Jack Campbell is up to his old tricks and not a moment too soon
There was reason for concern over the past month and a half about Leafs breakout star goalie Jack Campbell. His play seemed to take a nosedive for a stretch of 8 or 9 games. Luckily for the Leafs, their offense was able to win most of those games anyway, repaying Jack for the multitude of games he'd stolen earlier in the season.
Still, Jack's dip raised eyebrows and prompted some mild panic among Leafs fans. Some thought it was a regression from his unbelievable early season run, while others believed it was simply the fact that his routine had been disrupted by the all star break combined with COVID-19 wreaking havoc on the schedule.
As a goalie, I'm allowed to say that goalies are strange creatures. Habit, routine and ritual are all, for some reason, pivotal for success. With Campbell's routine being so disrupted, it's no wonder why he appeared off with no real explanation for his sudden issues. Now with the schedule is back on track, Jack seems to be back on track as well. His sparkling .930sv% over his last 4 games is evidence of that - not to mention a gorgeous primary assist on Morgan Reilly's goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night. Seriously though.. how amazing was that Rielly end-to-end goal against Pittsburgh?
With Jack back on track and Petr Mrazek finally pulling his weight, the Leafs look poised for a strong second half between the pipes. For now, all there is to say is the Soup is good!
