I think Girard has been fine. He's clearly being targeted because he is small and I think he's coped pretty well so far, he's done his job. The narrative before the playoffs was that he would be destroyed under the pressure, but he really hasn't. He's been coping alright. Is he playing the best? No, not really, but given the circumstances of facing the most physical team in the league I think he's doing just fine.
I think Girard played fairly well in Game 1, and was ok in Game 2 outside a few mistakes, but some of those mistakes like missing the puck in the neutral zone that led to the goal, were pretty consequential. And that goal wasn't a bad bounce, he had his whole body there, he just didn't stop the puck.
This is the issue with his game sometimes. People overlook a lot of his mistakes because they don't end up in goals. But they could have. And they will in the playoffs. Because teams are hungrier to score and win, and because the physicality ramps up so much, his limitations become a problem more often.
Girard is a very good defenseman and he's played ok I think in these playoffs. Better than against Vegas at least. But the concern for me is we've already seen him make some costly mistakes, and this is against a team the Avs have dominated in both games so far.
It's not the pure physical team that's a problem for Girard. It's a team that's physical and fast. When they have the speed to get at him quickly on the dump ins, and steal the puck from him on his breakouts.
When they run into a physical team that can skate with the Avs, that will be the big test. So far Nashville hasn't given them much problem with their physicality, the same way the Blues didn't, becuase they couldn't skate with the Avs. But a team like Vegas could. So the real test for G is probably in another series. Hopefully he can pass it well enough not to be a big issue.