Storyline? Goaltending and defense will only take you so far.
You hear the annoying cliche of goaltending and defense winning championships. Then, you see a team lose by not scoring a goal despite playing great defense and receiving excellent goaltending.
The Islanders lost 1-0 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the 2021 NHL playoff semifinal. Their failure to score a goal cost them a shot at the Stanley Cup Final. They wasted an outstanding defensive performance and Semyon Varlamov’s excellent goaltending on that ill-fated Friday night.
It makes one wonder why people talk about goaltending and defense winning championships as if it’s assumed that the team will score. I couldn’t help but think that way and that game while watching the Sirens wasted another tremendous goaltending performance from Kayle Osborne in a 4-1 loss to the Boston Fleet at Prudential Center on Kids Day Monday afternoon.
The Sirens’ goaltending has been competent all season. If anything, it has been the team’s strength. No. 1 Sirens goaltender Corinne Schroeder posted a 2.45 goals against average and .917 save percentage with 310 saves to show for it in the 12 games she played this year. She has two shutouts this season.
Backup goaltender Osborne has been brilliant in her own right, with a shutout to show for it this season. She posted a 2.24 GAA with a 0.918 save percentage on the 134 saves she made in the six games she played. It’s a luxury not many coaches can enjoy. Sirens head coach Greg Fargo appreciates it, being that he was a goalie. He knows he can throw Schroeder or Osborne in a game and win, and it’s a win-win situation where goaltenders can push each other to do well. Schroeder and Osborne faced the Fleet in two recent games, and both played well in the Sirens’ loss.
In the Sirens’ 4-0 loss to the Fleet last Wednesday, the Sirens starting goaltender did all she could to keep her team in the game by holding the Fleet to 1-0 in the third period. But then the Fleet opened up the game by scoring three goals in that period, and that was the game.
The Sirens wasted her 27-save performance since they couldn’t score. The home team had numerous chances in the first period but could not put the puck past Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel. On Monday afternoon, Osborne faced a similar fate. She did all she could to give the Sirens a chance to win, but again, she had no goal support.
The Fleet took a 2-1 lead late in the second period on a goal by Hilary Knight. They scored another in the third period, followed by an empty-netter, as Fargo tried to put an extra skater on the ice to give his team a chance to tie the game. Osborne had 19 saves in what was a wasted effort.
If the Fleet did not have a five-minute major that gave the Sirens a five-minute power play, there’s a good chance the Fleet would have shut out the home team.
When the Sirens tied it at 1, Osborne earned an assist by shooting the puck at long distance to Jessie Eldridge, who tied the game in the second period by shooting the puck past Frankel. The Sirens goaltender became the first PWHL to record a point this season.
What we learned here is now the goaltenders have to post a shutout for the Sirens even to have a chance to win. That’s a challenging position for the team and the goalies to be in. That shows that the Sirens have no depth on offense to provide secondary scoring. They certainly miss Alex Carpenter, who still has an upper back injury. Who knows when it will get better with the season slipping away on a five-game losing streak?
The Sirens prioritized scoring and forechecking, and even though it made sense, it still hasn’t worked. It’s no doubt frustrating for the front office that built this team. The goaltenders and defense can only do so much. We can talk about the Sirens doing the little things, but it means nothing if they can’t score.
The lack of offense explains why the Sirens have struggled in the power play after going 1-for-5 in their recent game. We learned that goaltending and defense can only take you so far. Scoring wins games; the Sirens haven’t done much of it to celebrate a victory.
In a year where the Sirens are getting great goaltending, it makes this more frustrating.
