Tyler Richards may be having one of his worst season statistically in his National Lacrosse League career, but the goal he scored in Saturday’s win over the Minnesota Swarm may make up for any troubles he’s faced this year between the pipes.
Richards has played a heavy workload during the NLL seasons and that does explain some of the deterioration of his game. However, Richards has never really been an elite goaltender. Part of the reason behind that is the team in front of him aren’t historically great teams. This doesn’t excuse Richards, of course, but he routinely faces a lot of shots and plays in high scoring games.
This year, Richards is stopping shots at a lower percentage than he has since his career began in 2008 with San Jose. He currently holds a .739 save percentage, down from .760 per cent last year and .795 the year before. Last year as an anomaly for a lot of players on the team after the Stealth finished with a 4-14 record. The fact that Richards hasn’t improved but regressed must be a little troublesome for management and head coach Dan Perreault.
But management really doesn’t have anyone to blame but themselves. He’s being relied on to play in almost every game because Eric Penney isn’t ready to play in the NLL, period. He looks out of his depth every time he steps into goal. That doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence for the team playing in front of him. I look at the home opener against the Toronto Rock, where Richards was pulled in the third quarter after a string of Rock goals. Penney came in and got lit up, forcing Perreault to go back to Richards; the game was already in hand for Toronto.
It’s puzzling why general manager Doug Locker didn’t sign a more veteran backup for Richards. What happens if he goes down? The Stealth’s season, for as average as Richards has been, is over.
But Richards doesn’t seem to bothered by giving up a lot of goals, especially if the Stealth can answer back. Their offense certainly has the capability to do so. Richards said after Vancouver’s win over Colorado Mammoth on Jan. 31 that lacrosse is a game of runs and panic shouldn’t set in if they go down a couple of goals.
He also mentions, like any goalie, that playing the position is a lot easier if the defense is giving him lanes to see the ball.
“The guys gave me a good opportunity to see the ball and this was the result,” Richards said after the win.
It’s clear that Richards is a good goaltender as he makes clutch saves (and some highlight reels ones, too). Beyond getting more consistent, the Stealth defense really needs to limit the number of shots and scoring opportunities. If they can find a way to do that, Richards’ numbers would likely look a lot better.
Even if the only numbers he cares about are on the scoreboard.
