By It's still early, but Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves is learning a lesson that quite a few goalies before him discovered the hard way.
A goalie's second NHL season can be a real bummer until they're able to re-adjust to changes made by opposing shooters based on more complete scouting data from their first go-around.
"The result haven't been where I'd like them to be, and I take that responsibility on myself" Greaves, 25, said before allowing five goals on 37 shots in a 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. "It'd be nice if you could sit there and say the result always go exactly the way we want, but sometimes they don't. I'm grateful that I have some [AHL and NHL] experience in the past and [can] just learn from these moments."
Growing pains sting, though.
This is actually the fifth season Greaves has played for the Blue Jackets, but his first three covered a total of just 21 appearances (20 starts) as he continued to mature as a prospect with the AHL's Cleveland Monsters. Last season, starting 53 times, was his first exclusive NHL taste and it couldn't have gone much better.
Greaves finished with a 26-19-9 record, 2.60 goals-against average and .908 save percentage while outplaying Elvis Merzlikins and earning the Blue Jackets' top goaltending role for two veteran head coaches, first Dean Evason and then Rick Bowness.
His GAA ranked sixth and save percentage ranked seventh among goalies who played 50-plus games, which led into a summer as a restricted free agent that included a stalemate in negotiations on a new contract that finally ended July 23, allowing Greaves and the Blue Jackets to barely avoid an arbitration hearing in Toronto by agreeing to a three-year, $15 million extension.
Merzlikins underwent an unexpected shoulder surgery in August, was included in the blockbuster trade that sent Kirill Marchenko to the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Blue Jackets signed veteran Cam Talbot, 39, as Greaves' backup Sept. 14 — two days before training camp.
Nearly two months later, Talbot is off to a scorching start at 5-2-0 in seven starts with a 2.44 GAA and .910 SV% while Greaves is scuffling (2-6-0, 3.36 GAA, .880). Asked to assess Greaves' start to the season before his loss in Buffalo, Bowness didn't sugarcoat it.
"I think he knows he can be a little bit better," Bowness said. "He hasn’t been bad. Has he been as consistent as he was last year? Not yet, but he will be. The kid works his butt off, but I know there’s a couple of goals that he’d like to have back, there’s no question, but he’s also kept us in games until we had a chance to find our game, which is a goalie’s job."
The most obvious of those regrettable goals beat Greaves with just 0.2 seconds remaining in the first period of a 3-1 loss Oct. 31 in Dallas. A seemingly harmless shot by Stars defenseman Thomas Harley from the left wall, outside the hash marks, snuck between Greaves' right side and the left post, giving Dallas a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.
He also made some dazzling stops to keep the Blue Jackets within striking distance, as he's done in most of the games he's started. That's the encouraging part, along with a level-headed approach. More concerning is that Greaves, who's listed at just 6-foot and battles the perception that he's too small, has allowed four-plus goals in four of eight starts.
"Throughout the course of a season, there are so many different goals that go in," he said. "There's going to be bad goals and there's going to be things like that, which as much as you wish they’d never happen, it’s part of the game. For me, it’s just about responding well and keeping the same demeanor, keeping the same process, playing the same way and just trying to be consistent for the guys.”
That's one of his biggest assets, along with resetting his focus quickly following goals.
"If the game’s not going well, keep them in the game, and he’s done that," Bowness said. "Is there a couple he’d like to have back? For sure, but you watch him at practice, and he’s ready. He prepares himself and he’ll get better as the season goes on, for sure.”
One specific area that needs to improve is stopping shots from mid-range shooting locations and farther out on the wings and near the blue line. According to the NHL's EDGE stats, Greaves has allowed seven mid-range goals on shots from between the faceoff circles and two from longer distance above the circles, exceeding league averages by six on mid-range goals and two from long distance.
The latest examples happened in the loss to the Sabres, who turned a 2-1 lead into 4-1 on goals by Josh Norris from the left circle and Rasmus Dahlin from 52 feet away above the right circle. Norris' shot from 23 feet away beat Greaves between the pads, while Dahlin's one-timer traveling 93 mph went over his glove after clipping Cole Sillinger's stick.
Chalk both up to added experience.
"For me, I feel like I still have so much to learn and have so much room to grow," Greaves said. "I've played so many games in different seasons [at lower levels], but this is just my second full year in this league. Regardless, though, for as long as I play, I hope I’m learning the whole time.”
Dispatch Blue Jackets/Crew reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves dealing with growing pains
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/columbus-blue-jackets-goalie-jet-111057445.html
