a kapuskérdés változatlanul fennáll

mindenesetre a Boston ellen 5mith kezd:

Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher said Mike Smith will start Thursday's game against the Bruins. The reason? For the second straight time, Dan Ellis was victorious over the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. But Smith already has beaten the Bruins once this season. Perhaps he can do it again.

As sound as that logic is, the fact is Boucher would not have to make these calculations if either Smith or Ellis, or both, actually, would grab hold of the goaltending job. Smith, lately, is showing the most signs he is headed in the right direction. Throw out the Capitals game he started and the four goals he allowed on 18 shots. That was just a dismal game for the entire team. In the three games previous, Smith stopped 72 of 77 shots for a .935 save percentage and had a 1.67 goals-against average.

Ellis did not do badly Tuesday night in a 4-3 overtime victory over the Maple Leafs as he was at fault on only one goal, the second, a shot by Nikolai Kulemin from the top of the right faceoff circle that beat him short side. Perhaps had Ellis been a bit farther out of the net, the shot would have hit him. But no matter, he played solidly otherwise.

In that sense, thing do not look as nervous as they did earlier in the season. But there still is a long way to go until we can say the goaltending is solid. Inconsistency has been the hallmark of the season for both goalies, who readily admit it. It is going to take more than a stretch of four or five games to reverse that perception.

Let's see if Smith can continue the trend.