One might look at Carl Lindbom's stats with the Vegas Golden Knights and see an underwhelming goaltender. A GAA of 3.36 and a save percentage of .873 doesn't inspire much confidence in the average hockey fan, after all. It's like, "Man, you can do so much better than that!"
However, there's a catch with Lindbom's production. One, he's played only three games, so hop off the nuts. Two, he's a 22-year-old rookie. Therefore, hop off the nuts... again. He did have a solid debut performance at the Tampa Bay Lightning, stopping 26 of 28 shots and earning Vegas a point.
Not bad for a rookie, eh? When you're heralded as the organization's future, you must play as such, even against tougher teams with Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.
But speaking of Tampa, his follow-up performance against the Lightning was worse. Here, he stopped 21 of 26 shots and got the loss in a 6-3 blowout. Granted, it wasn't entirely his fault, especially with the Golden Knights getting careless with the puck. However, there's room for improvement.
In fact, he can make one minor adjustment against the Florida Panthers when starting tonight. It could go a long way in getting another point for the Golden Knights, a la what he did against the Lightning.
How Carl Lindbom can adjust for the Vegas Golden Knights against the Florida Panthers
The main thing that Lindbom must do with the Golden Knights is simple: don't be overly aggressive in the net. That's it. Don't take hard cuts while goaltending and keep it simple.
That was a problem in his last start, where he tried overcommitting on certain plays and got burned. Of course, it's easy for a new goaltender to do such a thing. They can try overcompensating and doing too much on the ice.
However, the Panthers are missing vital weapons in their arsenal. That includes Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, hampering Florida offensively. Therefore, keeping it simple should help Lindbom in Monday night's game.
Of course, the burden doesn't fall entirely on Lindbom's shoulders for Monday's start against the Panthers
The burden also lies on the Golden Knights to give him favorable looks throughout Monday's contest. That means not giving away the puck in the defensive zone and being more careful with the puck. That problem was apparent in Lindbom's last start, when players like Noah Hanifin had careless turnovers.
It's easy to place the blame on the goaltender whenever he makes a simple mistake. However, you're as good as the defense in front of you (and team). The Golden Knights haven't always put their netminders in the best positions, whether it's Hanifin carelessly turning the puck over in the defensive end or not breaking out properly.
The good news is that Vegas is still figuring things out early in the season. A complete performance by the Golden Knights will silence critics, even if the defending champions are wounded kitties. Most of all, it will help Lindbom blossom into a stellar netminder.