In Game One of the first-round matchup between the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche, Evgeni Nabokov played well in net. In 30 Colorado shots, he allowed only a screened power play goal and a freak goal off the skate of defenseman Rob Blake.
In Game Two, he had arguably his worst playoff performance ever, giving up five goals on 18 shots in regulation.
Granted, one was shot off his defenseman's chest by his other defenseman (can we just keep Rob Blake away from our own net, please?), another was a breakaway and a third an unstoppable one-timer off an odd-man rush.
But a world-class goalie should make at least one of those saves. And even if you take away those shots, he gave up two in 15 shots, a save percentage of .867.
Plus, one of the goals he gave up was short side from point blank range, making it actually harder to get past him, and would not have happened had he not turned over the puck behind the net.
Even the fifth goal was avoidable, as my wife, a novice to hockey-watching, could even see he was leaning too far to the left and giving up space to his blocker side; Milan Hejduk will beat guys who are in positi ...
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Article written by MJ Kasprzak
NHL Playoffs: San Jose Lucky To Earn Home Split with Colorado
April 18th, 2010 by MJ Kasprzak Leave a reply »
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