GAME DAY: Toronto Maple Leafs @ Ottawa Senators – 7:30PM EST, Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Maybe it was a hot goalie, or the flu, or the injury bug...?

SeawaySensFan wrote:Maybe it was a hot goalie, or the flu, or the injury bug...?

The most hilarious part of that whole evening was when Gustavsson got first star.

Why was that funny? He played well and gave The Sens nothing. Just becuse he wasnt spectacular doesnt mean he wasnt the best Leaf or player in that game.

That's what people fail to see about goaltenders, being steady is better then being spectacular or making huge saves. Usually when a goalie makes a huge save it's because he made a mistake somewhere. That's why when people say "well Elliott didnt have to do much" I get pissed. The Monster was indeed a Monster last night.

N4L wrote:Why was that funny? He played well and gave The Sens nothing. Just becuse he wasnt spectacular doesnt mean he wasnt the best Leaf or player in that game.

That's what people fail to see about goaltenders, being steady is better then being spectacular or making huge saves. Usually when a goalie makes a huge save it's because he made a mistake somewhere. That's why when people say "well Elliott didnt have to do much" I get pissed. The Monster was indeed a Monster last night.

The Monster was only a Monster because the Sens couldn't hit an open net. If even 2 or 3 of the multitude of open nets goes in and the Monster looks like an idiot. Even without that he was bobbling the puck and sending out juicey rebounds. Of those missed opportunities it was a combo of the Leafs D and Sens ineptitude the kept them out of the net.

How you can say Gustafsson deserved a star at all is beyond me.

We missed about 8 point blank shots. That game had way more to do with the Sens ineptitude to do anything offence-wise than it had to do with Gustavsson. Dung man, I think any goalie in the league would love to play us right now. Shut out or MAYBE one goal against, depending on how crappy we feel like playing that night.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

N4L wrote:Why was that funny? He played well and gave The Sens nothing. Just becuse he wasnt spectacular doesnt mean he wasnt the best Leaf or player in that game.

That's what people fail to see about goaltenders, being steady is better then being spectacular or making huge saves. Usually when a goalie makes a huge save it's because he made a mistake somewhere. That's why when people say "well Elliott didnt have to do much" I get pissed. The Monster was indeed a Monster last night.

The Monster was only a Monster because the Sens couldn't hit an open net. If even 2 or 3 of the multitude of open nets goes in and the Monster looks like an idiot. Even without that he was bobbling the puck and sending out juicey rebounds. Of those missed opportunities it was a combo of the Leafs D and Sens ineptitude the kept them out of the net.

How you can say Gustafsson deserved a star at all is beyond me.

+100 on this. I'm not entirely sure which game he watched. The one I saw had the Sens with a lot of opportunities to bury the puck but tough luck and bad puck bounces didn't go our way. The guy was bobbling the puck every time it came at him. We just couldn't get enough guys to the net fast enough to put them in.

But I guess Neely knows something about goaltending the rest of us don't. Apparently bobbling the puck, letting out huge rebounds and sheer luck equals steady goaltending and a "monster" performance.

All the Sens needed to do was shoot the puck and drive the net all game. Throw in actually hitting the net when the goalie isn't there and presto you have yourselves a win.

PKC wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

N4L wrote:Why was that funny? He played well and gave The Sens nothing. Just becuse he wasnt spectacular doesnt mean he wasnt the best Leaf or player in that game.

That's what people fail to see about goaltenders, being steady is better then being spectacular or making huge saves. Usually when a goalie makes a huge save it's because he made a mistake somewhere. That's why when people say "well Elliott didnt have to do much" I get pissed. The Monster was indeed a Monster last night.

The Monster was only a Monster because the Sens couldn't hit an open net. If even 2 or 3 of the multitude of open nets goes in and the Monster looks like an idiot. Even without that he was bobbling the puck and sending out juicey rebounds. Of those missed opportunities it was a combo of the Leafs D and Sens ineptitude the kept them out of the net.

How you can say Gustafsson deserved a star at all is beyond me.

+100 on this. I'm not entirely sure which game he watched. The one I saw had the Sens with a lot of opportunities to bury the puck but tough luck and bad puck bounces didn't go our way. The guy was bobbling the puck every time it came at him. We just couldn't get enough guys to the net fast enough to put them in.

But I guess Neely knows something about goaltending the rest of us don't. Apparently bobbling the puck, letting out huge rebounds and sheer luck equals steady goaltending and a "monster" performance.

Yup, I actually do. Around here it's actually comincal how little people know about goaltending and what they actually expect from a goaltender.

Gufstasson was solid last night, made the saves he had to and kept The Leafs in the lead all night. He was the best player on the ice for either team. He bobbled very few pucks except for a few random shots where his defense were in decent position. Part of goaltending is confidence in your defence and where they will be. How many bad rebounds did he kick out? Maybe 2, 3 tops. He sucked up most of those shots he faced.

Seriously, this site and many others should actually ban people talking about goaltenders because most people talk out of their a$$.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:All the Sens needed to do was shoot the puck and drive the net all game. Throw in actually hitting the net when the goalie isn't there and presto you have yourselves a win.

One of the problems is that the Sens are being out-coached before they even hit the ice. Teams have poured over tapes and are blocking every conceivable lane to stop shots getting through - particularly on the PP. Clouston is such a great hockey mind that I'm sure he realizes that he's being played and will get back on track with even more preparation, but for sure he's being out-worked in the last 10 games or so.

N4L wrote:

Yup, I actually do. Around here it's actually comincal how little people know about goaltending and what they actually expect from a goaltender.

Gufstasson was solid last night, made the saves he had to and kept The Leafs in the lead all night. He was the best player on the ice for either team. He bobbled very few pucks except for a few random shots where his defense were in decent position. Part of goaltending is confidence in your defence and where they will be. How many bad rebounds did he kick out? Maybe 2, 3 tops. He sucked up most of those shots he faced.

Seriously, this site and many others should actually ban people talking about goaltenders because most people talk out of their a$$.

I realize you know what you're talking about when it comes to goalies, but I have a hard time thinking of any NHL caliber goalie who would have let in more than one or maximum two goals last night. That's a goalie's dream, he could see every shot that got to him, he played the angles well for sure, but he wasn't challenged very often IMO.

Again, this time I think it might have been the Sens ineptitude rather than Gustavsson's incredible play.

The same people who dont think Gufstasson played well last night are the same people who say "3 goal on 9 shots = fail". Ignorant comment.

Elliott gets beat with two perfect shots and then lets in a goal where The Leafs crash the crease and people say that's unacceptable. Laughable and downright sad people actually value their own opinions when they look at it like that. Elliott shuts the door the rest of the game and actually sees a decnet amount of shots (27 for 30) and people will still blame Elliott and say he didnt have a decnet game.

Gustasson gave his team a chance to win, shut the door early and didnt give out many 2nd chances until the end where The Sens actually pressed a bit. He was big when he had to be and good the rest of the way. Absolutely a star performance in that game.

Very few people actually know a frigging thing about goaltending let alone make judgements based on nothing but their own opinion which is lacking any real knowledge of the position or realistic expectations of a goaltender.

Both Elliott and Gufstasson are rookies getting better every practice, game, and period and people expect them to look good ALL the time and be perfect.

SpezDispenser wrote:

N4L wrote:

Yup, I actually do. Around here it's actually comincal how little people know about goaltending and what they actually expect from a goaltender.

Gufstasson was solid last night, made the saves he had to and kept The Leafs in the lead all night. He was the best player on the ice for either team. He bobbled very few pucks except for a few random shots where his defense were in decent position. Part of goaltending is confidence in your defence and where they will be. How many bad rebounds did he kick out? Maybe 2, 3 tops. He sucked up most of those shots he faced.

Seriously, this site and many others should actually ban people talking about goaltenders because most people talk out of their a$$.

I realize you know what you're talking about when it comes to goalies, but I have a hard time thinking of any NHL caliber goalie who would have let in more than one or maximum two goals last night. That's a goalie's dream, he could see every shot that got to him, he played the angles well for sure, but he wasn't challenged very often IMO.

Again, this time I think it might have been the Sens ineptitude rather than Gustavsson's incredible play.

Gufstasson (like every goalie The Sens play) was in their head last night. Missing shots, high, wide, so on is also on the goaltender. Making himself look big in there, making the saves and not letting out many rebounds early forced The Sens to try and pick those near impossible corners and they failed to do so. Just like Elliott last night, The Leafs actually put the puck right where Elliott couldnt get it. He goes on to stop the next 20 or 21 shots and people actually still put that loss on him some how. Hell, Elliott shoud be scoring the goals too by the way some people talk.

Again, people around here give the other teams no credit. Be it a perfect shot from Kessel or Mitchell or Gufsstasson stopping basically everything except 1 beauty play from Alfi to Sutton. Are The Sens mentally inempt right now when it comes to scoring goals? 100% yes, does that mean Gufstasson didnt play a text book game the first 2 periods and let Toronto carry the lead into the 3rd? 100% No. He did what he had to to win, he played a good game and there wasnt a Sens player on the ice better then him and not a Leaf that was better either.

N4L wrote:The same people who dont think Gufstasson played well last night are the same people who say "3 goal on 9 shots = fail". Ignorant comment.

Elliott gets beat with two perfect shots and then lets in a goal where The Leafs crash the crease and people say that's unacceptable. Laughable and downright sad people actually value their own opinions when they look at it like that. Elliott shuts the door the rest of the game and actually sees a decnet amount of shots (27 for 30) and people will still blame Elliott and say he didnt have a decnet game.

Gustasson gave his team a chance to win, shut the door early and didnt give out many 2nd chances until the end where The Sens actually pressed a bit. He was big when he had to be and good the rest of the way. Absolutely a star performance in that game.

Very few people actually know a frigging thing about goaltending let alone make judgements based on nothing but their own opinion which is lacking any real knowledge of the position or realistic expectations of a goaltender.

Both Elliott and Gufstasson are rookies getting better every practice, game, and period and people expect them to look good ALL the time and be perfect.

It's only people's opinion man, come on. You're quite excitable today.

I don't blame Elliott on the Kessel goal nor do I blame him on the goal scored when the Leafs were crashing the crease. The only questionable goal was the short side bad angle shot that bet him top corner. You could definitely argue it was a perfect shot but it could also be argued that at that angle he should have that one.

I'm not talking about Elliott but there's my two cents on him for you if you want it.

I was at the game and I saw Gustafsson bobble the puck and give out plenty of second chances. The problem was the Sens could neither capitalize on gaping wide open net chances or the Leafs D were there. To say Gustafsson was only letting out second chances near the end of the game is absolutely false.

Gustafsson didn't keep them in the game early it was the Sens ineptitude that kept the Leafs in the game and Gustafsson without a goal against.

Also I don't expect either of them to be perfect but when pucks are sitting in front of wide open nets or juicey rebounds are flying out or the puck flies out of his glove on several occasions it's hardly a first star performance. Just because the Sens couldn't bury gift wrapped chances doesn't make Gustaffson a monster 1st star performer.

Im just sick of people basing thier opinions on nothing but hot air. Like "3 goals on 9 shots = fail". Moronic comment. Where is the "0 goals on 20 shots" late in the game comment? Not to mention he gets beat with 2 screens in front of him and one of the best wrist shots in the game from Kessel, then a mistake by Sutton where Mitchell roofs it.

Same with Gufstasson, the guy lets in 1 goal and people say "well, if The Sens burried their chances and open nets, and hit their spots they would have won" Well no shlt, if any team does that they win. Gufstasson made it tough on The Sens, looked big in the nets all night and played well. Again, I challenge people to find me 1 or 2 better players then Gufstasson last night.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I don't blame Elliott on the Kessel goal nor do I blame him on the goal scored when the Leafs were crashing the crease. The only questionable goal was the short side bad angle shot that bet him top corner. You could definitely argue it was a perfect shot but it could also be argued that at that angle he should have that one.

I'm not talking about Elliott but there's my two cents on him for you if you want it.

I was at the game and I saw Gustafsson bobble the puck and give out plenty of second chances. The problem was the Sens could neither capitalize on gaping wide open net chances or the Leafs D were there. To say Gustafsson was only letting out second chances near the end of the game is absolutely false.

Gustafsson didn't keep them in the game early it was the Sens ineptitude that kept the Leafs in the game and Gustafsson without a goal against.

Also I don't expect either of them to be perfect but when pucks are sitting in front of wide open nets or juicey rebounds are flying out or the puck flies out of his glove on several occasions it's hardly a first star performance. Just because the Sens couldn't bury gift wrapped chances doesn't make Gustaffson a monster 1st star performer.

That short side glove shot is almost impossible to stop on a 2 on 1 down low because the goalie is forced to cheat a bit. Not to mention the lack of confidence both goalies have in their D right now which doesnt help the cheating over.

As for Gufstasson he made a huge save in Winchester when it was 1 nothing from in close, he kept everthing in front of him for the most part and sucked up almost every shot the first 2 periods. The 3rd he was kind of scrambly like a lot of guys get when there was a ton of pressure from a team that is getting chances in close, but again, he kept pretty much everything in front of him even when he bobbled the puck. Ill ask again, who was better then Gufstasson last night for the entire game? No one on The Sens for sure and it's debatable at best if Kessel was.

N4L wrote:Im just sick of people basing thier opinions on nothing but hot air. Like "3 goals on 9 shots = fail". Moronic comment. Where is the "0 goals on 20 shots" late in the game comment? Not to mention he gets beat with 2 screens in front of him and one of the best wrist shots in the game from Kessel, then a mistake by Sutton where Mitchell roofs it.

Same with Gufstasson, the guy lets in 1 goal and people say "well, if The Sens burried their chances and open nets, and hit their spots they would have won" Well no shlt, if any team does that they win. Gufstasson made it tough on The Sens, looked big in the nets all night and played well. Again, I challenge people to find me 1 or 2 better players then Gufstasson last night.

My point is that Gustafsson was the cause of the open net chances and had zero to do with those chances missing the net.

So if a goalie lets out juicey rebounds and bobbles the puck all night and is horribly out of position but the opposition shoots the puck wide, hits a cross bar or shoots high then he should deserve a 1st star? Really is it that basic for you. If the puck doesn't go in the net then it must be an allstar performance for said goalie despite it having nothing to do with the goalie?

Gufstasson was in position all night, at the end it got scrably for sure, but The Sens actually came on for a bit there. Most of the night, even the bobbled pucks he kept in front of him. He was making the first save and tracking the puck well. He didnt put anything into the slot (or the really dangerous areas), he played really well.

Was it an all star perfromance? No, it was a solid performance and last night he was the best player on the ice for most of the night. Just tell me who was better then Gufstasson with a good amount of certainty, pretty simple request. You dont need to put on an al star performance to be a good goaltender everynight, especially last night when it was an overall awful game.