LA Kings (W) 1 vs. Vancouver Canucks (L) 1 (SO)
The Los Angles Kings and Vancouver Canucks opened the Canucks 40th anniversary season much the same way the Canucks began 40 years ago, with a LA Kings victory. In what was actually a pretty boring game both teams looked a little sloppy. Being the first game of the season I guess that is to be expected. The Kings trying to be more offensive look like they need a lot more practice. The lines did not seem to mesh very well and I am not sure if they just need to get some games under their belts or if they need to change them up. Time will tell I'm sure. On to the goalie's performances.
Jonathan Quick
Goals (1) Shots (24) Saves (23) Save % (.958)
It was a solid start to the season for Quick. He played the game under a little more control than we saw at the end of last season. He was not as antsy in the net, letting plays come to him for the most part and that is a good sign for the season to come.
The goal that the Canucks scored however was a bad goal. Look at the video below. I don't know what Quick was doing with is blocker and stick. Goalies should only have the paddle of their stick on the ice on a wrap around or when there is a scrum in tight to them. Quick moves across the crease with his paddle down and then can't decided if he should get back into his stance, by the time he does it is too late. What really makes it a bad goal though is when Sedin tries to pass the puck to Erhoff, Quick butterflies as if it was a shot leaving him out of position to try and make the save.
I'm not sure if Quick is aware of the things that went wrong on the goal but he rebounded nicely, not letting it get to him. He made several strong saves throughout the game and was very good in the shoot-out. He did not make the first move and it helped him to make saves on both shooters he faced.
Roberto Luongo
Goals (1) Shots (32) Saves (31) Save % (.969)
Despite the loss Luongo looked strong during the game. He is controlling the rebounds better this year so far and i really think the addition of Roland Melanson as his goalie coach will have a positive effect. Melanson is having Luongo play deeper in his net to take advantage of his size and not have to sell out so much to make desperation saves.
You will see in the video below the regulation goal that he allowed was not really his fault. He might have been able to control the rebound a little bit better, but he was working through a two man screen which is never easy. To make matters worse the Canuck defense man took the inside position making Luongo have to lean around the screen to the outside. This makes it hard with is weight going away from the net to get back to the front where the goal was scored. Also you will notice that because this was a power play for the Kings there is one Canuck defense man trying to cover two Kings forwards, when a situation like this arises there is not a whole lot a goalie can do.
As solid as Luongo looked in regulation and overtime where the Canucks spent two full minutes short handed without touching the puck, he was shaky in the shoot out. You will see in the video below he bites on Kopitar's first fake and ends up out of position on the first goal.
On Johnson's shoot out goal below Luongo appears to be thinking that Johnson will try to copy Kopitar with a fake shot and a deke. He plays a little too deep in his net and Johnson just beats him with a good shot. Credit goes to Johnson here for shooting the puck where Kopitar faked on the previous attempt. More shooters should pay attention to the previous attempts and not just copy moves that work but use them to set up goaltenders.
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