Your opinion notwithstanding, I'm not wrong. Positioning and focus is easy to achieve as a goalie when guys come at you in straight lines and don't move the puck laterally in the offensive zone. Having said that, you're not wrong, either. We're not disagreeing. I'm not saying he was bad. I'm saying he wasn't asked to do anything other than "be in good position and not give up bad goals." That is my only point here, and I agree he did that. He didn't "steal" this game. He didn't blow it. The Sabres lack skill to create and finish grade-A chances. That's all.
GDT: #10 – Maple Leafs at Sabres – Thu Nov 3, 7:00PM ET – MSG-B, SNO
- Thread starter Woodhouse
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Your opinion notwithstanding, I'm not wrong. Positioning and focus is easy to achieve as a goalie when guys come at you in straight lines and don't move the puck laterally in the offensive zone. Having said that, you're not wrong, either. We're not disagreeing. I'm not saying he was bad. I'm saying he wasn't asked to do anything other than "be in good position and not give up bad goals." That is my only point here, and I agree he did that. He didn't "steal" this game. He didn't blow it. The Sabres lack skill to create and finish grade-A chances. That's all.
That was the issue, yes. I am putting that on lack of skill/execution from the Buffalo forwards moreso than some kind of miraculous performance from Andersen.
FWIW, I've been a huge Andersen fan since he was in Milwaukee and I wanted Darcy to trade for him. Then, I thought GMTM should trade for him. Then, when Lehner became available, I thought it would be a good idea to acquire him. So, in both cases, popular opinion turns out to be right and my opinions are exposed as extremely bad, not be countenanced by anyone.
haseoke39
Registered User
- Mar 29, 2011
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Except we did move the puck, and it's extraordinarily hard to be as frame filling as he was under those circumstances.
Take the moulson pp chance. 95% of goalies are fully committed to covering reinhart at the top of the crease when he gets that puck. 95% are left sprawling or at least opening a huge 5 hole when reinhart makes that reinhart-esque pass to moulson trailing, no one anticipates it but him. Well, him and Anderson, who doesn't even stutter in sliding back out in perfect butterfly to take away moulsons whole angle. That is not normal.
That was bang-bang-bang and Anderson was just there waiting at the locus of the last bang like, what, is that all the bangs you got? E.g., I guarantee you lehner can't do that.
Or the Ennis high glove shot in the third. That's preceded by an extended scramble where like four different shot attempts come within fifteen feet of the net in like three seconds. 95% of goalies -- and every goalie coach -- will tell you get low and take away the high probability areas. But by the time Ennis finally gets that shot through, Anderson just looks it in his glove because he's just calmly waiting, still on his feet. As if, **** that, he doesn't bother getting out of bed until the shot is a microsecond from his trapper.
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That Ennis shot wasn't high, it was just above pad height. Andersen played well, but there is another level of offensive skill that the FW group as a whole does not possess. It showed tonight. Multiple times the Leafs D was slow coming back after a TO and the Sabre with the puck was unable to expose that moment, didn't have the speed to get around the corner, or the skill/composure to bury the chances caused by their mistakes. I'd say normally Buffalo would win games like that, but normally Buffalo isn't going up against a train-wreck defense like that.
