If Mrazek can give the Leafs average goaltending, they could do some damage
Last night was a big step forward for Leafs goaltender Petr Mrazek, who was quietly very decent in a 3-2 regulation win over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night. For long stretches this season, all the Leafs have needed from their goaltenders was average goaltending. On Wednesday night, the Leafs showed that if they can get that, they can win games.
Mrazek was not his usual panicky self in the Next Gen game. He wasn't caught swimming in his net, he wasn't caught overcommitting and far outside of his goal crease and most importantly, he only allowed two goals on the evening. His .909 SV% was all it took and nobody in the team, including head coach Sheldon Keefe, asked any more of him. In fact, Keefe was very complimentary of Mrazek after the game.
That game really could have gone one of two ways for the 30-year-old netminder. On one hand, he could have allowed 4 or 5 goals again and the net would have likely gone right back to rookie Erik Kallgren until Campbell's return, or the way it went, with Mrazek playing just well enough to earn a victory and rebuild some of the trust that the Leafs had in him when they signed him to 3-year deal with a $3.8M AAV back in the summer.
If the Leafs can get even average goaltending from all 3 of their goaltenders between now and the end of the season, they'll stand a decent chance of not only doing some real damage in the Atlantic Division, but they could even win the division and earn home ice advantage in the playoffs against a wild card team.
| POLL | ||
MARS 24 | 226 ANSWERS If Mrazek can give the Leafs average goaltending, they could do some damage Can the Leafs win with average goaltending? | ||
| Absolutely, they can outscore their problems | 72 | 31.9 % |
| Not a chance | 70 | 31 % |
| They'll need elite goaltending to win the Atlantic | 84 | 37.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
