Post-Game Talk: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Leafs up 2-0! Win 4-3 Game 2

[Lightsol]

Just watching Jonathan Davis on By the Books, he’s saying the Stanley Cup finalist will come from the winner of the Leafs-Panthers and he says the best team in the East are the Leafs. People are taking notice.

No surprise given this team’s outstanding defence in this series. They just make it tough for teams to get shots through. The team is finally playing playoff hockey. They’ve always had the skill, but rarely competed in puck battles like they are now. They are a dangerous team off the rush.

I like how every game Sportsnet talks about blocked shots and acts shocked that the Leafs are blocking so many... They lead the f***ing league in blocked shots, and you're shocked they're leading the playoffs too?

Then again, it wrecks the "Leafs won't do what it takes to win" narrative they like to fall back on.

 

[Lightsol]

My take on that was MAYBE he was staying down/crying on the ice trying to get a 5 minute which MAYBE counts as embellishment.

I think it was the way he threw himself to the ice after the hit. He flew backwards a good foot.

 

[authentic]

I like how every game Sportsnet talks about blocked shots and acts shocked that the Leafs are blocking so many... They lead the f***ing league in blocked shots, and you're shocked they're leading the playoffs too?

Then again, it wrecks the "Leafs won't do what it takes to win" narrative they like to fall back on.

Haven’t they been blocking a ton of shots for years now in the playoffs?

 

[mix1home]

Bobs been dogshit. Leafs need to play better. This series is going to get tougher.

1.25 expected goals? Really? That is very subjective crap. Leafs had like 5 odd man rushes, few tips (one on pp goal) and screened Bob hard (on Marner goal of course, but on Carlo shot as well where Bob mad spectacular save).
I think this is the biggest punch Florida can master. Something is not quite right with them, injuries might be.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Love da serenading of Bobbo last night .. well done Scotia .. Berube is da real deal .. we got tilted in da 1st period and Berube made da necessary matchups adjustments to start 2nd and we tilted them da rest of da game .. well deserved win .. da better team won .. absolutely outstanding efforts from Tanev, Laughton and Patch .. and honorable mentions to Willy and Woll .. but what a team effort .. if we ever got some real hard work from Matty and Mitch we would win much easier .. those 2 guys were a disappointment .. caved by virtually every line they played against last night .. we basically won in spite of crappy games from Matty and Mitch .. and Matty is close to unplayable which is hard for me to say .. he is our freakin captain and to play like last night was a huge letdown for me

 

[MCR74]

I like how every game Sportsnet talks about blocked shots and acts shocked that the Leafs are blocking so many... They lead the f***ing league in blocked shots, and you're shocked they're leading the playoffs too?

Then again, it wrecks the "Leafs won't do what it takes to win" narrative they like to fall back on.

Sportsnet has to do something now that the Sens are out.

 

[1specter]

Bobs been dogshit. Leafs need to play better. This series is going to get tougher.

Getting really tired of talking about expected goals. End of the day, the Leafs have scored 3+ goals in every single game so far except for game 5 of the Ottawa series which was a one-off bad performance. Remember when Keefe's Leafs would frequently have higher expected goals and top out the 'Deserve to Win o Meter' every time but get goalied and struggle to score more than 2 goals? This is also with a compromised Matthews who isn't scoring at all and playoff Mitch Marner who is lucky to get one goal per series. It's also very clear that teams don't really use corsi or expected goals as meaningful stats to them anymore as there are other ways to win that don't revolve around having constant possession of the puck like Carolina, just look at the 2018 Capitals or 2019 Blues (who Berube coached no less) for good examples.

There are also stats we are not privy to, like the ones Sportsnet shares from SportLogiq, which focus on things like slot chances, cycle time / chances etc which paint the Leafs in a much better light. We are focusing on winning the slot battle against Florida, which we have done a good job at.

 

[1specter]

Rielly’s still the weak link, that problem isn’t going anywhere……..

Rielly is basically playing the Montour role, which is fine. You need some production from the back end and he's done a good job providing that, with 6 pts in 8 games including 3 goals. This is also without PP1 time. He has more playoff goals than Mitch Marner in the same number of career playoff games.

 

[Fogelhund]

Rielly is basically playing the Montour role, which is fine. You need some production from the back end and he's done a good job providing that, with 6 pts in 8 games including 3 goals. This is also without PP1 time. He has more playoff goals than Mitch Marner in the same number of career playoff games.

Rielly is third in scoring for D in the playoffs.

 

[Hellcat]

1.25 expected goals? Really? That is very subjective crap. Leafs had like 5 odd man rushes, few tips (one on pp goal) and screened Bob hard (on Marner goal of course, but on Carlo shot as well where Bob mad spectacular save).
I think this is the biggest punch Florida can master. Something is not quite right with them, injuries might be.

They lost two games by one goal each, on the road, they were not that bad. That is two breaks away from OT in both games. Your theory will be tested out in Sunrise

With that said Toronto has yet to click on the PP and they are giving up too much on the PK, so life could get worse for the Cats.

 

[mikeyz]

Our little brother is starting to have faith in us now. LOL

 

[rumman]

True he's still scary defensively. I think Carlo has been a hugs addition and made that pairing pretty decent. MO also has 3 goals and 3 assists in 8 playoff games and is a plus 3 so he can still contribute on O, which backs up the other teams a bit..

Every time he handles the puck in the D zone it’s a crapshoot on what dumb play he might try…….

 

[ZEBROA]

At least win one game on the road. If so i prefer them to lose the first win next going back with some momentum.

 

[Contenderorpretender]

Can't lose when the vibes are this high.

Easily better than dartman

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Our little brother is starting to have faith in us now. LOL

"Basically pushed them to the brink" is doing a lot of work there.

 

[rumman]

"Wolls-y"

Gotta love hockey players but they honestly come up with the absolute lamest nicknames for teammates.

For 90% of them it's literally add a "-y" to a short last/first name or drop the last syllable and add an "s".

Burns-y
Matt-y
Morg-s
Mitch-y

Their too busy counting their Benjamin’s to devote serious time to create proper nicknames, easier just to add a sie onto whatever name…..

 

[AvroArrow]

Getting really tired of talking about expected goals. End of the day, the Leafs have scored 3+ goals in every single game so far except for game 5 of the Ottawa series which was a one-off bad performance. Remember when Keefe's Leafs would frequently have higher expected goals and top out the 'Deserve to Win o Meter' every time but get goalied and struggle to score more than 2 goals? This is also with a compromised Matthews who isn't scoring at all and playoff Mitch Marner who is lucky to get one goal per series. It's also very clear that teams don't really use corsi or expected goals as meaningful stats to them anymore as there are other ways to win that don't revolve around having constant possession of the puck like Carolina, just look at the 2018 Capitals or 2019 Blues (who Berube coached no less) for good examples.

There are also stats we are not privy to, like the ones Sportsnet shares from SportLogiq, which focus on things like slot chances, cycle time / chances etc which paint the Leafs in a much better light. We are focusing on winning the slot battle against Florida, which we have done a good job at.

It's clowns like Mirtle and Siegel that continue to talk about advanced stats and expected goals and these useless advanced stats. They're garbage statistics, it's fairly simple they try and complicate it and feminize it too much.

Watch the game, see the guys who compete and battle hard and push the pace. Guys who routinely make good plays and passes under pressure, guys who are physical, guys who always getting themselves into a good position, whether its defence or offence, faceoffs, special teams etc.

It's the guys with the same mindset as Dubas who push these garbage made up stats.

 

[Cecithepylon]

Every win after win 5

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

I really like Rielly and think he often gets a raw deal, though yes this has been a down year, and I didn't expect these numbers at all. Damn. Playoff Rielly is a real thing.

The great thing is that we used to ONLY have playoff Reilly and not much else except for Willy. Now we have a few gamers like Domi and Patches to add to the mix.

 

[Zybalto]

Rielly is third in scoring for D in the playoffs.

Since the start of the 2023 playoffs and rankings for dmen (min 300 min played, 69 dmen total):
Goals/60: 2nd in the playoffs
Points/60: 4th in the playoffs
5v5 goal differential: 2nd in the playoffs

Rielly has some wild moments out there but seems criminally underrated as a playoff performer.

 

[seventieslord]

I’m at the table with you happily eating my humble pie on Tanev.

I wasn’t enthusiastic on the signing, thinking he was too old, too much mileage, and too long term.

Happy to sit down and eat my crow on him.

He’s amazing and he knows how to win.

If only we had signed him 5 years ago instead of Brodie..,,,,

How about both? Brodie was another 98-100% defensive player in his first three years here.

 

[seventieslord]

McMann may be the biggest disappointment. Jarnkrok produces nothing but he works hard.

Matthews, Marner and Tavares need to hit the score sheet more often. Tavares now 4 straight games without a point while his linemates are tearing it up.

Quoting for emphasis. It's mind boggling that this guy has 5 goals and 18 assists in 101 playoff games.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

I’m thinking the shorter term on his deal will be a blessing in disguise, no way he’s earning that contract imo…….

I agree. Given his injury history a longer-term deal might actually have benefitted him more than the team this time.

Right now, our window corresponds to the years remaining on his contract and the years remaining in Tanev's body IMO, or whichever is fewer that is.

 

[1specter]

I’m at the table with you happily eating my humble pie on Tanev.

I wasn’t enthusiastic on the signing, thinking he was too old, too much mileage, and too long term.

Happy to sit down and eat my crow on him.

He’s amazing and he knows how to win.

If only we had signed him 5 years ago instead of Brodie..,,,,

In fairness to Brodie, he was really good his first 3 seasons here even though he was playing his off-hand side. We needed more d-men like him and Tanev.

 

[1specter]

McMann may be the biggest disappointment. Jarnkrok produces nothing but he works hard.

Matthews, Marner and Tavares need to hit the score sheet more often. Tavares now 4 straight games without a point while his linemates are tearing it up.

Tavares had a really great start where I would argue he was the Leafs best player through the first 4 games of the Ottawa series. Since then he has been quiet, he did play well in game 6 but wasn't rewarded unfortunately. Against Florida he has looked pretty mediocre though.