At the other end of the ice, Corey Crawford has been beaten by half-speed, 30-foot wrist shots and just about every somewhat difficult attempt the Los Angeles Kings have thrown at him since Game 1. Crawford’s .882 save percentage in this series is the reason why the Chicago Blackhawks are trailing 3-2 and why no one has noticed Quick has been nearly as unreliable.
Quick’s save percentage for this series is .894; the 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy winner has a .909 save percentage in the 2014 playoffs.
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Dustin Tokarski, thrust into action in the Eastern Conference Final because of an injury to Carey Price, has a .902 save percentage.
The guy with the 10-year, $58 million contract is being outplayed by a guy who was in the AHL at the start of this year’s playoffs.
But while the Blackhawks are losing largely because of Crawford, the Kings have been winning in spite of Quick, as the team has scored 19 goals over the past four games.
If Quick was just average in Game 5, the Kings would be in their second Stanley Cup Final in three seasons.
The Blackhawks entered the third period trailing 4-3, the fourth goal coming off the stick of Tanner Pearson. It was perhaps the worst goal Crawford has allowed during this four-game stretch, an un-screened floater to the blocker side that should’ve been enough to break the defending champions.
The notion that a goaltender should just protect a lead in the third period of a big game no matter the circumstances is silly. Sometimes a goaltender will get beat by a great shot or have no hope as the puck whizzes past him through a screen or bounces off a skate and into the back of the net.
Ben Smith’s tying goal early in the third p...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Kings
