Ellis has potential but definitely needs some more work. Both of our goalies were under siege down low most of the night because our D kept collapsing around them Ellis did a good job limiting the damage. I'm really glad they pulled Binnington after the first because I was getting very uncomfortable with how much they were allowing the Stars to collapse down low. I about lost my mind when Tucker nearly dumped a Stars player on top of Binnington's knee. Gave me Grant Fuhr 1996 flashbacks. You have to have the awareness not to dump a player onto your goalie, and especially when he's in a vulnerable position like he was. Totally unnecessary.
There was nothing Ellis could've done on goal #1. Goal #2 needs to be stopped. He got lazy sitting back too far in his stance and didn't seal properly. He was a little too active at times and there were multiple instances when he overslid and completely lost his net in the second but Dallas was unable to convert. He'll have to clean that up and did over the course of the next two periods so it makes me think it was nerves early on.
He made some excellent reads on some tough plays in close though. He made a fantastic save on Stankoven after Joseph and McIsaac let him walk right through them for a partial breakaway. It's not easy to get that low and maintain enough of an edge to push off to the blocker side like he did. I thought he was dead in the water. Also made a perfect read to stop a one-timer on the late power play after Dean did a poor job covering for the D man and left his man wide open in the slot. Overall Ellis did a great job limiting damage in what was a pretty poor defensive effort overall.
