Rookie Josh Robinson earned his second professional shutout Friday night.
There are a number of reasons why he was able to have a stellar night. Athleticism. Solid defensive play in front of him. His phone.
Yes, Robinson's smart phone has become a tool of his trade. A phone app, Coach's Eye, allows Dallas Stars goaltending coach Mike Valley to view Robinson's game film, analyze it and return it to Robinson.
"The wonderful thing about the technology we have today is we are able to do those types of things," Valley said Saturday from Dallas before a game against the San Jose Sharks. "Anything we can do to help these guys stay prepared is what we do. … That app works fantastic."
Valley's primary focus, of course, is the goaltenders on Dallas' roster. But he also tries to communicate with the goalies for the Stars' affiliates: Texas of the AHL and Idaho of the ECHL.
"(Idaho's goalies) are far away, but they're our assets, and our job as coaches is to try to help those guys get to the next level," Valley said. "We don't want them to feel like they're on an island."
Robinson soaks up any feedback he can get, and Steelheads coach Brad Ralph admits his input for the goalies on his roster is limited.
"I push them, but at the same time, I understand that I wasn't a goalie, so I can't really give them the insight that they might need,'' Ralph said.
Still, the amount of time Valley can commit to Robinson is limited. That means Robinson needs to be self-motivated.
One way he does that is sharing notes with fellow goalie Tyler Beskorowany.
"Me and Besko, we talk to each other a lot," Robinson said. "We talk after every game and discuss whether we allowed a bad goal and whether we could have done something differently."
Beskorowany has played 27 games with Idaho this season, but he's currently with Texas of the AHL.
That leaves Robinson with an emergency backup … and a lot of game film to study.
"My first loss of the year against Utah, I noticed I was playing really hesitant. Then I went back and watched my first win against Colorado, and if you put the two side-by-side, there's a huge difference. So you use that,'' he said.
Robinson has had more successes than failures during his rookie campaign. He came into Saturday's 4-3 shootout loss against the San Francisco Bulls with a 20-6-2 record and a .921 save percentage, which ranked third in the league.
"Josh is a phenomenal kid and an extremely hard worker," Valley said. "He's a student of the game."
Said Ralph: "Josh has played very well for us. We're fortunate to have him."
NOTES: Tyler Gron scored twice for Idaho, and Mike Towns scored the third goal in Saturday night's loss. … The game was played before an announced sellout crowd of 5,335.
