Post-Game Talk: Gong Show!! Leafs win 2:1

[PROUD PAPA]

He is not finding the open lane, and/or no one is finding him, not even Marner was. He is a sniper similar to Ovie. I haven't seen many clean, open shots this year.

He may also have some nagging problems. If so, he should take the allstar game off this year.

I think if we lighten up on trying to get the puck to Matthews on the pp eventually the coverage will soften up a little. Of course we'd need to have success for that to happen.

 

[ItalianLeaf]

1-0 without the godly Rielly

 

[Leaf Rocket]

Hello good folks of Toronto HF. Pardon the two dozen knuckleheads in the crowd throwing shit. I even got hit.

That was the wildest regular season gm that has ever been played at The Rock, with two strong teams. Cheers.

Was a blast!

 

[Leafsfan74]

He isnt getting many good looks, especially 5on5. Im sure hes trying, but hes not very effective or impactful right now

Maybe he is an online gamer. I recall years ago injuring my wrist at the gym and then using my mouse for hours. It wouldn't heal so I had to cut down significantly on computer mouse clicking.

The wrist is a difficult joint to heal ( if that's his problem), it requires rest while still ensuring a constant flow of blood to obtain nutrients. He is still getting points and playing good defensively so it's not as if he has been cold for any length of time, just not finding his usual goal production.

 

[PromisedLand]

Biggest takeaway is Murray's play .. Leafs need a hot goalie to help carry the injuries to the blue line.

Sandin and Lily were under fire tonight but I thought they responded well.

Hollowell wasn't too bad .. the late jump up on the 2 on 1 wasn't a bad decision IMO, it was wide open right there. Didn't like how the rest of that line was aggressive in the offensive zone to cause the counter rush chance. Plus Engvall tried to force that pass over.

Sandin and Lily played much better even strength. Holl was an absolute piece of trash; and IMO b/c of Holl Gio's play suffered too tonight. Holl was losing puck/board battles in the defensive zone like he was running a charity event giving everything to the Devils.

 

[Carltons Cup]

It's nice to see the Devils lose in a Leafy kind of way.

 

[wingman75]

Not sure I have ever watched a game like that! Great team win, with Murray carrying most of the weight. Classless fans can stick it. Might also want to learn the actual rules. Losers.

Matthews has to be hurt, I hope he is... he looks TERRIBLE offensively, and I know he was never fast, but it really looks like he struggles to get moving which I think is not allowing him to find the 5-on-5 spaces he normally does. Working hard no doubt.

Marner was a beast. That play on the first goal was spectacular, both in hockey sense in readying the play and effort and skill in making the play. Just awesome. Got a good bounce on the second goal, but Pontus made it count. Talk about depth scoring!

I thought the D played a very good game, all things considered. Cannot believe Benn is hurt now too... ffs. Where is Marty Marincin when you need him ha ha (I just threw up in my mouth).

Jersey is the real deal. Not sure how it plays out, but they are going to be trouble for years to come.

 

[Enniskillen]

Hollowell took bus from Niagara to Oakville to skate and train. This guy deserves respect. Matthews’ mom worked two jobs so that her son could play hockey. Ovechkin woke up at 5 am every day and took gloomy moscow subway to the hockey stadium. Yeah, maybe it’s an elitist sports, but there are so many great human stories, and I love it.

 

[Tak7]

Ontario guys always get up for games vs the Leafs. Then we talk about them like WWF villains, pencil them in on hypothetical lineups and one day the Leafs bring them back and we realize they're no good. See you in 2026, Nathan.

I've never read a more accurate post in the history of these forums.

 

[Gabriel426]

Saw the highlights. Honestly, the 2nd and 3rd are 100% disallowed goal but not sure about the 1st one.

Anyhow, a win is a win. Doesn’t matter how they get them.

 

[Torontonian]

Leafs depth on D is being seriously tested now lol, at what point do we lose all 6 of regular d?

Good win for Toronto tonight, Murray has been real good for us.

 

[AvroArrow]

Cannot believe how many Devils fans don't know basic NHL rules, just absolutely mind blowing. Also whoever was keeping track of shots tonight did a shit f***ing job, there was at least 5 shots that were not recorded.

Overall great game by Marner, Tavares and Murray. Matthews had a few chances but you can see the difference playing with an elite passer like Marner makes. Willy is great in his own right but he can't make those perfect crisp passes like Marner does, if he puts that puck on Matthews stick on the rush play, that was a wide open net. Murray looked solid once again, it's crazy how badly he was being lynched in Ottawa. Somehow after "winning the off-season" they are still shit and Murray so far in this young season looks "elite"

 

[Judas Tavares]

Leafs are now 10-5 in regulation

For comparison:

Devils are 13-4
Bruins are 14-3
Hurricanes are 7-6
Lightning are 8-7
Panthers are 9-8
Isles are 10-8


Big surprise? Detroit is 9-5

Leafs are tied with 4 other teams for the 4th least regulation losses, but have played the most games of all those teams. Otherwise, only the Bruins, Golden Knights and Devils have lost less in regulation.

You can be glass half full or empty regarding the OT losses. I'll be full here. Leafs have lost in regulation once in the last 12 games. OT losses stink, but at least the team is in every game they play. Now the hope is, they start making their opponent be out of the game more often.

 

[PromisedLand]

Only caught bits of the game, can anyone give a good summary, thanks.

• Leafs scored the first 2 goals and had a decent 1st period
• 2nd and 3rd period
  • 3 goals were disallowed for the devils (all right calls btw - just a werid coincidence that it happend in the same game never seen that)
  • Devils pretty much controlled the play in the 2nd and 3rd period; the 3 disallowed goals did not deter them from working hard
  • Devils scored to come within 1
  • Keefe for some reason decided to bench Nylander on the PP
    • which was absolutely STUPID
  • Devils almost tied the game at the end there
  • Gio missed an empty netter 200 foot from his own end hitting the post
  • if not for Murray Devils would have walked all over the Leafs
  • Can't expect Murray to keep up this play every game; Leafs gotta manage the puck and control the game better
  • Holmberg scored first NHL goal of his career (also the game winner)

 

[bionic]

Devils must be irate

It's their own fault

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

As a fan of Murray and someone who hates the re-writing of history of his contributions to the Pens' back to backs, I'm happy to see him rebounding back to form.

Since returning from injury, he's looked more like the 2016-17 version of Murray. A lot of composure, great positionally, and not swimming around overreacting to shots.

 

[PromisedLand]

It's crazy how much of an expansion team we looked like tonight. Just hanging in there with no star power, some plucky defense and a goalie. Just bizarre what happened to Auston Matthews this year.

here is hoping he extends at 11.6 AAV for 8 years given his play this season

 

[CabanaBoy5]

We played a really good game but make no mistake, Murray was terrific. We knew he was going to be good for us, the question always was can he stay healthy. Let’s hope our of bad luck with injuries doesn’t extend to him because without our top. 3 defencemen, we’d be in big trouble. Imagine Kallgren in net tonight…we’d have lost because he can’t post .971 sv% if his life depended on it.

 

[NMacrules]

Devils must be irate

And they must be mad too.

 

[stickty111]

Gutsy effort. Leafs held their own defensively which is the best you can ask right now with the guys injured, and Murray was amazing when needed. Outplayed for stretches but I'm not surprised. We held it in and thats the important part
Effort to be proud of.

 

[PromisedLand]

We outplayed them last week and took the L. They outplayed us tonight and Murray got us the W. I'm OK with it.

Going to have to fact check the "we outplayed them" part last week but 3/4 points from the current number one team in a week is good.

although 3/4 points is nice Leafs did not outplay the devils last week or tonight.

Last week summary: -> Leafs got outshot and gave way more scoring chances too

 

[Stephen]

Dubas has put together a mediocre team; one game isn't going to change it

What’s ironic is it felt like New Jersey lost tonight looking like we did in the Montreal series.

 

[PromisedLand]

What’s ironic is it felt like New Jersey lost tonight looking like we did in the Montreal series.

I thought devils generated some good chances; Leafs after being up 3-1 against montreal didn't generate much IMO

 

[Stephen]

I thought devils generated some good chances; Leafs after being up 3-1 against montreal didn't generate much IMO

Feels like we parked the bus on them late in the third.

 

[PromisedLand]

Leafs are now 10-5 in regulation

For comparison:

Devils are 13-4
Bruins are 14-3
Hurricanes are 7-6
Lightning are 8-7
Panthers are 9-8
Isles are 10-8


Big surprise? Detroit is 9-5

Stevie Y is the GM of the red wings. I am not surprised at all