After the Predators lost to the Blackhawks on Saturday night by a score of 3-5, there were a number of folks questioning the coaching decision to start Marek Mazanec in place of Pekka Rinne. After all, Maz gave up three goals on the first five shots he faced while a $7 million goaltender watched from the bench.
Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way: starting Maz on Saturday was 100% the correct decision.
There are two main reasons for this, both of which deserve equal merit.