Post-Game Talk: Devils @ Leafs

[Gary Nylund]

Yes. My wife was talking mad shit to me when we went down early. Then we started coming back and every goal I was like "getting nervous yet?" lol.

Then in the 3rd period like 10 min left shes like nah you lost and I was like "IDK if we get 1 more then they pull the goalie, might happen". Matthews ices it with a minute left and I literally did a happy dance.

Half of it was happy to not do laundry, half of it was just beating your spouse at a bet is fun lol

Watching with my stepson Saturday, we're down 3-1 and he says we're gonna win 6-3. Then later in the 3rd period we're down 4-2 and he revises his prediction to us winning 7-4. Then later, we're both laughing our asses off when that final EN goal slides into the net. Fun times!

 

[ACC1224]

where's @Coachcorner with todays Pre Game thread?

 

[glue]

where's @Coachcorner with todays Pre Game thread?

It should be a hell of a Gezame

 

[Zybalto]

My favourite team over the last 50 years was the 93 team. That team had some talent, not as much as the current team but they played their assess off, stood up for each other and went much further in the playoffs then this group has. Were it not for the ref dropping the ball, they might even have won the cup.

I loved that team too.

Got a Potvin jersey hanging in my closet. (Maybe why I'm so hard on the level of "anti-clutch" in big games our goalkeeping has provided us. Can't get those big Gilmour moments if your goalie cant make the big save before hand)

 

[ACC1224]

It should be a hell of a Gezame

Damn, forgot how to pronounce that.

I expect a better, more responsible effort tonight.

 

[Gallagbi]

NHL Strength of Schedule Rankings

Fun look at the strength of schedule the rest of the way.

Leafs dont fare too badly. Most of the fun will come right at the end when all the top Atlantic teams face each other.

Pitts and NYI are both really interesting on that chart for their relatively large swings and where they sit currently. Cool chart

 

[Coachcorner]

It should be a hell of a Gezame

I'm bout that sisires and this gon be ONE hell of a gezame y'all heard me! We might score 6, again. Again and again. Even more. We that hard, and now with the heart too. Now that's hard.

 

[Zybalto]

Again, no complaints with Kerfoot, I just think that saying that Seattle chose the wrong player is a little unfair given their relative situations.

I actually think both teams made out fine with what they wanted.

Seeing as the Leafs have the top PP in the league and Kerfoot is doing his job, we're fine and I think McCann is certainly not the problem in Seattle but one of the bright spots really.

 

[ACC1224]

I actually think both teams made out fine with what they wanted.

Seeing as the Leafs have the top PP in the league and Kerfoot is doing his job, we're fine and I think McCann is certainly not the problem in Seattle but one of the bright spots really.

This, 100%.

 

[DutchHockeyGuy]

This is the first Leafs-game in a long time I have not watched in full. The ESPN-streaming-service here does not list the game at all. So only watched the highlights. Loved the empty netters lately.

This month I have barely been able to watch the Leafs-broadcast. A number of times only the American teams' coverage would be offered or the TNT one. Has been a bit of a mixed bag. Really liked the St. Louis team and TNT does a very good job too. I miss Chris Cuthbert though. Like his voice.

 

[therealkoho]

Here's a thought; Leafs outplay the other team, build a lead, blow the lead, recover and come back and win. Leafs start flat fall behind and keep falling, just when it seems like a done deal the team suddenly turns it on forcing themselves on the opponent fighting through checks and winning all races and puck battles then coming back to win.

Leafs couldn't do these things last year or the year before, but they're doing them now. They're leaning how to win in all situations, they're learning what it takes to win, what sacrifices they have to mak in order to overcome adversity, when and when not to take chances

back in the day the Islanders use to blow through the regular season and then fall flat on their faces in the playoffs, Al Arbour finally started holding them back during the regular season and playing very conservatively, trying 2-1-2s and 1-2-2s and 3-2s and 2-3s .....the W's came regularly but so did the L's, at around mid-Feb Arbour would settle into regular line combo's and D pairings and play the 1-2-2 with Trottier's line, Tonelli's, Bourne's or Merricks lines would play the 2-1-2 Goring's line would play the 1-1-3. It helped immensely that the defense included Denis Potvin one of the top 5 Dmen of all time, but Arbour would hold the reins tight over the first 45 games lot's of practicing honing them razor sharp and molding them into a cohesive unit.

Sather tried the same thing with the Oilers, but at first they resisted him and they ran wild all season. By the time the playoffs rolled around they had empty tanks, after they faced the Islanders in the finals the first time and got their hats handed to them the players finally understood what it really takes to win and that no matter how you cut it is discipline, sticking to the system, the physicality needed along with the will to engage and win all battles.

Neither of those teams I used as an example had a Dryden, Brodeur, or a Plante betwqeen the pipes, all-star types who could win games completely on their own! Both of those teams had average goaltenders, tandems really, who could make the save that kept them in games, the save that maybe changed a games momentum, the save that preserved a lead and so on!

Hopefully the Leafs have that this year, when Keefe switched up the lines and made a big deal about it the Leafs responded with a dominating territorial performance because they played the system Keefe has taught them. Falling behind early and there was no panic, losing a lead and they didn't panic, they just stuck to the system and revved up their motors got a little bit physical and took the game back when they needed to.

I think I like it

 

[Gary Nylund]

I loved that team too.

Got a Potvin jersey hanging in my closet. (Maybe why I'm so hard on the level of "anti-clutch" in big games our goalkeeping has provided us. Can't get those big Gilmour moments if your goalie cant make the big save before hand)

Yeah yeah, goaltending. I don't care that much about stats but my guess is that Potvin's stats were not as good as Andersen's when we lost to CLB in the playoffs. And just for fun, I did look up the numbers just now to see how many goals we scored in game 7's that year. 4 against Detroit, 6 against STL and 4 in a losing effort against Gretzky's Kings. 14 goals in 3 games, wow! Or to put it another way, we scored more goals in each and every game 7 then the current edition of the Leafs has scored in the last 3 game 7's put together (calling the CLB game 5 game 7, as per your request from a few days ago).

We have a good team but we need to find a way of not falling on our faces in game 7's.

 

[fahad203]

Here's a thought; Leafs outplay the other team, build a lead, blow the lead, recover and come back and win. Leafs start flat fall behind and keep falling, just when it seems like a done deal the team suddenly turns it on forcing themselves on the opponent fighting through checks and winning all races and puck battles then coming back to win.

Leafs couldn't do these things last year or the year before, but they're doing them now. They're leaning how to win in all situations, they're learning what it takes to win, what sacrifices they have to mak in order to overcome adversity, when and when not to take chances

back in the day the Islanders use to blow through the regular season and then fall flat on their faces in the playoffs, Al Arbour finally started holding them back during the regular season and playing very conservatively, trying 2-1-2s and 1-2-2s and 3-2s and 2-3s .....the W's came regularly but so did the L's, at around mid-Feb Arbour would settle into regular line combo's and D pairings and play the 1-2-2 with Trottier's line, Tonelli's, Bourne's or Merricks lines would play the 2-1-2 Goring's line would play the 1-1-3. It helped immensely that the defense included Denis Potvin one of the top 5 Dmen of all time, but Arbour would hold the reins tight over the first 45 games lot's of practicing honing them razor sharp and molding them into a cohesive unit.

Sather tried the same thing with the Oilers, but at first they resisted him and they ran wild all season. By the time the playoffs rolled around they had empty tanks, after they faced the Islanders in the finals the first time and got their hats handed to them the players finally understood what it really takes to win and that no matter how you cut it is discipline, sticking to the system, the physicality needed along with the will to engage and win all battles.

Neither of those teams I used as an example had a Dryden, Brodeur, or a Plante betwqeen the pipes, all-star types who could win games completely on their own! Both of those teams had average goaltenders, tandems really, who could make the save that kept them in games, the save that maybe changed a games momentum, the save that preserved a lead and so on!

Hopefully the Leafs have that this year, when Keefe switched up the lines and made a big deal about it the Leafs responded with a dominating territorial performance because they played the system Keefe has taught them. Falling behind early and there was no panic, losing a lead and they didn't panic, they just stuck to the system and revved up their motors got a little bit physical and took the game back when they needed to.

I think I like it

Leafs didn't out play any teams last week. They were badly outplayed first 2 periods against Detroit and first period agains NJ
They also made a heck of a comeback against Columbus few years ago. So we can once in a while can comeback, only to falter when the game really matters

They made a lot of comebacks actually. Mostly thanks to Matthews in many nights. More to do with our goal scorers than actually outworking team

Also Detroit leads the league in 3rd period blowouts. NJ is just garbage against a 3rd string goalie
It's not like we came back against Tampa or Florida back to back nights

 

[fahad203]

Yeah yeah, goaltending. I don't care that much about stats but my guess is that Potvin's stats were not as good as Andersen's when we lost to CLB in the playoffs. And just for fun, I did look up the numbers just now to see how many goals we scored in game 7's that year. 4 against Detroit, 6 against STL and 4 in a losing effort against Gretzky's Kings. 14 goals in 3 games, wow! Or to put it another way, we scored more goals in each and every game 7 then the current edition of the Leafs has scored in the last 3 game 7's put together (calling the CLB game 5 game 7, as per your request from a few days ago).

We have a good team but we need to find a way of not falling on our faces in game 7's.

Not just game 7s. any big games
Few years ago we had chance to close down Boston in game 6, didn't do jack

Every time we have to show up in a big game, we have managed to falter.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Here's a thought; Leafs outplay the other team, build a lead, blow the lead, recover and come back and win. Leafs start flat fall behind and keep falling, just when it seems like a done deal the team suddenly turns it on forcing themselves on the opponent fighting through checks and winning all races and puck battles then coming back to win.

Leafs couldn't do these things last year or the year before, but they're doing them now. They're leaning how to win in all situations, they're learning what it takes to win, what sacrifices they have to mak in order to overcome adversity, when and when not to take chances

back in the day the Islanders use to blow through the regular season and then fall flat on their faces in the playoffs, Al Arbour finally started holding them back during the regular season and playing very conservatively, trying 2-1-2s and 1-2-2s and 3-2s and 2-3s .....the W's came regularly but so did the L's, at around mid-Feb Arbour would settle into regular line combo's and D pairings and play the 1-2-2 with Trottier's line, Tonelli's, Bourne's or Merricks lines would play the 2-1-2 Goring's line would play the 1-1-3. It helped immensely that the defense included Denis Potvin one of the top 5 Dmen of all time, but Arbour would hold the reins tight over the first 45 games lot's of practicing honing them razor sharp and molding them into a cohesive unit.

Sather tried the same thing with the Oilers, but at first they resisted him and they ran wild all season. By the time the playoffs rolled around they had empty tanks, after they faced the Islanders in the finals the first time and got their hats handed to them the players finally understood what it really takes to win and that no matter how you cut it is discipline, sticking to the system, the physicality needed along with the will to engage and win all battles.

Neither of those teams I used as an example had a Dryden, Brodeur, or a Plante betwqeen the pipes, all-star types who could win games completely on their own! Both of those teams had average goaltenders, tandems really, who could make the save that kept them in games, the save that maybe changed a games momentum, the save that preserved a lead and so on!

Hopefully the Leafs have that this year, when Keefe switched up the lines and made a big deal about it the Leafs responded with a dominating territorial performance because they played the system Keefe has taught them. Falling behind early and there was no panic, losing a lead and they didn't panic, they just stuck to the system and revved up their motors got a little bit physical and took the game back when they needed to.

I think I like it

I remember Billy Smith and Grant Furh both being really good goalies but whatever, I agree with the rest. I remember the 1st game of the final the year EDM finally beat NYI so well, it was one of the best games I've ever seen. NYI had won 4 cups in a row and you could just feel the tension in game 1, they were giving it all they had, they knew EDM was coming, it was only a matter of time and their only hope to win one last title was to win that 1st game. What an incredible game that was, an epic battle with EDM finally breaking through for one goal which was all it took, 1-0 was the final score and the series was basically over. They won the next one at home but then basically got blown out 3 in a row in EDM. But absolutely EDM learned from NYI what it takes to win. And of course there was the famous story of 99 visiting the NYI dressing room after losing the year before, seeing how gassed they were and realizing that they didn't work quite as hard as they thought they did. Maybe our guys should visit the winning dressing room after losing in the playoffs but I digress ...

 

[Gary Nylund]

Leafs didn't out play any teams last week. They were badly outplayed first 2 periods against Detroit and first period agains NJ
They also made a heck of a comeback against Columbus few years ago. So we can once in a while can comeback, only to falter when the game really matters

They made a lot of comebacks actually. Mostly thanks to Matthews in many nights. More to do with our goal scorers than actually outworking team

Also Detroit leads the league in 3rd period blowouts. NJ is just garbage against a 3rd string goalie
It's not like we came back against Tampa or Florida back to back nights

So true. We have so much offensive talent that we can do that quite a bit during the regular season but that simply does not work in the playoffs, anyone following this team should know that by now.

Not just game 7s. any big games
Few years ago we had chance to close down Boston in game 6, didn't do jack

Every time we have to show up in a big game, we have managed to falter.

Exactly this. No matter how much some people don't want to fact the facts, those are the facts. I sure hope it changes this year but it's not gonna be easy, that's for damn sure.

 

[Dekes For Days]

We all know your MO - when the stats support your POV, then you say the stats never lie but when they don't support your POV, then you say the stats "lack context".

The only one here who throws away stats because they don't agree with their POV is you, as seen in this very thread. My positions usually align quite closely with the stats, because I utilize valuable information and data to help inform my position.

Stats don't lie, but human eyes and brains do all the time, especially if one has an emotional attachment to the subject matter. And that's without even getting into the fact that you're only watching a fraction of the overall games, and the ones you do watch are heavily focused on one team.

Of course, just because stats don't lie, that doesn't mean that it's impossible for somebody to not understand a stat, or for somebody to interpret a stat wrong, or for somebody to miss important context and draw incorrect conclusions from a stat. But the answer to that is more information and data to paint a clearer picture, not less.

And if all the data is pointing in one direction opposite your position, you might want to entertain the thought that you may be wrong, or at the very least give some consideration to the cause of the discrepancy, instead of just instantly concluding that the stats are liars.

I know you love to denigrate the fan base as if they're mostly idiots and you are somehow smarter and are here to teach us but this is complete crap.

Nope, it's absolutely true, and it has nothing to do with "denigrating" the fanbase. It's a natural occurrence when so much more focus is put on one team. But when we feel the panic meter rising, it's important to take a step back, look around the league, and remind ourselves how common certain things actually are, from even the best teams.

 

[Gary Nylund]

The only one here who throws away stats because they don't agree with their POV is you, as seen in this very thread. My positions usually align quite closely with the stats, because I utilize valuable information and data to help inform my position.

Nope, it's absolutely true, and it has nothing to do with "denigrating" the fanbase. It's a natural occurrence when so much more focus is put on one team. But when we feel the panic meter rising, it's important to take a step back, look around the league, and remind ourselves how common certain things actually are, from even the best teams.

Re. the bolded - that's 100% false. You're the one who can't accept the fact that we always get humiliated in game 7 because it doesn't agree with our opinion that we're "one of the best teams in the league". You answer to that is to call them "contextless losses", as if getting outscored 15-2 in out last 10 game 7 periods requires context to understand that it's abject failure. I have no doubt your response will be several hundred words and several dozen stats but I've seen it before and it's so much lipstick on a pig so perhaps just save yourself the trouble for once why dontcha.


Re. the other bolded - you very often say things like "most fans don't understand" - it you don't get that that's denigrating, then you lack self-awareness my friend. Think about it.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Re. the bolded - that's 100% false.

You literally did it today in this thread... Like a page ago...

You're the one who can't accept the fact that we always get humiliated in game 7 because it doesn't agree with our opinion that we're "one of the best teams in the league".

1. Your claim is not a fact.
2. There's obviously a lot more that needs to be factored into the quality of a team, so not sure why you're acting like it's something that couldn't be acknowledged if it were actually true.
3. I didn't throw out any stats to come to my position. In fact, my position is based on looking at all of the stats and information, while your position is a result of ignoring all other stats that don't agree with your POV, and focusing exclusively on contextless goal differential in a tiny cherry picked sample from our past.

Re. the other bolded - you very often say things like "most fans don't understand" - it you don't get that that's denigrating, then you lack self-awareness my friend.

What I actually said is that "most people don't realize what other teams go through in the same way they do with the Leafs", which is absolutely true, and not in any way denigrating. It's a natural reaction when so much more focus is put on one team.

 

[Gary Nylund]

You literally did it today in this thread... Like a page ago...

1. Your claim is not a fact.
2. There's obviously a lot more that needs to be factored into the quality of a team, so not sure why you're acting like it's something that couldn't be acknowledged if it were actually true.
3. I didn't throw out any stats to come to my position. In fact, my position is based on looking at all of the stats and information, while your position is a result of ignoring all other stats that don't agree with your POV, and focusing exclusively on contextless goal differential in a tiny cherry picked sample from our past.

What I actually said is that "most people don't realize what other teams go through in the same way they do with the Leafs", which is absolutely true, and not in any way denigrating. It's a natural reaction when so much more focus is put on one team.

Sure it is. You just can't handle the truth.

 

[djdev]

No chance they strip JT. Matthews only fault is he was a kid when Tavares came along. He seems like 100% captain material now, was just immature but hes grown so much as a player and a person. His game, attention to detail, effort on D, being physical he stepped it all up. A legitimate star, something we haven't had since Sundin.

only a few more years until jt is a FA again and auston gets the C, then mcdavid can have his A the next year

 

[Gary Nylund]

only a few more years until jt is a FA again and auston gets the C, then mcdavid can have his A the next year

Works for me, probably works for them too. Matthews gets the role he's unofficially starting to assume anyway and McDavid would probably love for someone else to be the focal point for the media. And if we still haven't won the cup before that, then together they can be the ones who end our decades of misery in this, the capital of the hockey world and become immortal in the process.

 

[glue]

Sure it is. You just can't handle the truth.

 

[therealkoho]

Leafs didn't out play any teams last week. They were badly outplayed first 2 periods against Detroit and first period agains NJ
They also made a heck of a comeback against Columbus few years ago. So we can once in a while can comeback, only to falter when the game really matters

They made a lot of comebacks actually. Mostly thanks to Matthews in many nights. More to do with our goal scorers than actually outworking team

Also Detroit leads the league in 3rd period blowouts. NJ is just garbage against a 3rd string goalie
It's not like we came back against Tampa or Florida back to back nights

Cmon fahad they were all over the Red Wings except for a couple of flukey goals that Detroit scored to give them the lead, most of the play was on their side of centre, in the third the Leafs crushed them, out skated them vastly out chanced them out hit them and didn't lose a race or a 50/50 puck. As for Jersey last night despite snoozing through most of the 1st and the 2nd, 3rd was pretty much all Leafs, with only a couple of Jersey high danger chances one of which was on their PP.