Goaltending Log Jam in Anaheim
Jonas Hiller was activated off IR for Anaheim and is/was in net tonight to face a total of 9 shots. Why only 9, because he let in 3 of those. There is bound to be rust just coming back into action so no major worries. Hiller has played in 48 games to date and has gone 28 – 16 – 3 in that time. Not too bad. The issue is what to do on the back-end of all this. Anaheim brought in Dan Ellis and Ray Emery at different times to try to fill the #2 slot. Dan Ellis is, well, Dan Ellis. He shows signs of being the go to guy but something always has periods of let down or injury. Ray Emery has battled back from a hip injury that could have ended most goaltenders careers but is showing he can still win games.
Hiller will be just fine and give you exactly what you expect out of him. But there is a choice to be made at what to do about the #2 slot. Anaheim is currently sitting in the 8th spot of the tight Western Conference. Dallas is just trailing by 1 point and Calgary by only 2. So to say these last few games are huge is an understatement. You want Hiller to get back in form but not at the expense of a loss. Emery has delivered three wins in three starts but that is a small sample to pull from. Dan Ellis in my humble opinion is just not the go to guy….. or is he for a bit? There is a mess to be sorted out and Randy Carlyle needs to do it with zero margin for error. And it looks like they may lose tonight.
It will be interesting to say the least to see what goalies they utilize in the stretch and who can give Anaheim the wins they need to stay in the hunt. My call is roll Emery more often, practice Hiller hard and get him back in after a couple of games off. Mr. Ellis, sorry but once again you’re the odd man out for me. But I’m no coach, no goalie expert, and I need a beer. Good luck to Anaheim fans you have a real noodle scratcher going on.
