Lately, goaltending has become an Achilles heel for the Tampa Bay Lightning. In contrast to four skilled lines that are all notching points or league superstar Steven Stamkos, a tremendous deficit in net starts to stand out. In 27 games Dan Ellis has notched a 3.15 goals-against average, and Mike Smith a 3.57, respectively. The duo are at the bottom of the league with a tremendous 86 goals against.
But, despite the numbers, head coach Guy Boucher is not worried about the goaltending dilemma in isolation. Instead, the burden is distributed team-wide.
"I put pressure on the team to do better defensively," Boucher said. "So whatever happens, to me, it never has to be a question of the goaltender. In general, I always want to make it a team thing. It's important that it is because somewhere along the lines, someone made a difference."
The numbers may indicate Ellis and Smith as the primary fault lines, but the truth is that the goaltenders aren't the only ones on the ice.
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2010.