Murray talks goaltending

i think its a good idea to start babs tonight, he was solid in the blue jackets game and solid in the game where he had to relive ersberg. babs showed that he can control his game, and he deserves a chance

i think it is VERY ironic that we have a LARGE keeper who likes to flop, but who would be better served to be a fundamentally sound butterfly, and that we have a SMALL keeper who likes to be fundamentally sound, but who could be better if he flopped around a little more.

it has become readily apparent that ersberg gives up the perfect shots (over the shoulder and under the crossbar, just under the blocker short side, clanking off the pipe over his glove, etc) he thinks he can use his positioning to deflect shots, but he's too small (hence, you see goals where he stands tall and doesn't move, and yet the puck gets around him). in other leagues, this may have been sufficient, but not with the snipers in the nhl. hopefully he can adjust. ironically, if our keepers traded pointers, i think each could be better off.

I just find it disturbing that Ersberg has ONE, count it ONE bad game and Murray is all over him in the press. Yet Labs has a number of bad games and it is classified as bad bounces. Murray needs to stop with the favoritism. Facts don't lie, Ersberg has gotten this team majority of its points playing less games then Labs. Facts don't lie Murray, and here is a soon to be fact Labs lets at least 4 goals in tonite!

KingRu -

I think you're being a little harsh there. He wasn't all over him, he just questioned if the workload was more than Ersberg is used to and he may be right. He had an awful game Friday and you can't say that Labs hasn't played well the last two and deserved another start.

Ersberg is going to get his chance again soon. I don't think either of these guys has proved they can handle a major workload so I think they'll both get about even starts for the rest of the season.

And if Labs gets a couple of goals of offense in some starts he'd have a few more wins. He lost a couple of games wehre he gave up one and two goals. That's not bad goaltending, that's crap offense.

Ru, Murray wasn't really all over him. He said that he didn't look like the same goalie he was used to and worried that he may be getting overworked and losing some focus or becoming tired. He says he will see how reacts in practice and if he bounces back to his normal play. LaBarbera also has been playing very well and is hot right now so it makes sense to stay with him and give Ersberg a break.

I watched the Columbus broadcast (I never know which one is which when choosing in Center Ice) Their commentators were all over Labs about his lack on rebound control but Columbus couldn't do a dang thing about it. Murray said he was good those guys said pretty much the opposite. Just passing it along. Go Kings!

I think both goaltenders have their weaknesses; the Iceberg has more natural talent, i.e. is faster laterally and generally sees the puck better than Barbs. His smaller stature is definitely a disadvantage, but there's nothing we can do about that.

Barbs is just a mediocre goaltender. We've seen this before. He puts up a shutout and then starts to bomb out. He's inconsistent and not reliable and that's historically, in my opinion, why the Kings haven't played particularly well in front of him. It's the "oh this guy again, we're going to lose" mentality.

Barbs had a decent game against Columbus, but he wasn't spectacular. The Kings as a whole played a very strong game, and that's by far the main reason they won. The Jackets just couldn't put anything past them.

I think the Iceberg was looking a little bit worse for the wear in his previous starts & that's why he got pulled. Maybe he doesn't have the mojo to be a full-time goaltender - who knows. I don't think Murray has been harsh on him, but I don't think he's been harsh enough on Barbs.

I'm starting to fade on Ersberg a bit. Even when he's good, he still lets in at least two goals. He's only had one game where he let in 1, and Labs has two shutouts. At this point, I'd like to watch Labs get a few more starts in a row and see if he can be at all consistent. That's the real test for him right now after a bad start. He played real well in Edmonton and stopped 30 of 31 shots, then did what he needed to against Columbus. A few more good games and he'll prove something to the doubters, which I've been myself the whole season.

KingRu
You say that Ersberg had one bad game and Babs had several bad games, yet Babs has a better GAA and save % than Ersberg for the season. Something doesn't add up. It is clear that Ersberg has been getting tired and Babs happens to be on a hot streak (ok 5 periods with 1 goal against is a small hot streak). Labarbara deserves to start.

It seemed like Ersberg faltered after the first half-dozen games or so. His lateral movement didn't seem as good, and consequently he gave the opposition a lot more net to shoot at.

I do think he can be a pretty good goalie, however, and hopefully it's just a case of being overworked.

The same thing used to happen with Cristobal Huet when he played for the Kings. Huet played well for a few games and then got fatigued and started going down too early on shots.

Ersberg gave up some soft goals now and again, but he also made lots of very nice saves and helped minimize shots against with his excellent rebound control.

Big Rob, I think I noticed a patern on center ice when they air both broadcasts. The first one listed (the lower numbered channel) is usually the away teams announcers and the second one listed is the home teams. This philosophy hasn't failed me yet.

AGAINT Murray with his bad bounces talk!!! GEEEZ!