St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Game 13 Vs. Carolina

Cons: Screening Your Own Goaltender

This is one of those reoccurring things that might never go away. While the example in this game was less egregious, it is just frustrating as a fan and a goaltender.

Upon further inspection of the replay, Justin Williams was in front of the St. Louis goal too, but Pietrangelo did a good job of screening his own goaltender again. He’s been doing that all season long.

On this instance, Pietrangelo was just trying to get into the shooting lane. However, as a goaltender, I would much rather see the shot, unless it is from the middle.

For some reason, defenders fail to realize this or do not realize their position on the ice. They think they’re helping by standing in front of the shot, but it’s easy to get around regular legs. Sometimes you need to trust your goaltender and just let him see it.

Blocking shots is great, but if you prevent your goalie from even seeing it, they have to hope it hits them. They have lost all ability to attempt a save when they cannot see it until it is too late or sometimes not even then.