first time all season I haven't seen Demko go down needlessly when the puck is behind the net. Honestly it's kind of amazing. Still loads of work to do on this habit though. Really annoying to
P1-12:35 Schaller really should have had a goal there, Bob robbed him. He seems to be in much better positions in the offensive zone this year.
P1-12:34 not 20 ****ing seconds later, Demko goes into post integration when the puck is in the literal corner. Brutal. He needs to work on this. He's big and has good reflexes, it's this piddly **** that is dragging him down. You have to remember that this kind of tendency has ruined the careers of goalies before. Not to mention it has to happen for Demko to reach his true potential, which I think is huge. If you watch until 12:32, Demko goes to lean to his left. This is a part of the way this move works but he's failed to read the play, which is already going behind the net. This is an automatic move, if he was really paying attention he would know there's no need to lean. As the play goes around the net, now he is a smidge late. It doesn't matter because Benn and Gaud break up the play but again Demko has been burned by this before. I don't know why he keeps dropping to his knees so early.
P1-12:04 This is a very long range shot and is weak because Edler is on the shooter, but I still don't like that Demko isn't getting ready earlier. It's difficult in this kind of game where you have 3 shots in 8 minutes - it plays with your mind a little. But notice Demko uses his stick to push this weak shot harmlessly to the corner. Jakey wouldn't have had a goal if Montembault had done this. Also Demko with a neat bit of edgework to push it to the corner and then get to his feet in a single smooth motion. Very slick.
P1-11:53 I hate to be right but notice Boyle has the puck at the dot and Demko is just getting into his stance. If you pause it here he is in a weird transition. This is too late to prepare for a shot by an NHL shooter. We usually teach goalies to be in a semi-ready stance when the puck is at the CENTER LINE. In this case, you need to be getting ready as soon as you see the turnover at the blueline - or for God's sake at least at 11:54 when it's obvious the guy is going to turn to his forehand. Another issue here is that Demko has no backwards flow. He doesn't need much but if this was a net drive he would be starting flat footed by getting in his stance this late. At 11:53 Boyle has released the puck and Demko hasn't even completed his crouch. Finally, because he did all this from a static position, Demko is off his angle. If you look at Boyle's release point, it's to Demko's blocker side. The puck is "looking" right at the gap under his arm. Now, this gap is a good thing - by not squeezing your arm against your body you become more reactive. But if Demko were centered and square here the puck would be looking at his chest. If you butterfly straight down you probably still stop it. But because he's ready late he doesn't have a good track, and because he doesn't have a good track, he does a panic butterfly...but again he is off his angle so it goes straight through him.
Honestly this tendency to not get ready earlier is the height of hubris. It means you think that you don't even need to get prepared to stop shots. On one hand I guess it's a sign of confidence. But he's been burned at this level almost every time he's done it on shots that aren't from the blueline. At some point you have to learn from your mistakes.
P1-10:25 Miller waits for the screen and wires it. Probably would have scored without it because the placement was good but just shows you how smart he is.
P1-08:20 Simple save but I like the stick involvement. This is coming along nicely.
Next two saves aren't worth talking about, from well out.
P1-00:00:55 Nice to see Leivo score, but I am a fan of his...Also notice Bob is down for no reason here since Ferland is halfway from the net and at a terrible angle, which is why Leivo has an open net. Even Bob's explosiveness can't get him across in time.
P1-00:00.41 Demko ready early because the play is in the zone...look how easy he makes it look.
P1-00:00.06 This time a good drop because the puck is shot to the front with an opposing player right on the doorstep. Now post integration gives no room and allows Demko to move across with the play.
P2:19:33 Notice Demko is in stance as soon as the play crosses the blueline. From his feet he can make the minute adjustments necessary to follow the first puck carrier across, then move back into position with depth to stop the one-timer. The new pants are curved and not square like they used to be to maximize blocking area, and it gives off weird and unpredictable rebounds. That's what happens here, so I don't blame Demko for not having the rebound completely secure despite very extreme arm cradling.
P2-10:50 Wingers on their weak sides and the immediate one-timer chances are glorious. Uncharacteristic off-sides afterwards unfortunately.
P2-08:06 Hoffman has already started his release an Demko isn't ready. If you frame-by-frame this, Demko's head doesn't even move until the puck hits the post. That means he didn't see it at all. Kind of a miracle he even gets a piece with his glove. If you don't pre-prepare for
shots, you're going to get beat. Again I would argue he's not doing everything he can to fight through screens. Yes Huberdeau is in front but he has a huge heigh disadvantage and he ends up getting out of the way at the end.
P2-07:50 This is a learning moment. Demko is in his stance before Hoffman gets the puck in the circle this time. This lets him track the slap-pass (watch his head move with the puck) and he's in position for the deflection. Then he shows some amazing discipline getting his gloves square to the possible rebound shot from the slot and makes an amazing point-blank glove save. He actually has to move his glove too, so this isn't totally a blocking move. That's a special level of reflexes IMO.
P2-07:37 Actually despite doing everything letter-perfect here (ready early, maintains stance and follows the puck not the man, stays square) Demko just doesn't get a good track on the puck here. Not too surprising since this is wired from the slot by Huberdeau. His positioning and good butterfly saves him, this is a bit of a lucky stop.
P2-07:02 Another learning moment. After playing the entire PP with better preshot preparation after almost getting burned by Hoffman the first time, Demko is in a really relaxed stance. He hasn't even startd his move across and the pass to Hoffman is halfway there. Myers with another half-assed block (you all know how much I love those) but Demko at this point has almost no chance to make this save as long as the shot is on net. He's still moving when Hoffman contacts the puck on the one-timer. I have no idea why Demko was so slow on this play, but glaring at Myers doesn't change the fact he wasn't in the right place on time. Also Myer's screen wasn't as bad as the ones Edler was responsible for on Marky since Myers is a lot further out and Myers is more static.
P3-13:10 Good sequence, not sure what happened when he paddled down but great job to look mid-level around the screen which let him pick up the point shot. He needs to do this more often.
P3-06:40 Well the slackers put up more points. I think EP has been consistently putting in effort on both ends this whole season, and the fact is Boeser is a quick-strike out of nowhere guy. So it's appropriate that they've been producing this whole time, IMO it's in character. Eventually EP will adapt even further and we'll see more of what we became accustomed to last year.
P3-00:00:25 Well, again, why are you on your knees? No danger of the puck being walked out and no close-range threat in front. I thought I was going to be able to end up commentary here but now Demko is down with a guy with momentum getting the puck. Demko lucky that the shot is blocked because as a RHS he probably has a pretty good lateral and aerial angle on this play. Demko shows some great edges following the broken play to his left but then when the puck spills back into the circle he decides to stay on his knees. The play is too far out to take this risk, there is a ton to shoot at even on as big a goalie as Demko. He could have regained his feet here, and he's lucky Hunt catches his shoulder. He's also lucky #7 doesn't drift out into the higher slot as he would be helpless against a pass.
I could comment on a couple of sloppy post integrations after this but I won't bother. Its kind of concerning he's so casual even with a 7-2 lead in the closing moments of a game.
Overall Demko showed me no signs of improvement or progression in this game. Kind of status quo which I think is fine for a developing goalie. Luckily that wasn't a big deal because of the weak performance by the Panthers. Obviously he's still playing decently, but I would say he didn't have too much to do in this game. I still think he's doing a lot of lazy things and that those lazy things would be biting him more often if he had played a stronger team. But that's why you pick and choose his starts, and it looks like the opponents they've chosen have been chosen well.
