Backup Goaltender

by bluecollarbuffalo on Oct 18, 2009 8:16 AM EDT

Patrick Lalime did himself no favors last night in his attempt to get more starts as the backup goaltender of the Buffalo Sabres. He allowed 4 goals on 27 shots, and I would argue that none of which could be classified as a "big" save. In fact, at all crucial moments (such as after Stafford's goal), Lalime came up pretty small. This is the theme of his Sabres career at this point. The question is:

What are the Sabres to do about it? Since Martin Biron left town, the Sabres have been searching for a backup goaltender they could trust. Jocelyn Thibault and now Patrick Lalime have failed to gain the trust of Lindy Ruff. The consequence of this is the tiring of Ryan Miller. With the Olympics interrupting the season (in which Miller is sure to be a part of team USA), the team cannot afford to ride Miller too hard. On the flip side, the team also cannot afford to lose most of the games a backup goaltender starts. Losing a majority is OK, losing almost all of them will be one of the things the team and the fans look back on as an excuse for why the team misses the playoffs once again.

The biggest failure this offseason was the failure to address this need and it could end up costing them. The Sabres play tighter defensively with Lalime in net and when they fall behind (as the almost always do w/ Lalime in goal) and they have to "go for it" offensively, a puck almost always ends up in the net killing any shot for a rally. While only one start, it is the cumulative effect of 3 seasons worth of problems that tells me the Sabres cannot afford to wait to act.

This is a fanpost written by a member of the community, it doesn't necessarily express the views or opinions of Die by the Blade

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I can’t blame Lalime for this game due to the fact that this team left him hung out to dry last night. This team needs to play with the same intensity for Lalime as they do Miller because they looked lost out there last night.

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by Zachary Zielonka on Oct 18, 2009 8:27 AM EDT reply actions

Couldn't agree more

I can’t look at any of those goals, except for maybe Max’s goal at the end, where I know Miller would have stopped them if he were in. I’d say maybe Miller stops one of those goals because he’s always good for one goal-robbing save a game, that still leaves us losing 3-2. But all in all, Lalime got hung out to dry. You can’t let Kovalchuk shoot from the slot. He scores from there on every single goalie in the world from there. Brutal defensive game. On the PP goal, our top defensive pair let a guy walk right thru the crease and put back in the rebound without even being touched. Pathetic play. Completely not Lalime’s fault.

"Potential just means you haven’t done sh## yet"

by willgarr15 on Oct 18, 2009 11:55 AM EDT up reply actions

You can’t say that if one of those goals wasn’t scored that the final outcome would remain the same. Scoring a goal changes the complexion of a game. Maybe we would have played more intensely if only down by one in the final two minutes, maybe we would have tied it up.

I agree with your general premise that it wasn’t totally Lalime’s fault – but at the same time I think we have a good chance of getting some points out of that game if Miller’s playing.

"We want to win immediately. To say you're building is an incomplete sentence. ... You're building for a future coach and general manager."
-Marv Levy

by TEMSON on Oct 19, 2009 8:47 AM EDT up reply actions

Sure we have a better chance if Miller’s playing. That’s why he’s the #1 goalie on this team. The point is, Miller cannot, and should not, play every game. Lindy over-works him to the point of exhaustion. This team needs to play better when Lalime is in goal. They always leave him hanging. People point to Miller being out last year as the reason we missed the playoffs, but the truth is that our team played like garbage defensively in front of Lalime. They played dynamite in 5 games this season before Saturday night’s disaster and Lalime should not be taking the blame for poor defensive play. The Sabres sucked it up in their own zone against the Thrashers and they deserved to lose.

"Potential just means you haven’t done sh## yet"

by willgarr15 on Oct 19, 2009 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s why I agreed with your general premise :)

"We want to win immediately. To say you're building is an incomplete sentence. ... You're building for a future coach and general manager."
-Marv Levy

by TEMSON on Oct 20, 2009 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m just tired of hearing the excuse, “it’s not Lalime’s fault they lost” or “the team needs to play better in front of him”. At a certain point, we need to realize we’re not going to play better in front of the backup goaltender and get a better backup. In addition, while I know he’s not a no. 1 goaltender, having a clutch save every once in a while would be nice. He NEVER makes a clutch save. Backup goaltenders can still lose a majority of their games, but when you lose most of them, perhaps the problem isn’t how the team plays in front of him, but its the goaltender.

by bluecollarbuffalo on Oct 20, 2009 6:23 PM EDT reply actions

who is available?

Who can we even get that would be better and still fit under the cap? Why even start this debate when there is little to no chance Darcy can or will do something about it?

by weswed51 on Oct 23, 2009 1:03 AM EDT reply actions

i think this team is better this year and can overcome Lalime in net for 15 to20 games this year

by weswed51 on Oct 23, 2009 1:05 AM EDT up reply actions

That was the point of the post

The point was that they failed to address it in the offseason and it will cost them….perhaps if Marty Biron finds himself as a No. 3 later in the season (that’s a big if)?

by bluecollarbuffalo on Oct 23, 2009 9:32 AM EDT up reply actions