Bouncing Back After Losing 3 Games or More in a Row
Image Credit: NHL
One of the unique things about this year’s Stanley Cup Finals, was that over the course of the series, both teams went on a three game winning streak— or losing streak, depending on which side you’re on. In a series as tight as the Finals, it’s unusual for either team to win more than two at a time, but both teams managed to do that and more. From a goaltender’s perspective, it’s easy to lose confidence in your game after you have lost one bad game, not to mention three games in a row.
Stuart Skinner, although relatively consistent in the first 3 games in the series, still found himself and the Oilers in a 3 game hole after the final buzzer rang in Game 3. Instead of folding, he would go on to win the next 3 games straight in a situation where giving up would have been easy and tempting. Winning 3 in a row in a Finals series is close to impossible. Had the Oilers won 4 in a row, they would’ve been just the second team in NHL history to recover from a 3-0 deficit to hoist the Cup.
The eventual Cup winning goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky, lost three series clinching games in a row, sporting tough numbers over that stretch. In Game 4, he was pulled just over 5 minutes into the 2nd period after surrendering 5 goals on just 16 shots. In gave 5, he gave up 4 goals on 23 shots, and 3 on 19 in Game 6.
Each of Bob’s performances in these three games is considered lackluster by any goaltending standards, with his highest save percentage for any one game being .842.
But in Game 7, with everything on the line, Bob put up a different stat line, allowing just 1 goal on 24 shots for a .958 SV%.
Both goalies managed to fight back to win a game, or 3, after facing a difficult three game stretch. How were they able to do that, and what can we learn from such inspiring performances from both goaltenders? How can we rebound after a 3 game or more losing streak? That’s what we will reflect on in this article.
Put it Behind You
Perhaps the most important, but most difficult way to overcome a 3 game losing streak to get back on track, is to put each game behind you completely. In a situation where it seems nothing is going right, it’s easy to carry last game’s outcome with you into the next game.
This can take place in two forms:
Lacking confidence because of a poor result from last game, or
Trying too hard the next game since you didn’t play your best last game.
Whether it is number 1 or 2 that you most struggle with, neither is helpful.
Number 1 is self explanatory— if you feel like you are going to play poorly next game because you didn’t play your best in the previous game, you’re right. If you get scored on early, your mind is immediately going to jump to the thought: “Well it looks like this game won’t go well either, just like last game”, and you will take yourself completely off focus. Even if the next game starts off well, you are not going to trust yourself or your game, so you won’t allow yourself to get into a flow state all game. You will be waiting for something to go wrong, because you are expecting it to. And when you get scored on, the focus you did have will evaporate immediately, because you are expecting things to go wrong before they even do.
Number 2, trying too hard the next game because you didn’t get the outcome you wanted during the previous game, believe it or not, still counts as carrying the previous game’s outcome with you. Why? Because you are allowing last game to affect how you are preparing to play this game. If you are trying too hard next game because you want to “bounce back” from the last game, then that game is still on your mind.
There are plenty of stories of athletes who take bad games personally and seek to bounce back or “get revenge” in the next game. Some of our favorite athletes, like Michael Jordan and Tom Brady come to mind. But there is a difference between us and them— they don’t play goalie. In their respective sports and positions, they have control of the ball and ultimately the game. They can just go out and “try harder”, and probably do well. As goalies, we don’t have the luxury of controlling the game, only reading and reacting to it. So it’s more difficult for us to just go out and “try harder” without getting ourselves out of position or off focus.
Neither lacking confidence nor trying too hard after a bad game are easy to avoid. Even the best goalies in the world do it. In fact, in Games 4-6, we noticed that Bob seemed to be “trying too hard” because he just wanted to win so badly. But it shows that even he was allowing past outcomes, and the potential future outcome of winning the cup, to determine how he was preparing and playing Games 4-6. Even multiple time Vezina Winners, Cup Winners, and future Hall of Famers allow outside circumstances— past games- to affect the next game. Take faith in that.
What is the best way to get back on track after losing 3 in a row, particularly when you don’t feel that you are playing your best over the course of those losses? The first thing you need to do is:
Evaluate the Previous Game in a Positive Lens
Obviously, you want to evaluate each game you play. You want to look at what you did well, where you think you could improve, and then make a plan going forward for how you are going to improve. But when you are thinking about a previous game, it’s easy to be negative towards yourself, feeling that you’re no good, your game is no good, and you’re going to be trash next game too. But you can’t think that way. Evaluate your game with an attitude of positivity. Once you finish your evaluation of the game, move on with a positive mindset excited for next game with full expectation that it will go well. If it doesn’t, repeat the same process. This will get you back on track as quickly as possible.
Mentally Clean and Confident
A crucial point to rebounding after losing a game, or three, or more in a row is to be mentally clean. This means that now that you have evaluated last game, you are done thinking about it. It’s over, and the next game is a completely new and isolated game by itself. This is hard to do, because your previous game will always be included in your stats for this season. Your numbers won’t be as high as they were before. If you are trying to move up to the next level, or you have a goal to maintain certain numbers in general, it’s easy to feel like you have ruined your chances for both all in one game. Just because you move on from that game in your mind doesn’t mean it just leaves the stat sheet, and this is what can make it hard to move on from mentally. You may think “Well I gave up 4 goals on 16 shots last game, so this game I need to give up 0 to balance it out.” All you are doing is placing extra pressure onto yourself, and it’s counterproductive.
Another variable that makes it tough to move on from a loss is that you may feel like you to let your teammates or coaches down last game, and you don’t want to do the same again next game. While this comes from the spot of a good teammate, you cannot worry about this. Go into the next game confident that you will give them a chance to win this next game.
Understand that last game is gone, and even though it reflects on your stats, there is literally nothing you can do to change that game, so the last thing you want to do is compound that game and turn it into a string of losses or bad games.
The most productive path at this point is to move forward. Put that last game behind you, and do not let it affect you in the form of losing confidence, or trying too hard next game. If you do either, you will allow it to snowball into another game where you are not at your best.
Be mentally clean, where you are only focused on your normal preparation and what you need to do this game to play your best. Last game is gone. Digging into it any further at this point will make it worse.
And move forward with a positive attitude and with confidence. If you are putting in the work, even if you are on a string of losses, eventually it will turn around for you. It always does for those doing the work.
After losing three in a row with three tough performances, Bob seemed to be back to himself in Game 7. He was razor sharp.
The day before Game 7, he wasn’t out at Panthers practice, which is something quite unusual for someone with the work ethic he has. His reasoning for missing practice has not been released, but perhaps he was taking a day to clear himself mentally. Whatever he did, it worked. Instead of appearing to be over amped and trying too hard in Game 7, Bob was his usual fast, but composed self. He didn’t appear to be trying to redeem himself after the last 3 games, when everybody on social media said he was falling apart.
He had moved on from the previous games, and he had moved on from focusing on the potential outcome of Game 7- winning the Cup— an outcome that is hard to keep out of mind in such a big game. But Bob’s ability to put the previous games behind him, approach Game 7 completely mentally clean, and do so with confidence, are what allowed him to find his zone for Game 7, and ultimately win the greatest prize in sports.
