- I thought the Bruins/Panthers game tonight was fantastic ..... a real battle between 2 really good teams !
- The Rangers/Panthers series should be a good one, both teams are good enough to win the series ..... I'd give the Rangers an advantage because of their PP but we'll see what happens.
- I think the biggest difference in Game 6 of the Rangers/Canes game was the goaltending ...... Shesterkin made multiple great saves in the 3rd period and I thought Andersen could have played all the goals he gave up somewhat better ...... I've post a condensed video of the game which does show all the goals in the game and what I think Andersen could have done better on each goal that would have given him a better chance to make the saves .....
https://www.google.com/search?q=vid...ve&ip=1&vld=cid:92d76e25,vid:PT-mp4ch2WQ,st:0
Goal 1 - (1:48 to 2:08 mark of video) ........ to make the save, Andersen has to get across the crease from his left to right ..... when he stands up, he loses his balance and can't push across well and lands on his backside ..... if he keeps his balance, he gets across in plenty of time to make the save even on the slight deflection by Trocheck.
Goal 2 - (4:02 to 4:38 mark) ....... Zibanejad (#93) goes down the right wing through the outer right circle and when he gets below the circle, Andersen goes down in the rVH position but is outside the post instead of on the post ...... when 93 gets below the goal line, Andersen corrects himself by standing up and getting his skate on the post and sealing the post with his body ..... however, 93 shoot/passes the puck to the short side as he starts to go behind the net and the puck sticks on Andersen's near skate on the post ...... instead of staying up, Andersen bends down to try and cover the puck with his glove leaving a big hole over his skate and between the post and his body where a 2nd Ranger knocks the puck into the net ..... if he stays up, there is no hole ..... but the bigger thing is that if if he gets into the rVH position correctly (on the post instead of outside it) originally, then he would have had the post sealed and he could have frozen the puck with his stick paddle down in front of the puck and not opened a hole on the post ...... just really poor post play.
- Goal 3 - (5:10 to 5:32 mark) ..... PPG ...... shot from 10' past the top of the circle in the middle of the ice and deflected into net by Kreider who was stationed at the corner of the crease ...... the mistake made by Andersen is that he was too deep in the net leaving too much open net for the deflection ...... from where the shot was taken, the best position for the goalie to make the save is to be at the top of the crease ..... if Andersen was there instead of deep in the crease, Kreider may not have been able to def,ect the puck or if he did there would have been no open net as Andersen would have been a foot away and the puck hits the goalie in the chest.
Goal 4 - ....... (5:38 to 5:57 but the most important time to watch is the 5:55 to 5:57 mark and be sure to slow it down in those last few seconds) ..... this is another example of a problem Andersen has with the rVH play ...... it is a wrap around by the Ranger puck carrier behind the net to Andersen's glove side and Andersen appropriately goes into the rVH position, however, the puck is passed through the crease and knocked in by Kreider on the other side of the crease ...... so what was the mistake that Andersen made ? ...... look especially at the 5:56 mark when the pass has just left the Rangers stick being passed through the crease ...... when the goalie is in the rVH position on his glove side, his stick should be in a position to stop a pass through the crease, so it needs to be in the crease in front of his pads with the back of the blade facing the passer/puck who is wrapping around the net ..... Andersen instead has his stick close his pads facing outward in a position to take a shot from out in the right inner circle .... if he has his stick in the proper position, the pass doesn't get across (the pass came within a foot of his pads).
