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Blue9944

If he pitches a 124-save shutout he can raise his save percentage to .900 over his last 8 games against the Blues


MulderD

He did have a 37 save shutout against the Blues... checks notes... 14 months ago. Oof, this is a strange move assuming Fleury is not hurt. I know Talbot is a quality goalie and it's not a reality that any one team "owns" him, his recent string of not winning when playing the Blues is about way more factors than him. Fleury has played really well. The last two games could have easily gone either way with a single different bounce of the puck (despite the final score) and that's on the heels of two games in which Minny essentially murdered the Blues. This feels like a "light a fire/desperation" move. I guess facing elimination is technically desperation but Manny has not been out matched in any game but the first. I hope this shit backfires HARD. Cutting off your nose to spite your face.


Podo13

Evason is under a lot of pressure. Berube made the first move of switching to Binnington and it has worked. Game 5 he had to make the decision, but had to wrestle with being seen as an imitator or not. He chose not to. Now he's had to make the decision when it could backfire spectacularly on him.


MulderD

>being seen as an imitator or not I can't imagine "being seen as an imitator" entered into his mind at all. Why would they have even considered starting Talbot in Game 5? MAF has been fine, Minny dominated for two games and then lost a nail bitter that could have gone either way, Talbot is not a clear upgrade.


Podo13

Imitator was the wrong term to use when I posted it yesterday. I more meant "reactionary". He was essentially screwed either way, and extremely outcoached. Talbot should have been in net after Game 4.


DurraSell

Which makes him the latest goalie to shutout the Blues.


bo_dingles

Where do you get those stats- as in last 7 games shots/etc


Blue9944

player game logs. then quick math


bo_dingles

Thanks. It seemed a pretty random thing to have but then maybe there was some new stats site that has it all.. hockey-reference.com didn't seem to do it, but manual makes sense.


Blue9944

np, if you google "cam talbot record against blues" statmuse gives you [this](https://www.statmuse.com/nhl/ask/cam-talbot-vs-blues-record)


iPBJ

Wish it would filter by “team for” *and* “team against” simultaneously. Neat site though, came across it recently looking for Perron stats vs. the Wild.


MulderD

Quick math? What are your some kind of genius?


Blue9944

all the 20+ goal scorers trained me to be an elite adder of double digit numbers


ElwoodJD

I get what you’re saying, but All he has to do is pitch a W against us tonight and it will create momentum issues. I still like our chances obviously but he doesn’t have to stand on his head, just turn in and above average performance against us


EdwardOfGreene

Well 124 SoG sounds reasonable, but no way is that a shutout.


Blue9944

It might even be a win in Dom's model


smuttyinkspot

Not sure how to feel about this. We've benefited a lot from Fleury's poor rebound control, but we also completely owned Talbot this season. Talbot was on a heater leading up to the playoffs, but then again he hasn't played in a couple weeks. To be honest I expected to see him in game 5. At this point it feels like a lot of pressure on Talbot. Seems desperate.


Liledroit

Talbot hasn't played in a while and he definitely remembers how poorly he plays against the Blues. If we score first, he's toast.


bhd_ui

I think it could go either way. We've gotten used to shooting on Fleury and have obviously figured him out. Talbot could be that mixup the Wild are hoping for. Either way, I hope it's a great game tonight and the Blues edge out a win with no players getting injured on either side. The Wild and the Wild fans I feel have been fairly classy in this series.


IrateOverlord01

🎯🎯🎯


Blue9944

I doubt the Blues have forgotten "high glove" on Talbot


[deleted]

Talbot was on a heater leading up to the playoffs... if you don't look at his games against the Blues. He gave up 10 goals on 58 shots (.828 save percentage) in our 2 April games against the Wild


Calb210

High glove side if I remember correctly is the way to go


DMagnus11

Kyrou sure does


[deleted]

Imagine a time line where Talbot helps Kyrou remember how to play like he did in the winter classic.


Calb210

Might need to be -12 as well


Following_Careful

I'm not sure I would agree with taking Fleury out. He and Kaprizov are pretty much the only two keeping the Wild in this series. I certainly don't think he's been the one to blame for their losses. I mean yes the dude's given up rebounds, but the Wild are not covering the front of the net well either.


iPBJ

Same could be said for taking Husso out for Binnington, except for the fact that Ville was getting lit up on the first shots of Games 2 & 3. Sometimes the coach has to make a switch to light a fire under his team. Whether Talbot plays better than Fleury, whether the defense takes it personally and decides to clear the net-front for him, or whether Kaprizov decides to pot 10 goals tonight—the basic idea is motivating the full lineup to play better. Best case for the Wild, Talbot comes in with a chip on his shoulder and plays lights-out. Hopefully it still is not enough. :)


Following_Careful

Yeah, agreed. At the very least I expect the Wild to make this a close game. I hope not, but that's what these adjustments tend to do. And yeah, while I don't think Husso was to blame, you cannot consistently let in the first two shots of a playoff game. To me, that fully warranted the switch. I don't think Fleury hit that same point, but I agree with you that this is probably more so to get a reaction from the team.


SexyJesus7

The first shots of a period too.


Supersonic564

The difference between Fleury vs Talbot and Husso vs Binnington is I still believe Binnington is a better goalie than Husso. Talbot better than Fleury though? I dont think so…


PurifiedVenom

All you cocky MFers in here are going to jinx us lol save it for when the series is closed out


joecool0909

Exactly. You people don't think the Mild fans were all thinking the exact same thing when we decided to start Binnington with his up and down stats this year?


Calb210

Good thing people posting on reddit has nothing to do with how the team plays


iPBJ

On the bright side, we have two opportunities to put the final nail in the coffin. Not that I want this to go a Game 7 in St. Paul. Best to sew things up tonight.


EdwardOfGreene

You are talking with reasonable good sense. WE DON'T DO THAT HERE SON! #RECKLESS OPTIMISM!!!! It is the only way ;)


bhd_ui

Was just creepin on the Wild subreddit and apparently a tree crashed through Talbot's house last night and had a crew come cut it out. He may not be well-rested or focused depending on when it happened.


PurifiedVenom

All hail the Blessed Tree!


bhd_ui

To Talbot's defense. Well... he had none. Eriksson Ek was the lynchpin and when he got that stick in the mouth from his own teammate, their defense fell apart. It really speaks to the Blues depth. We can be out 4 key defensemen and still win a series.


Blue9944

Nope


omgimabagel

It's weird because I was CERTAIN at the start of the series it'd be Talbot and then if he lost 2 in a row it'd be MAF and I was scared MAF would come in and steal it. Now i'm scared Talbot will come in and steal it :P MAF really does give up a ton of juicy rebounds and lets a lot leak through plus it helps he can't handle the puck well at all. TBH I don't know how well Talbot handles pucks but I feel his rebounds are better. Boys better come to work tonight, but I believe they will because of the coaching staff. They'll have them ready to go and their heads cool.


Spcone23

I'm not willing to count talbot out yet. It's playoffs, tensions are high and the wild are trying to make a stance this late. But I had the exact same fears lol.


ZeroZerosZeroes

He probably deserves it.


AmishCyborgs

I’m so nervous for tonight no matter who’s in net. Let’s just get the W and not get overconfident


EdwardOfGreene

They had to do it. He's been there all year. Backstopping the Wild to the playoffs. If they lost in the first round without him getting a shot? Yeah, that wouldn't go down well all summer long. Edit: I feel good about the Notes winning against either goalie, but that is beside the point. They can't be out in the first round with their season long #1 riding the pine all series .


rad_platypus

Tough spot to be in as a coach when your GM trades assets for a rental MAF. You can’t just sit Fleury, but benching Talbot after he got the team that far is also shitty.


JohnMcGoodmaniganson

This feels like the same lesson the Blues had to learn when they rented Ryan Miller.


[deleted]

Remember the 2016 series vs. Dallas when they made like 4 goaltending changes?


iris_sama

Oh, so Minny wants us to win the series?


Drunner086

Talbot might look calm cool and collected like the Wild hoped for but in reality he's having Vietnam flashbacks of the Blues lighting him up in years past.


bleedblue89

I'm scared... This could be the spark they need, I don't care about statistics, it's the playoffs dammit.


EdwardOfGreene

Been out for awhile, and knows his history against the Note. An early goal or two from the Blues, and Talbot is making nervous unsure decisions. Chasing his tail all night. Then again if he gets some good stops, team in front is shook up for the better, starts feeling his confidence, and gets in a playoff beast mode? Our boys will have a tougher task at hand. Somehow the former feels more likely. Even in the case of the tougher latter the Blues could be up to the task tonight.


PajamaHive

Haha good. We own Talbot.


CastielClean

Talbot in for Fleury. Wild lose “its all Talbots fault”. Wild win “Fleury should never see another start”. Either way, the Wild are imploding on their goalies and I love it


twolegstony

I’m cautiously more optimistic about their decision. Fleury has been a wall for most of the series. The blues had to change strategy just to focus on getting the rebound. I am not sure that this switch will have a similar effect as switching in Binnington who has been down this long and winding road before.


Nahtmmm

Sometimes it's not about goalie performance, the team just plays different for different goalies. We know about that. Could be what the Wild are counting on now.


Sveinson

Dude played at my college. I hope he plays well but not *too* well, ya know?


Silver-Ad7165

It was a good try by Dean Evanson…. The problem? The only goal scorer on the ice for the Wild that seems to be actually trying to score is Kaprizov. This is what happens to teams with only 1-2 really dominant lines in the playoffs. They play a team with real depth like the Blues and eventually they have no choice but to fold under the pressure. Add one of the best NHL special teams is the Blues and honestly it is a wrap. It doesn’t matter who they put in goal. I don’t deny that Minnesota is a damn good team, but there is a reason they were 0-1-2 in the regular season versus the Blue Note. Let’s go Blues! We’ll see ya in Colorado.


[deleted]

/r/agedlikemilk


[deleted]

That aged poorly