Former NHL goalkeeper Karri Rämö reviewed the goals scored by Juuse Saros. According to Rämö, a lot is due to bad defending, but Saros has not managed to beat the opponent’s goalkeeper.
At the beginning of the week, the Canadian media made semi-steep statements regarding Nashville’s Finnish goalkeeper Juuse Saros. Only a moment earlier, in the last moments of the match, Vancouver had risen from a 1–3 deficit to overtime and quickly won there.
With the win, Vancouver now leads the match series with wins 3–1.
After the match, all eyes turned to Nashville’s goalkeeper. Saros’s modest save percentage (85.7) was highlighted and it was emphasized that the goalkeeping game made the biggest difference between the two teams.
The line-up was interesting, as a quick glance at the hits of the fourth game did not create an image of weak goalkeeping.
Vancouver’s first, second and fourth goals were scored under the Finnish goalkeeper’s nose with virtually no interference.
Also the Canucks forward on the last-second equalizer Brock Boeser was able to move the goal from the corner into the net quite easily.
Former top goalkeeper Karri Rämö fired the goals at the request of Urheilu.
– How do these people play this game, Rämö talks about Nashville’s defense right after opening the video recording.
In the meantime, it should be remembered that after Vancouver’s 2-3 reduction, the Nashville forward Colton Sissons got through on the wing, but hit the post in front of the empty goal. Moments later, Vancouver tied the game at the other end just six seconds before the final buzzer.
– You don’t put a single one of those goals on Juuse’s thorn. The team cannot defend like that and then tell the goalkeeper to catch something, Rämö continues after reeling in the goals for a while.
– That 3–3 goal, for example. It has a good goal position right from the start and in the end it’s actually three players against Juuse alone. There are no Nashville players on the right side. Some of the defenders swim in the ice. If they stayed upright, it would be easier for Saros to fight back, Rämö continues.
Nashville played a good game on Monday and controlled the flow of the game in many places, as it also did in the third game played two days earlier. Vancouver had 12 shots in the third game and 20 on Monday. This makes Saros’ stats look bad.
Of course, this has been the story of Vancouver throughout the season. It hasn’t often dominated matches, but when it got there, it built up the situation well and finished effectively. From October to January, the Canucks were consistently among the four most efficient teams and have only increased their shooting power in the playoffs.
In the playoffs, Vancouver has shot at more than 15 percent efficiency, more efficiently than anyone else.
– There would have been a place for a hero at the end, if he had made a really crazy save. But this is it, if you want to expect superhumans. Vancouver often builds their situations really well and they are then easy to create when the players are inside the game and loose pucks fall in front. Then there are also those last-minute feeding places.
“You have to stand on your feet”
The cold fact is that Saros has so far not been able to beat his official brother playing at the other end – or should we say his official brothers. Vancouver is in the middle of a confusing goaltending chaos. First, the star goalkeeper was injured Thatcher Demko and after that located this Casey DeSmith.
On Monday, a Latvian with nine games of NHL experience played in goal Arturs Silovs.
On the other hand, Saros has allowed only one clearly easy goal in the match series. This was seen in the opening part of the series on the Canadian side when Elias Lindholm a loose wrist shot tied the match at 1–1.
– It’s problematic if the team’s save percentage is below 86. But I don’t see that the problem is that Juuse has played poorly. You just can’t defend like that if you want to succeed in the playoffs, Rämö points out.
However, in the next moment, Rämö hits the table with hard raw realism.
– The competition is always against the opponent’s veskar. If you want to succeed, you have to stand on your own. Maybe Juuse hasn’t been able to do that now. One top save in the right place is so important.
The NHL playoff series between Vancouver and Nashville continues early Wednesday Finnish time. You can find the results of the NHL playoff games and the most interesting clips every morning in the app and on Urheilu’s website.