Talbot confident better days are ahead

TORONTO -- Less than three weeks have passed since Wild goaltender Cam Talbot represented the Central Division in the NHL All-Star Game.
But to the veteran netminder, it seems a lot more like three months.
Talbot admitted Wednesday following the Wild's practice in Toronto that he hasn't been as sharp as he would have liked recently, but as someone who has played plenty of games in the National Hockey League, he knows just how quickly the tide can turn.

Heck, less than two weeks ago, Talbot made 37 saves on 39 shots in a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, one of the top clubs in the league.
But Talbot has won just one of his three starts since, and has allowed at least four goals in all three games. Not that all of the blame lies on Talbot either.
Wild coach Dean Evason and several of Talbot's teammates have lamented how much the team needs to tighten down defensively and not allow the grade-A chances both Talbot and Kaapo Kahkonen have faced in recent games.
There's also been some incredibly bad luck too.
In Ottawa on Tuesday night, Talbot was victimized by two or three bad bounces, including on the Senators' winning goal, when he had a good look at Thomas Chabot's shot, but saw it ride up the stick of a Wild defenseman and just under the crossbar.

"I thought I had a good beat on it," Talbot said. "And just disappointment and frustration on my part. To lose like that with five minutes left ... the bounces just aren't going my way right now. But I need to find a way to make another save and at least get it to overtime."
On Ottawa's second goal, which came on the power play, defenseman Jared Spurgeon had the puck on his stick and cleared it off the glass ... a play he makes 100 times without any incident.
This time, it bounced off a stanchion and deflected parallel to the blue line, staying in the zone and extending the shift for tired penalty killers. Talbot made a pair of outstanding saves to keep the puck out, but on the second, it rimmed around to Brady Tkachuk on the other side of the net all by himself.
Talbot, still gathering himself from the sprawling save he had just made, scrambled over but couldn't close off the post and Tkachuk's shot was perfectly placed for a 2-0 lead.
Minnesota would rally to tie the game at 2-2 in the second and 3-3 in the third, but could never wrestle control away from the Sens, who won 4-3.

"It certainly was not on our goalie, for sure," Evason said. "That first goal, maybe you could say [he needs to stop it], but when a guy like Chabot walks right down the gut with absolutely nobody in front of him, that's not Cam's fault. That's someone in our defensive zone coverage who effed up.
"It's a mistake that we need to rectify. Would we like the goaltenders to make a save when we mess up? Sure, but it doesn't always happen that way. There's no question though that we don't put that [loss] on our goaltender."
It's also been more difficult for Talbot to get into a rhythm because of the roll Kahkonen has been on of late, going 8-1-1 in his past 10 starts.
The one loss Kahkonen had during that stretch came in Winnipeg on Feb. 8, when he stopped 27 of 28 shots in a 2-0 defeat where the Jets added a late empty-net goal.
Over his last 11 games overall, which includes a relief appearance after Talbot left a game early against Montreal because of injury, Kahkonen has a save percentage of nearly .930.
"Obviously, it's not easy to get in a groove when you're flip-flopping every day, but right now, [Kahkonen's] playing really well and I haven't had my best few games. I can't fault the coaches for doing what they're doing," Talbot said. "I'm gonna continue to work on my game, get better in practice and continue to work hard, do what I do and to focus on my next start, whenever that is."
Kahkonen is expected to start on Thursday when the Wild's road trip continues, which could put Talbot back in line to start Saturday, when Minnesota concludes its four-game road trip in Calgary against the Flames, Talbot's former team.
Whenever that next start comes, Evason said he's not concerned about the mentality his first-time All-Star will bring to the crease, reiterating that he has full confidence in Talbot that he'll start to get the bounces he probably deserves soon.
"I'm sure he's not happy," Evason said, "but because he's a professional, because he's so dialed in and he will be and still is, we have full confidence and no concerns over Cam Talbot, that's for sure."