Post-Game Talk: Another well deserved loss

[ToneDog]

Wild are a very good team .. better than I realized .. they deserved to win but we got a point from our tender .. and our PP made 4 skilled passes to move tender and then a great skilled shot (it works well every 5 games or so) .. but that type of PP can't be repeated as those passes won't succeed 95% of time and hockey is a game of repeat .. it is why when time and space on puck gets reduced after XMAS and in playoffs even further we fail all da time .. da core 4 take up too much CAP and they can't produce enough when it counts .. Willy is only one of core 4 who can fly and he knows it and so do all other core 3 members which is why he can create separation in playoffs as he has another gear .. if Willy had da heart of a lion he would be best player in league but he doesn't do it consistently

You are wrong, Willie does have da heart of a lion.

 

[Roo]

Wild had 62.2% of the expected goal share, so we kinda were caved in.

Eye test says otherwise. So does the shot total and final score. It was a close game. Go read what Minni posters think of the game. Playoff-like intensity where we were taking it to them at times. I won’t argue with that metric, but it was a close OT loss. A very competitive game and fun to watch. Some leaf fans just get too emotional they get blinded.

 

[IPS]

Aren’t you guys exhausted of watching the same thing over and over again for 9 years now? Lol. 6-5-2 again after 13 games. They arrived at this record differently this year, but still same record non the less. They will probably get hot and solidify a top 3 seed. Playoffs arrive and then what? You think Berube makes a difference there? Leafs brass hope he does, but hope is not a plan.

My interest in the regular season has been hanging on by a thread for a few years now. Even after losses I'm more meh than disappointed.

 

[57special]

Wild fan here. I thought that you guys played a solid game, and dominated in parts, like in the 4 v4 minutes. Your defensive play, and especially goaltending, was vg. MN prevailed towards the end of the game, but that's what you get when you are playing at home against an opponent who played the day before, and had to travel.

Your PP will get untracked, with the talent you have. I don't know what your PK is like normally, but it was vg yesterday.

3 v 3... eh, it's a weird animal. I was pretty shocked at how fast the 35 yo, post hip surgery Spurgeon skated to negate the chance, but in general, you take the point every time considering the circumstances, right?

I do think that Berube will be good for you. He will make you a tougher team that will play D. As long as you can score on the PP, then you will be able be effective.

For reference, I have watched the Leafs play for a long time. Tim Horton and Bobby Baun were two of my favorite players as a kid. Still remember Keon, Sittler and that crowd, Vaive, Clark, and the Gilmour and Sundin years.

 

[leafs in five]

Not sure what the numbers were but didn't think Timmins was too bad.
Nylander is Nylander, plays a few great shifts a period then is disinterested the rest of the time.
Be interesting to see how long Berube puts up with it.

Nylander was at 6.88 xGF% in 14 5v5 mins
3 shots for 11 shots against
2 scoring chances for 11 against

again the numbers aren't everything or close to it

 

[ULF_55]

Some are acting as if the sky is falling. There are games you can use as a barometer for this to be true, last nights game wasn't one of them.

It was a back to back game, on the road, they lost 2-1 to a team that is firing on all cylinders and had a 7-1 record.

Leafs scored on the PP and killed a double minor and lose in the O.T gimmick.

The greater challenges still exist and probably will until and IF they grab different personnel (Leaf ownership has always placed profits over Cup success. The irony of course, is that the value of the team would go up far more along with the revenue if Leafs ever did win a Cup but I digress).

This game isn't the measuring stick that can be fairly applied under the circumstances.

I thought they played a decent game.

The overtime loss was just amusing.

First two lines actually made it through their shifts without Matthews giving it away. That is progress.

 

[egd27]

Am I the only one just not that upset? IDK, maybe the team broke me a while back. I've been just having the games on and half watching this week.

I also know they typically get hot mid Nov, but even still. This team has made these games really meaningless. Can't even have fun when you get a win because it doesn't really matter.

I'm not upset, I'm barely watching full games so far this season out of apathy.

 

[weems]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1853418590105469294

 

[Dekes For Days]

Eye test says otherwise. So does the shot total and final score. It was a close game. Go read what Minni posters think of the game. Playoff-like intensity where we were taking it to them at times. I won’t argue with that metric, but it was a close OT loss. A very competitive game and fun to watch. Some leaf fans just get too emotional they get blinded.

I agree that some get too emotional about the results of any particular game, and this game isn't the end of the world (especially with it being the second half of a back to back), but it matches the eye test. Stolarz made a number of big saves, and we really struggled through portions of the game. Properly evaluating skater performance apart from the goalie is a pretty universal struggle, so I'm not surprised that some Minnesota posters feel that way.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1853418590105469294

This just confirms they are getting beat because of special teams.

Savard better get his shit together soon. If they aren't in a playoffs position by American Thanksgiving he needs to be fired. They can't take the chance of having the team tank because of special teams.

I don't need the rest of the season to see Savard make even more questionable decisions in deployment and execution to know he's not a good coach.

 

[Jojalu]

I guess that means we weren’t caved in, shocker.

I think a lot of folks confuse effort with execution. Coaches know when players don’t give a shit. That wasn’t this game. It was a hard earned point. The Leafs were in it and working hard, but their execution frankly wasn’t as good as the Wild.

Not hard to see this is a very different team. Last year our PP carried us much of the season, our goaltending was shite, and 5-on-5 wasn’t our strength. I’ll take this leafs team any day over last years. We have a quality goalie that we can rely on, our PP is garbage, but we excel 5-on-5. Special teams will improve, and so will our overall execution. Matthews will get hot, we’ll start scoring more, and the win streaks will come. Only the playoffs matter in the end.

I couldn't agree more on your effort vs. execution eval. I really don't see this lack of effort in every loss.

I do see an inability to adapt when the effort is not producing results. Sometimes you need to work smart. Matthews struggling getting his shot to go in, just go to the net and try and use your size and hands to create a rebound goal..

 

[1specter]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1853418590105469294

I do believe the system Berube uses is more conducive to playoff success, however I'm not sure this current mix of players can effectively execute on it.

 

[weems]

I do believe the system Berube uses is more conducive to playoff success, however I'm not sure this current mix of players can effectively execute on it.

I do agree and I'm also not entirely sold on this core but I do think this post at least shows that we're actually playing pretty decent hockey 5v5 but our special teams, especially our PP has really sunk us so far.

 

[Torontonian]

This just confirms they are getting beat because of special teams.

Savard better get his shit together soon. If they aren't in a playoffs position by American Thanksgiving he needs to be fired. They can't take the chance of having the team tank because of special teams.

I don't need the rest of the season to see Savard make even more questionable decisions in deployment and execution to know he's not a good coach.

They are literally losing games and sit 6-5-2 because of there powerplay.

PK = 9th in the NHL @ 84.3% with 44 pens taken (3rd highest in the NHL).
PP = 24th in the NHL @ 10% with 40 PP chances (8th most powerplay chances in the NHL)

24/25
GF%: 60.39 (5th)
SF%: 52.84 (8th)
CF%: 52.42 (9th)
xGF%: 52.6 (10th)

They are playing a better brand of hockey 5 on 5 then they did with Keefe, and better brand of hockey defensively (mainly because of personal). But there PP running at 10% (It was 8.4 before that goal against the Wild), is the sole reason they are off to a mediocre start.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

They are literally losing games and sit 6-5-2 because of there powerplay.

PK = 9th in the NHL @ 84.3% with 44 pens taken (3rd highest in the NHL).
PP = 24th in the NHL @ 10% with 40 PP chances (8th most powerplay chances in the NHL)

24/25
GF%: 60.39 (5th)
SF%: 52.84 (8th)
CF%: 52.42 (9th)
xGF%: 52.6 (10th)

They are playing a better brand of hockey 5 on 5 then they did with Keefe, and better brand of hockey defensively (mainly because of personal). But there PP running at 10% (It was 8.4 before that goal against the Wild), is the sole reason they are off to a mediocre start.

Marner is screwing the whole thing up because his shot isn't very good and he isn't physical enough for the bumper or net front.

Rielly QB with Matthews and Nylander on their offwings, Knies net front, and Tavares bumper. That makes the most sense to me. Back to basics just looking to set up for one timers from the three forwards in the slot.

They keep changing things and screwing around trying to fix it and instead keep making it worse.

 

[Torontonian]

Marner is screwing the whole thing up because his shot isn't very good and he isn't physical enough for the bumper or net front.

Rielly QB with Matthews and Nylander on their offwings, Knies net front, and Tavares bumper. That makes the most sense to me. Back to basics just looking to set up for one timers from the three forwards in the slot.

They keep changing things and screwing around trying to fix it and instead keep making it worse.

I disagree. Marner should be in the bumper slot for high tips and making plays. Knies in front of the net, Nylander and Matthews on the flanks and OEL on the point because he can actually shoot it.

Marner is the perfect distributor and play maker, and for what ever reason, coaching has decided Marner is the guy to work the shot too when the other team cheats and takes away Matthews ice.

 

[darrylsittler27]

I'm sorry they hurt you. Do you need a place to talk to someone?

Alas my maid doesn't speak English and has something else in her mouth right now.

 

[Budz]

Obviously didn't like the outcome but I thought it was a pretty entertaining game.

Same record as last year.

Way better team this year.

 

[DarkKnight]

I do agree and I'm also not entirely sold on this core but I do think this post at least shows that we're actually playing pretty decent hockey 5v5 but our special teams, especially our PP has really sunk us so far.

Even if our PP was mid pack, we’d have a couple more wins and nobody would be complaining. I still contend our system looks improved and can be a better fit come playoffs, especially in this hard nosed division.

 

[HockeyVirus]

I'm not upset, I'm barely watching full games so far this season out of apathy.

Between that and the broadcasts being on god knows what each night and me having to find pirate streams with low quality, my give a shit meter is running low.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

I disagree. Marner should be in the bumper slot for high tips and making plays. Knies in front of the net, Nylander and Matthews on the flanks and OEL on the point because he can actually shoot it.

Marner is the perfect distributor and play maker, and for what ever reason, coaching has decided Marner is the guy to work the shot too when the other team cheats and takes away Matthews ice.

OEL in for Rielly is a credible substitute to try something different too.

Once teams start to respect his shot that could open up some room down low. I'm not convinced Marner would do well in the bumper. They've tried him there before and it's never lasted.

They resorted to having him QB against the Blues seemingly because they didn't know where else to put him.

Edit: Or it might have been the other game this weekend. Either way, it looked like an act of desperation.

 

[weems]

Even if our PP was mid pack, we’d have a couple more wins and nobody would be complaining. I still contend our system looks improved and can be a better fit come playoffs, especially in this hard nosed division.

There are literally teams with 10+ more goals on the powerplay than us.

You could easily argue we should have anywhere from 5-8 more goals and who knows how many points that could have gotten us.

 

[darrylsittler27]

Funny reading the Wild GDT and most there feel their goalie stole the points for them last night.

Yes but it's funny how the Leafs continually lose due to hot goalies.

 

[Jojalu]

Remember missing the playoffs last game of season when the Devils/Islanders used their backup and lost knocking Leafs out?

I think missed by 1 point.

It was the Devils right?

Correct. They rested Brodeur and lost in the shootout.

After that Sat night big win against Montreal

 

[darrylsittler27]

This just confirms they are getting beat because of special teams.

Savard better get his shit together soon. If they aren't in a playoffs position by American Thanksgiving he needs to be fired. They can't take the chance of having the team tank because of special teams.

I don't need the rest of the season to see Savard make even more questionable decisions in deployment and execution to know he's not a good coach.

That's the Leafs they refuse to fire guys they should and would rather let the team lose. This speaks to a lack of commitment to winning and it's ignorant. Keefe and Shanny should have been fired long ago. They always wait until it's beyond annoying to the fans.