Robin Lehner on media after shootout loss: ‘The negativity's overwhelming'

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Blackhawks goalie Robin Lehner garnered attention Sunday night when he authored the following chain on Twitter about shootouts:

Lehner, who is 16-for-43 in stopping shooters in his past 15 shootouts, later replied to some Twitter users who engaged with his tweets. 

"I honestly see what the guys [on] Twitter will have to say," the 2019 Vezina trophy finalist said following Monday's practice. "I actually got some good ones. It was a Harvard Study sent [to] me yesterday on shootouts. I looked – that was interesting. Just kind of liven it up a little bit. But it's incredibly annoying. 

"You know we went head-to-head against one of the best teams in the league last game (2-1 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars at Dallas on Saturday). What are they, 10-1 last 11 games? [Joe] Pavelski, Corey Perry, [Jamie] Benn, Tyler [Seguin], [John] Klingberg, [Ben] Bishop, [Anton] Khudobin – all these guys. 

"We lose that game and all the headlines – DeBrincat can't buy a goal; Robin can't stop a shootout; we can't get a call. The negativity's overwhelming. I think we've been playing a little bit up and down, but we're getting better and we're in the race. 

"We played a great game against one of the better teams; we lost in the lottery. And then it turns all negative. It's what it is. We believe in each other in here. Just wanted to see what all the good guys have to say."

The netminder clarified he wasn't speaking about hockey fans, but the media.

"Yeah, I'm not talking about the fans," Lehner said. "Fans can [have] whatever opinion they want. They pay, come to watch. It's unfortunate sometimes how the game works, but it's just how it is. 

"I'm not a flashy goalie. I don't make the super saves. I don't flash my glove. I don't flash my blocker. Same with Corey [Crawford], quite honest. Corey plays a very structured, simple, very well-structured, good game. 

"I've said I think he's been one of the most underrated goalies in the league for 10 years. But again, goalies that are not very good and flashes their saves all the time, are out of position, they get a lot of love. It's the same thing for [a] shootout."

Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton was asked Monday if he agreed with Lehner on media coverage being too negative after a loss.

"I mean, that's the world we live in, right? If we won then it would have been a totally different narrative, but that can't affect how we go about our business. 

"We've got to come to the rink in the same way and I don't think today would have gone any different for the team how we practiced, what we talked about, whether we got that extra point or not. We just got to have a good performance tomorrow."

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