Mrazek Was (Almost) Unbeatable
The Carolina Hurricanes got the support needed in net.
I mentioned in my recap of the Washington Exhibition game that Petr Mrazek looked good and it was still his net to lose. Reimer looked good in that game, true, but the goals against him then were not really on him. Well, the Carolina defense tightened up and with that Petr’s ability to defend the net.
Game one saw him give up a pair on excellent shots on the 5v5. Today saw him break hearts and absolutely dominate with both blocker and glove. Especially the glove that saw him rob several high scoring chances from the dead slot.
What a save made by Mrazek, robbing Brett Howden in the slot. #TakeWarning pic.twitter.com/UCSUVY12Km
— Joseph (22 days til hockey) (@HockeyJoseph10) August 3, 2020
Even the one goal that the Rangers did score, which came on an ill-timed 5v3 powerplay had to trickle over his glove to get into the net. That was a perfect shot from Artemi Panarin. It had to be to get past Mrazek today.
He sucked the soul of the rangers right out with his glove like some strange hockey-themed Power Ranger villain. But the Blue Rangers couldn’t win the day against him. When asked about his game plan moving forward Mrazek had this to say:
"“We just have to play the same game we played Saturday and tonight. We didn’t give them anything special. Just play our game and focus on ourselves."
I would be hard-pressed to think that Rod Brind’amour would give the crease to James Reimer tomorrow, even on a back to back. With a two-game cushion you have to go with the hot hand in net. Expect more criminal activity from Petr Mrazek Tomorrow.