Nilsson "Has Lots to Learn", But... Was Monday Really a Learning Curve?

Anders Nilsson, fresh off his first NHL start, says he "still has lots to learn" from playing in the NHL.

Of course, when you're a 21-year-old goalie and you've never seen NHL ice before, anything would be a learning experience. However... getting the start Monday, against a healthy and rejuvenated Sidney Crosby, was that really the best way for him to learn?

There is the justifiable argument that becoming the best you can be means playing against the best in the league, and I can see how that comes into play here. Like or hate him, Sidney Crosby is one talented player, and he makes his team and the league better by being in the lineup. But I still don't see how Capuano saw fit to start a kid against him AND Evgeni Malkin and then let him be lit up for five goals without once thinking to pull him. It's the equivalent of torture, and even Penguins fans (on Twitter, at least) were expressing their sympathies after a while. (Not that it made anything better, believe me, but... just making a point.)

I'm a lacrosse goalie, which is a bit different from hockey goalie, but I can tell you right now that I hate being replaced in games. I also want to try and compensate for any mistakes I might make which lead to goals; however, if I get scored on enough, it's certainly demoralizing. Not to mention that, for the Islanders, there was certainly a healthy goalie on the bench in Rick DiPietro, former embarrassment or no. After Goal #3, it would have been prudent for Jack Capuano to pull the plug and send Ricky in to try and salvage something for the Isles. Not to say that the Isles' play hinges solely on who's in net for them, because that would be silly, but it may have helped at least a bit. It would also have given the kid some breathing time after being thrown into a shooting gallery.

As for Nilsson... well, of course he's got a ways to go before getting completely comfortable in net. But from the sound of things, he's willing to work as hard as he can for as long as he's up here. It's just a matter of how long.