Like I said, there is no doubt that the mental aspect is part of it, however chalking it up to that more than anything else is flawed and takes away from our accomplishments. It also allows us to create false narrative when we lose. There is a huge difference between mental breakdowns and being a headcase.
When the same goalies do the same things against the same team they are headcases.... Holtby immeadiately began second guessing himself after just 1 goal... he looked like someone shot his cat by the third... contrast that with Murray after what looked like a game clinching second goal... absolutely no response emotionally and no change in playstyle...
lets put this in another perspective... Murray gets beat high glove side top corner more than anything else... thats also the hardest shot to make... he usually shuts down everything low to medium range...
When a team is perpetually making that high glove side shot, he doesnt change to compensate for that and expose himself to the much easier lower shots... The Caps were making the cross crease pass with regularity yesterday... something that mentally breaks down goalies more than anything else... yet he stayed tight to the post on the shooter all the time, and made spectacular saves when they did get a shot on net... but never exposed that short side shot... The caps took several shots hoping he would cheat... he never did...
Holtby does cheat... he started out playing fundamentally strong, but as the Pens were getting shots past him (but not in) he started to adjust... and the Pens took advantage of that...
