Post-Game Talk: Hot Garbage, Leafs Lose 3-2 In OT

[Mess]

Dubas TD acquisition of big save Dave Rittich got the Leafs a point in this one as he bailed the Leafs out of a regulation loss.

Leafs are likely to play either Montreal or Calgary in round #1 of the playoffs and we just lost to both teams on back to back nights and our PP is brutal even with a 4 minute PP in the 3rd and now sits at 1 goal in our last 83 PP opportunities.

None of this is leaving anyone with any warm and fuzzy feelings at present.

JT set up 2 goals but it was Hyman again the only Leaf you can really count on a regular basis to show up and compete as needed. When is Nick Foligno arriving and available to help him out?.

 

[Bomber0104]

So you're saying that TBay's defense stinks and they need to be bailed out by goaltending and scoring forwards?

No and I have no idea how or why you would interpret that from my post.

But yeah, only here would people want to debate whether having Stamkos, Kucherov, and Vasilevsky in the lineup would have made a difference versus the red hot Preds.

 

[Bomber0104]

For anyone burning their Leafs jersey in frustration, consider that the nearly unanimous favourite to win the Cup (Tampa Bay) got starched 7-2 last night. That's the third time this season they've lost by 4 or more goals.

By comparison the Leafs have lost exactly zero games by 4 or more goals and only twice by 3. To me, that's a team that at least has been competitive every single game this season. Even after a horrific first period against Montreal on Monday they came back and made a game out of it. Twice they were down to Calgary and tied it up.

They are not perfect, their PP is an abomination and for some reason Keefe is still juggling his non-PP lines (and PP lines) like the players are lottery balls, yet they are still in first and soon will be adding Foligno and Willie will return. They will be fine.

All three times were with Curtis McElhinney in net...

How many playoff games do you imagine they're going to give him?

I'll go with zero, myself...

 

[Gary Nylund]

No and I have no idea how or why you would interpret that from my post.

But yeah, only here would people want to debate whether having Stamkos, Kucherov, and Vasilevsky in the lineup would have made a difference versus the red hot Preds.

Losing 3 all-star calibre players would make a difference to any team so it seems like an incredibly stupid question to even ask in the first place. The fact that one of them hasn't played all year makes it even more stupid since his being out is no different from any other game this season.

If you've got some sort of point to make then feel free to make it instead of asking dumb questions.

 

[Bomber0104]

Losing 3 all-star calibre players would make a difference to any team so it seems like an incredibly stupid question to even ask in the first place. The fact that one of them hasn't played all year makes it even more stupid since his being out is no different from any other game this season.

If you've got some sort of point to make then feel free to make it instead of asking dumb questions.

Sorry I didn't realize the go-to narrative after every loss is to compare the Leafs to Cup Champions playing their backup goalie.

 

[mydnyte]

the OT was lost in 2 parts, and each was bad judgement.
1. Marner's solo dash and worthless giveaway, rather than maintaining possession and getting an o-zone setup
2. Matthews trying to 'support' Reilly rather than just sticking with his guy (and leaving him wide open in the slot), and its not the 1st time he's made this mistake in OT causing a loss.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Sorry I didn't realize the go-to narrative after every loss is to compare the Leafs to Cup Champions playing their backup goalie.

Perhaps that's where you're getting lost - there are no go-to narratives, especially when you lose as rarely as we've been losing this season.

BTW, we were playing our backup goalie last night, as teams are wont to do on the second night of B2B games.

 

[mydnyte]

All good, we have a dozen+ games to figure things out.... Don't mind taking these losses now at all!!

Priority: Get that PP clicking - I have full confidence that it will return to past dominance.

all they need to do is watch video of the Washington PP (for the past 15 years) and copy it. everyone knows the puck is going to OV at some point and it still works. ...early in the season, everyone knew the puck was going to Matthews and it still worked.

 

[Gary Nylund]

the OT was lost in 2 parts, and each was bad judgement.
1. Marner's solo dash and worthless giveaway, rather than maintaining possession and getting an o-zone setup
2. Matthews trying to 'support' Reilly rather than just sticking with his guy (and leaving him wide open in the slot), and its not the 1st time he's made this mistake in OT causing a loss.

I wouldn't worry too much about OT, there is no 3 on 3 in the playoffs. We badly need to our PP going again though, if we fail to do that, that will definitely be a big problem.

 

[Garthinater]

Sorry I didn't realize the go-to narrative after every loss is to compare the Leafs to Cup Champions playing their backup goalie.

Its amazing how defensive and salty certain leaf fans can get.

I'm sure missing kuch, stamkos and vas had nothing to do with their loss rofl

 

[zeke]

No and I have no idea how or why you would interpret that from my post.

But yeah, only here would people want to debate whether having Stamkos, Kucherov, and Vasilevsky in the lineup would have made a difference versus the red hot Preds.

7 goals allowed to the ...predators!

You must think their D is horrific if they need a goalie and scoring forwards to stop that.

 

[Bomber0104]

7 goals allowed to the ...predators!

You must think their D is horrific if they need a goalie and scoring forwards to stop that.

No, I don't think that.

I think the Preds have been playing great (I watch a good portion of their games) and McBackup has not been (64 point pace after last night).

 

[Gary Nylund]

Its amazing how defensive and salty certain leaf fans can get.

I'm sure missing kuch, stamkos and vas had nothing to do with their loss rofl

What's amazing is being upset when we pick up one point out of two B2B games after a 10 game run where we got 19 out of a possible 20 points.

20 out of 24 possible points, clearly the sky is falling.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Thank god for Big Save Dave otherwise we get nothing out of that one ..

We have huge problems when teams who neutral zone trap us especially Matty and Mitch as they do not play a heavy down low game to retrieve pucks on dump ins which you have to know how to play when teams play like that (and Flames are nowhere near as good as CLB or CAR at it) ... good to see Keefer saw it in 3rd and put Jumbo there which created 3 solid shifts for those guys and created da 4 minute PP ... this is exactly why I say Gally won't be on either of top 2 lines because he just does not have ability to separate defenders from pucks in playoff hockey ... it is why Sens and Habs gave up on him because he is not skilled enough to differentiate himself and he can't help out in other ways ... he is better than Vesey but not a top 2 liner ..

Zach can beat da trap game as he can provide net front presence like goal 1 or he can separate a defender from a puck and created goal 2 as well ... move Zach to line 1 and it will be same result for line 1 ... with foligno about to join team for stretch run we should have 2 lines that can beat da neutral zone trap with dump ins so not really worried at all ...

Then with Nash Mik and Simmonds we should be able to form a 3rd line which can create some havoc through trap too and check well ...

But last night, like night before, our biggest issues are on defense right now ... I am hoping it is just 2 off games where vets decided to mail it in but it is concerning ... Muzzy man what da h*ll man common man?????????? you can play so much better .. Holl why did you even bother to lace em up??????????? ... got so bad Keefer had to move up Dermy who is only guy who has played well past 2 games ... and Rielly common man you have badly regressed on defense like super bad ... you just didn't forget to play 2on1's man ... just do your job man stop pass over and let tender take da shooter it is f*ckin simple man ... play FFFFFFFFFIN D men ... if you don't wanna play D then fine stay in da dressing room we don't need ya

Lastly Jumbo common man i think you know it is time ... outside a couple decent shifts with Matty in 3rd you are killing every line you are on man like it is playing short handed man ... show some respect man

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

I remember when McElhinney was an elite goalie that Dubas was crazy for wanting to move on from. Now he's an automatic loss and him playing is a strong justification for a team to give up 7 goals against

 

[VanW27]

the OT was lost in 2 parts, and each was bad judgement.
1. Marner's solo dash and worthless giveaway, rather than maintaining possession and getting an o-zone setup
2. Matthews trying to 'support' Reilly rather than just sticking with his guy (and leaving him wide open in the slot), and its not the 1st time he's made this mistake in OT causing a loss.

That's a bad play by Matthews, he was in position, should have been a simple 2 on 2 and he leaves his man to go toward the last guy back (Marner is already on that guy) and with one simple pass its an easy 2 on 1.

Its pretty similar to the 2 on 1 OT goal against by Nurse, Matthews just leaves his guy and is stuck in no man's land for a 2 on 1 again with one easy pass forward.

Matthews has really stepped up defensively this year as a whole but his OT defending strategy seems to be "hope the deep guy can't make a simple pass to an open man and turns it over" so he can get a 2 on 1 the other way.

 

[zeke]

No, I don't think that.

I think the Preds have been playing great (I watch a good portion of their games) and McBackup has not been (64 point pace after last night).

Blaming the goalie for a 7-2 loss.

Typical leaf fan.

 

[BudForLife]

the OT was lost in 2 parts, and each was bad judgement.
1. Marner's solo dash and worthless giveaway, rather than maintaining possession and getting an o-zone setup
2. Matthews trying to 'support' Reilly rather than just sticking with his guy (and leaving him wide open in the slot), and its not the 1st time he's made this mistake in OT causing a loss.

I think Marner thought he was killing a penalty

 

[Gary Nylund]

Thank god for Big Save Dave otherwise we get nothing out of that one ..

We have huge problems when teams who neutral zone trap us especially Matty and Mitch as they do not play a heavy down low game to retrieve pucks on dump ins which you have to know how to play when teams play like that (and Flames are nowhere near as good as CLB or CAR at it) ... good to see Keefer saw it in 3rd and put Jumbo there which created 3 solid shifts for those guys and created da 4 minute PP ... this is exactly why I say Gally won't be on either of top 2 lines because he just does not have ability to separate defenders from pucks in playoff hockey ... it is why Sens and Habs gave up on him because he is not skilled enough to differentiate himself and he can't help out in other ways ... he is better than Vesey but not a top 2 liner ..

Zach can beat da trap game as he can provide net front presence like goal 1 or he can separate a defender from a puck and created goal 2 as well ... move Zach to line 1 and it will be same result for line 1 ... with foligno about to join team for stretch run we should have 2 lines that can beat da neutral zone trap with dump ins so not really worried at all ...

Then with Nash Mik and Simmonds we should be able to form a 3rd line which can create some havoc through trap too and check well ...

But last night, like night before, our biggest issues are on defense right now ... I am hoping it is just 2 off games where vets decided to mail it in but it is concerning ... Muzzy man what da h*ll man common man?????????? you can play so much better .. Holl why did you even bother to lace em up??????????? ... got so bad Keefer had to move up Dermy who is only guy who has played well past 2 games ... and Rielly common man you have badly regressed on defense like super bad ... you just didn't forget to play 2on1's man ... just do your job man stop pass over and let tender take da shooter it is f*ckin simple man ... play FFFFFFFFFIN D men ... if you don't wanna play D then fine stay in da dressing room we don't need ya

Lastly Jumbo common man i think you know it is time ... outside a couple decent shifts with Matty in 3rd you are killing every line you are on man like it is playing short handed man ... show some respect man

Man can't you speak da English language ...?????? And da posts would be .... more readable if in addition to you learning da English you ............ learned how to use da punctuation as well ...

To quote a line or two from your post, it is f*ckin simple man ... show some respect man.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I remember when McElhinney was an elite goalie that Dubas was crazy for wanting to move on from. Now he's an automatic loss and him playing is a strong justification for a team to give up 7 goals against

Just another example of why people say goalies are voodoo. And it was indeed pathetic how some people were calling for Dubas to be fired over a backup goalie decision of all things.

 

[Cobra777]

People love trashing on Rielly and rightfully so. But that play was Matthews to me. Sure technically that should have been Rielly's man but that doesn't take away your lack luster effort

Matthews was off the entire game so I'll give him benefit of the doubt that he had a bad game. The entire team was off not named Tavares. Man he was a beauty again last night. I miss the old Johnny

Keefe needs to start resting guys properly and I think he started that well with Jason. But Simmonds and Joe experiments needs to be over. If he has a lot of respect for them, great. Play one of them at a time

Use them to rotate each other but they can't be both iced at the same time. Worse, they shouldn't be on ice together

Simmonds was a great asset before he got hurt and was playing real well before he broke a bone in his wrist and was out for 6 weeks in a shortened season and is still trying to get in the games speed and timings while trying to have some confidence in his healed injury, cut the guy some slack never seen so many impatient people. Were in 1st and can afford the time for him to get back to how well he played before the injury. If we were fighting for a playoff spot, yea put in a total healthy guy in place but I'm sick of the guys who refuse to hit like that 6ft 5 giraffe who is as soft as butter and a few more added to the list while other teams intimidate and finish their checks on our top guys and bounce us around

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Thank god for Big Save Dave otherwise we get nothing out of that one ..

We have huge problems when teams who neutral zone trap us especially Matty and Mitch as they do not play a heavy down low game to retrieve pucks on dump ins which you have to know how to play when teams play like that (and Flames are nowhere near as good as CLB or CAR at it) ... good to see Keefer saw it in 3rd and put Jumbo there which created 3 solid shifts for those guys and created da 4 minute PP ... this is exactly why I say Gally won't be on either of top 2 lines because he just does not have ability to separate defenders from pucks in playoff hockey ... it is why Sens and Habs gave up on him because he is not skilled enough to differentiate himself and he can't help out in other ways ... he is better than Vesey but not a top 2 liner ..

Zach can beat da trap game as he can provide net front presence like goal 1 or he can separate a defender from a puck and created goal 2 as well ... move Zach to line 1 and it will be same result for line 1 ... with foligno about to join team for stretch run we should have 2 lines that can beat da neutral zone trap with dump ins so not really worried at all ...

Then with Nash Mik and Simmonds we should be able to form a 3rd line which can create some havoc through trap too and check well ...

But last night, like night before, our biggest issues are on defense right now ... I am hoping it is just 2 off games where vets decided to mail it in but it is concerning ... Muzzy man what da h*ll man common man?????????? you can play so much better .. Holl why did you even bother to lace em up??????????? ... got so bad Keefer had to move up Dermy who is only guy who has played well past 2 games ... and Rielly common man you have badly regressed on defense like super bad ... you just didn't forget to play 2on1's man ... just do your job man stop pass over and let tender take da shooter it is f*ckin simple man ... play FFFFFFFFFIN D men ... if you don't wanna play D then fine stay in da dressing room we don't need ya

Lastly Jumbo common man i think you know it is time ... outside a couple decent shifts with Matty in 3rd you are killing every line you are on man like it is playing short handed man ... show some respect man

Dermott is being wasted,underutilized disrespected. Call it what you want. Play the guy the minutes he deserves or move him to a team where he will get it in the off season. He’s been most consistent the entire season with Bogo. Awesome pair. That said, Dermott should get reps on the PP. teach him some poise and pressure play. It’s a natural next step for him right now. Morgan Rielly ain’t gettin it done. I don’t want to discuss QoC pertaining to the Dermott/Bogosian pair. It doesn’t matter I understand all of that. They rip their level of competition apart. Best pair all season. Really solid,consistent play from them.
Dermott needs to go point on the powerplay. I would basically give Dermott Rielly’s minutes right now and flip Rielly with Bogosian. That would be a telling test to switch Dermott and Morgan. I don’t think Bogosian would like it much

 

[mydnyte]

I think Marner thought he was killing a penalty

Marner and Reilly especially in OT both keep taking zero chance (to score) shots that create odd man turnovers rather than maintaining possession which is strange since the entire team motto during the game is based on maintaining possession

 

[mydnyte]

Dermott is being wasted,underutilized disrespected. Call it what you want. Play the guy the minutes he deserves or move him to a team where he will get it in the off season. He’s been most consistent the entire season with Bogo. Awesome pair. That said, Dermott should get reps on the PP. teach him some poise and pressure play. It’s a natural next step for him right now. Morgan Rielly ain’t gettin it done. I don’t want to discuss QoC pertaining to the Dermott/Bogosian pair. It doesn’t matter I understand all of that. They rip their level of competition apart. Best pair all season. Really solid,consistent play from them.
Dermott needs to go point on the powerplay

he is the most likely Seattle pick from the Leafs.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Dermott is being wasted,underutilized disrespected. Call it what you want. Play the guy the minutes he deserves or move him to a team where he will get it in the off season. He’s been most consistent the entire season with Bogo. Awesome pair. That said, Dermott should get reps on the PP. teach him some poise and pressure play. It’s a natural next step for him right now. Morgan Rielly ain’t gettin it done. I don’t want to discuss QoC pertaining to the Dermott/Bogosian pair. It doesn’t matter I understand all of that. They rip their level of competition apart. Best pair all season. Really solid,consistent play from them.
Dermott needs to go point on the powerplay

Last night was 1st game Keefer rewarded Dermy ... hope it continues if Muzzy and Holl keep up this crappy level of past 2 games .. this is pro hockey and you go with da better guy when he deserves it ... it is why I am so hesitant on Dermy because i know he has it in him