Can I just say that coaches around the NHL have a propensity for pulling their goaltender for the extra attacker way too early way too much of the time? It has become common practice.
Take Thursday night in Brooklyn, for example, when Henrik Lundqvist dutifully left his net to go to the bench with about 80 seconds remaining and the Rangers down by one as Jimmy Vesey moved through the neutral zone with the puck on his stick.
Vesey, who was the Rangers’ best player in this one if Rick Nash was not, sent the puck directly on net instead of putting it into a corner or rimming it around the boards.