Tigger said:
For both of you I'm kidding/needling in the sense that Reimer doesn't deserve it and that can play tricks on you but I don't think that, if even true, had much to do with tonight... that was mostly the bracketed part of the comment.
I thought that was a decent rebound from his previous game.
He wasn't awful, made some saves late, but the first goal wasn't good. The 2nd goal, well, it was a breakaway that got by him. Struggling or not, Staal is an elite player, and you can't fault a guy for giving up goals in those situations.
The 3rd goal, hard to blame him for it, a brilliantly roofed backhand, but why is his flopping and making snow angels on the ice instead of trying to actually cover the puck. Looking at the play, there was space between his leg and the post too so it wasn't like he took away the bottom of the net. He was lost, was just trying to cover as much as he could, but it was desperation, and not a goaltender in control. Most of the fault has to go at Phaneuf who seems incapable of doing his job in front of the net but Reimer needs to be more in control, he doesn't have the same level of athleticism as Gustavsson.
The 4th goal, hard to fault a PP goal on a 4 on 3, but the puck went through him. I'm fine if that goes over his shoulder or off the far post and in, but it went right through him.
It was better than the Florida game, but how many times are we going to make excuses for his play when he isn't giving us anything better than Gustavsson but run him like he is playing better? Something needs to happen to try and get the team on a winning streak.
As for the 96 points in the last 82 games, it's great, but the Leafs pace is 90.8 points in THIS season, and that is the only one that matters.