Doubtless Dan
I've been through this many times before, says goalie
Terry Bell, The Province
CANADA.COM
An emphatic "No."
That was Canucks coach Marc Crawford's response when asked if his confidence in goalie Dan Cloutier was shaken by Monday's 7-2 debacle against the Wild.
If you beg to differ, you've got plenty of company as his roller-coaster ride of a team takes its 3-2 best-of-seven semifinal lead into St. Paul for tonight's Game 6.
Winning in the playoffs usually comes down to great goaltending. Cloutier has provided some of that. But he's also had shaky moments -- an .877 saves percentage and a 3.10 goals against average are nothing to brag about.
So the question is, how will he respond tonight?
"I've been through this many times before, even in peewee hockey," he said Tuesday. "The game is over. I'm past it and I've moved on.
"You can't let it shake your confidence, especially in the playoffs. It's the best-of-seven and that's why it's the best-of-seven, so you can have games like that. Now we move on. We win the next game and no one will ever talk about this game again."
Cloutier knows he had a stinker Monday.
He allowed six goals on 21 shots -- five of them in a 12-shot second period from hell that was the worst in Canucks playoff history. They've allowed four goals in a period six times.
Alex Auld replaced Cloutier for the third period.
But this is no Detroit deja vu. Last year against the Wings, Cloutier melted down and ended up being replaced by the backup.
"I'd heard a lot about the situation last year, but Dan has matured," goaltending consultant Ian Clark said Monday morning before the debacle.
"That [Detroit series] doesn't bother him at all. He's totally past that. It's been a great area of maturation for him."
"The big change this year is that he's put more work into his technical side of his game," continued Clark, who was hired in the offseason after Andy Moog took a full-time assistant coaching job with Dallas.
"If he has a negative situation, be it a bad goal or a bad game, it's a much easier recovery for him. It's an anchor to his game. He can always come back.
Case in point -- Game 1 in this year's conference quarterfinal against the St. Louis Blues. Cloutier allowed six goals on 29 shots. In Game 2 he stopped 26 shots in a 2-1 win.
"The biggest change he's made is that his positional game is much more logical," said Clark.
"In the past he would do things that would not facilitate coverage of his net. That's why he always had to battle to make saves. You always want your goalie to battle, but we've tried to build a more logical approach to his game.
"I don't think there's any question he's a better goalie than he was last year in the playoffs. It's been a journey for him -- and he continues to be on that journey. It's certainly not over."