Post-Game Talk: Leafs 2 Rangers 1

[81Leafs50]

99% Cruise control. Never in doubt in my mind.

Leafs are steam rolling the NHL. Love to see it! all the haters can eat it.

 

[Zybalto]

It's a good thing they are banking all these points as things are gonna get fun the next while.

Back to back this weekend (and 3rd in 4 nights against the Isles who are finally at home), then the dreaded west coast trip against the California teams (who have been playing much better this season) next week followed by a game against the Avs.

 

[81Leafs50]

Leafs winning lots of close games. the mind set is coming along. they are definitely developing something bigger this season.

Leafs are letting the process take care of itself. Just focus on the details shift to shift.

10 wins in 11. I have nothing negative to say about the players on this team. the checkers are working hard. the defense is better. goaltending is good. Lots of different people scoring. Leafs are dependent on any one superstar.

 

[Twine Tickler]

They played really well for the most part, very responsible.
Sunday for me is the big test.

couldn't agree more. NYI plays playoff hockey with playoff intensity every damn night. It's a very impressive brand of hockey.

Having to play them on the 2nd half of a B2B in their barn will be the biggest test of this early season IMO.

If I were Keefe, I wouldn't make the mistake of looking too far ahead again (see SJ, PITT B2B). Get the 2 pts on Saturday and make that the priority right now. You gotta go into NYI on a high and feeling good about yourself.

I have a feeling Keefe is going to give Woll the Pitt game, and I honestly think that would be a mistake. We really just need to focus on putting the best team forward on Saturday to keep this streak alive. Truth be told, we wont win any game against NYI if we are expecting our tendy to steal the game. We will have to be the better team. So if we end up losing and it's because of Woll, c'est la vie. It was bound to happen at some point. At least mentally this group would be able to come away with some positives and have the built in excuse of Woll costing them the W.

either way, its going to be a tough weekend. Hoping to walk away with at least 1 W.

 

[Clark4Ever]

I believe its 7-1-1.

Leafs at 12 wins total. 3 recent games alone (non-1 goal win)

Beat Vegas 4-0
Beat Flyers 3-0
Beat Preds 3-0

My bad, you're correct. I misheard it on broadcast last night.

Still impressive though.

 

[AvroArrow]

99% Cruise control. Never in doubt in my mind.

Leafs are steam rolling the NHL. Love to see it! all the haters can eat it.

According to the mains we're being carried by a hot goaltender we actually suck and get outplayed 5 on 5

 

[Dekes For Days]

Still only 4th in our division though

We are 3rd in our division, not 4th.

With each passing game, I get more and more pissed off that Campbell wasn't extended in the summer.

Easy to say with hindsight, as well as absolutely none of the information about whether he was willing to sign, and for what.

 

[Twine Tickler]

A lesson learned when the 3rd lowest scoring team in the league Columbus beat our Leafs who were the 3rd highest scoring team in the play-in round.

Every team knows to beat the Leafs you simply have to shut down the core 4 and your odds for success are great. However if the Leafs develop a strategy like presently where your core 4 are focused on defense and your can manufacture a goal or 2 from your support cast or defense and you support your goalie in your own end that you can still win games 2-1 when needed.,

Leafs have scored 3 or fewer goals in nearly 80% of their games this season and still have a winning record and are competitive behind strong goaltending and all players buying into a 2-way game and support and learning to win close games and low scoring games. Playoff hockey by design is lower scoring and tighter checking so you had better play a system that can compete under those restrictions and you can't just flip a switch come playoff time and think your offense can carry you, because its your defense that will.

Bingo!

I wouldn't necessarily say the system is designed for our core 4 to be shut down lines, but they definitely are not letting the defensive side of the game sacrifice to create offense. They have done a lot better job of taking the ice that is given to them, and not trying to force plays in the middle of the ice. I think early on in the year it was getting away from them a bit, they were trying too much. But now they just get the puck in behind the D, and even if its a one and done, they are in good position to mitigate any chances going the other way. Yes it leads to a lot of neutral minutes, but that's going to happen when the middle of the ice is taken away. And in playing that way, our skill usually will take over from time to time. You will always still see 3-4 shifts of pure dominance from the top 2 lines, and with the PP rolling like it is, you hope that's enough. With sound Defense and good tending, it usually is.

They have been far more patient this year. The only times where you see the core 4 get caught cheating usually is when they are down in the game.

That's how you win tight games though. It may not be as exciting, but I will take 2 pts over art ross and rocket richard trophies any day of the week

 

[HamiltonNHL]

What question are you trying to answer exactly?

Which team can get a goal "when they need it" ... aka elevate their game ?

And which players come through when the pressure is on (down a goal)?

 

[Pi]

The majority of this board thought the leafs were a bubble team this year.

That I am not aware of as I tend to take time off this board. I don't know how anyone can expect a team that brought back the same defense that was elite last year + goaltending that was consistent along with the forward core would be a bubble team.

I guess people really thought the defense was good because of Bogosian lol?

I put us as a contender for the division or second place. Don't see this team finishing any lower than that in the standings (likely top 4 overall in the conference).

 

[zeke]

That I am not aware of as I tend to take time off this board. I don't know how anyone can expect a team that brought back the same defense that was elite last year + goaltending that was consistent along with the forward core would be a bubble team.

I guess people really thought the defense was good because of Bogosian lol?

I put us as a contender for the division or second place. Don't see this team finishing any lower than that in the standings (likely top 4 overall in the conference).

"Weak Division last year" + "Losing Hyman, Andersen, Bogosian" + "Tavares aging into mediocre 2nd liner" + "no depth, soft D, no #1 goalie" = bubble team

 

[Optimist]

My buddy Dash is a pretty happy Leafs fan these days.

 

[Mess]

Yeah I've read the "The Leafs are a bubble team that can likely miss the playoffs" excessively this off-season.

You have to look at the big picture.

Tampa Bay is a 2 X Stanley Cup champs and one of the best teams in the NHL. Boston Bruins have been Leafs nemesis for a long time and always playoff competitive and have finished ahead of the Leafs in the standing consistently year after year. When the dust settles on an 82 game season there are no guarantees these 2 teams wont again rise to the top of the standings like they do regularly and finish in front of the Leafs. TB currently sits 4 points behind the Leafs with 3 games in hand and Boston has played fewest games in the league and have 5 games in hand on Toronto.

So that brings the Leafs into a potential battle with the upstart Florida Panthers and Leafs battling for 3rd potentially in the Atlantic. If people haven't notice those Panthers currently sit at the top of the NHL standings. So by default then the team the finishes 4th in the Atlantic is by definition a bubble and wild card team. Those same people that see Toronto as a potential "bubble team also see Florida as one and at present they also appear to be exceeding early expectations.

Some fans appear to only see that prediction and a condition of slighting the Leafs or playing poorly, but its a testament more to the strength of the teams in their division the Atlantic.

There is still over 3/4 of the regular season to go, and is anyone with any certainty know Leafs will finish ahead of TB and Boston after just 18 games played? Remember Leafs have been very fortunate with health to date where TB is playing without one of the best players in the league in Kucherov and still holding pace with Leafs. Boston lost their goalie Rask who will not be back until early January and give the Bruins a strong 2nd half boost.

 

[MagicalRazor]

Leafs look elite as of late, Just dominant. Our top 6 lacks a little production but that’s nit picking .
They will open it up , it will come. The Leafs are doing everything right

 

[Mattfan02]

We are 3rd in our division, not 4th.

Easy to say with hindsight, as well as absolutely none of the information about whether he was willing to sign, and for what.

We're 2nd in our division behind Florida

 

[ACC1224]

That I am not aware of as I tend to take time off this board. I don't know how anyone can expect a team that brought back the same defense that was elite last year + goaltending that was consistent along with the forward core would be a bubble team.

I guess people really thought the defense was good because of Bogosian lol?

I put us as a contender for the division or second place. Don't see this team finishing any lower than that in the standings (likely top 4 overall in the conference).

I think the sentiment was that Tampa, Florida and Boston make for a much tougher route to the playoffs than last year, thus the 'bubble' term.
We had heard from some last year how they would walk through everyone to the final four at a minimum. We know how wrong they were there.
People are wrong at times, go figure.

 

[SprDaVE]

You have to look at the big picture.

Tampa Bay is a 2 X Stanley Cup champs and one of the best teams in the NHL. Boston Bruins have been Leafs nemesis for a long time and always playoff competitive and have finished ahead of the Leafs in the standing consistently year after year. When the dust settles on an 82 game season there are no guarantees these 2 teams wont again rise to the top of the standings like they do regularly and finish in front of the Leafs. TB currently sits 4 points behind the Leafs with 3 games in hand and Boston has played fewest games in the league and have 5 games in hand on Toronto.

So that brings the Leafs into a potential battle with the upstart Florida Panthers and Leafs battling for 3rd potentially in the Atlantic. If people haven't notice those Panthers currently sit at the top of the NHL standings. So by default then the team the finishes 4th in the Atlantic is by definition and bubble and wild card team. Those same people that see Toronto as a potential "bubble team also see Florida as one and at present they also appear to be exceeding early expectations.

Some fans appear to only see that prediction and a condition of slighting the Leafs or playing poorly, but its a testament more so the strength of the teams in their division the Atlantic.

There is still over 3/4 of the regular season to go, and is anyone with any certainty know Leafs will finish ahead of TB and Boston after just 18 games played? Remember Leafs have been very fortunate with health to date where TB is playing without one of the best players in the league in Kucherov and still holding pace with Leafs. Boston lost their goalie Rask who will not be back until early January and give the Bruins a strong 2nd half boost.

My response was to the excessive amount of people that put the Leafs into non-playoffs or the bubble as opposed to apparently they were always a great team in contention of the playoffs. Regardless, the Atlantic is always a very strong division.

Boston didn't sign Ullmark to a 4 year 20M contract to be a backup. He's their starter. Not sure why and how Rask is suddenly THE hope to turn around Bostons season. He's not. Swayman, the current backup, have been great as well. That's one heck of a strong stretch of an excuse for the Bruins. They are still good though and should be a tough team as they usually are, but come on... Rask? Tampa Bay lost their entire depth that made them scary. They are still good but just because they won the cup, it doesn't remove the fact that they lost a lot of players and certainly won't be able to play the system to be 10M over the cap again. I see that Montreal wasn't listed though in your list of teams... I'm pretty sure I kept reading about their amazing team this summer.

Lot's of hockey to go and things could go many different ways. Any team can go hot/cold and turn around their season. Right now, the Leafs are playing very good defensive hockey and it's ok to cheer for them. It's even ok to say they are better than you thought they were going to be instead of reverting into a ball of negativity with "What If" and "something something playoffs". It's almost like you want them to fail so badly.

 

[Apex Predator]

You have to look at the big picture.

Tampa Bay is a 2 X Stanley Cup champs and one of the best teams in the NHL. Boston Bruins have been Leafs nemesis for a long time and always playoff competitive and have finished ahead of the Leafs in the standing consistently year after year. When the dust settles on an 82 game season there are no guarantees these 2 teams wont again rise to the top of the standings like they do regularly and finish in front of the Leafs. TB currently sits 4 points behind the Leafs with 3 games in hand and Boston has played fewest games in the league and have 5 games in hand on Toronto.

So that brings the Leafs into a potential battle with the upstart Florida Panthers and Leafs battling for 3rd potentially in the Atlantic. If people haven't notice those Panthers currently sit at the top of the NHL standings. So by default then the team the finishes 4th in the Atlantic is by definition and bubble and wild card team. Those same people that see Toronto as a potential "bubble team also see Florida as one and at present they also appear to be exceeding early expectations.

Some fans appear to only see that prediction and a condition of slighting the Leafs or playing poorly, but its a testament more so the strength of the teams in their division the Atlantic.

There is still over 3/4 of the regular season to go, and is anyone with any certainty know Leafs will finish ahead of TB and Boston after just 18 games played? Remember Leafs have been very fortunate with health to date where TB is playing without one of the best players in the league in Kucherov and still holding pace with Leafs. Boston lost
their goalie Rask who will not be back until early January and give the Bruins a strong 2nd half boost.

This is how I feel. You summed it up way better than I ever could!

 

[zeke]

You have to look at the big picture.

Tampa Bay is a 2 X Stanley Cup champs and one of the best teams in the NHL. Boston Bruins have been Leafs nemesis for a long time and always playoff competitive and have finished ahead of the Leafs in the standing consistently year after year. When the dust settles on an 82 game season there are no guarantees these 2 teams wont again rise to the top of the standings like they do regularly and finish in front of the Leafs. TB currently sits 4 points behind the Leafs with 3 games in hand and Boston has played fewest games in the league and have 5 games in hand on Toronto.

So that brings the Leafs into a potential battle with the upstart Florida Panthers and Leafs battling for 3rd potentially in the Atlantic. If people haven't notice those Panthers currently sit at the top of the NHL standings. So by default then the team the finishes 4th in the Atlantic is by definition and bubble and wild card team. Those same people that see Toronto as a potential "bubble team also see Florida as one and at present they also appear to be exceeding early expectations.

Some fans appear to only see that prediction and a condition of slighting the Leafs or playing poorly, but its a testament more so the strength of the teams in their division the Atlantic.

There is still over 3/4 of the regular season to go, and is anyone with any certainty know Leafs will finish ahead of TB and Boston after just 18 games played? Remember Leafs have been very fortunate with health to date where TB is playing without one of the best players in the league in Kucherov and still holding pace with Leafs. Boston lost their goalie Rask who will not be back until early January and give the Bruins a strong 2nd half boost.

This is our favorite global mod Mess doubling down on his "Leafs are a bubble team" claim.

However he's lying about what he (and most others) said preseason - that the Leafs were in danger of also being behind 5 or more teams in the "super tough" metro. AND, of course, that the Habs were also a real threat the Leafs playoffs chances. So his claim was never just about finishing 4th in the Atlantic, but truly a claim that the Leafs were a mediocre team in tough to finish in the top half of the standings.

Everybody remember.

 

[Racer88]

I feel like I watched a different game then Ranger fans...who all seem to think they played great tonight?

They did play a great game……just not a game good enough to win, that’s why the score was so close.
However we were the better team

 

[Racer88]

This is our favorite global mod Mess doubling down on his "Leafs are a bubble team" claim.

However he's lying about what he (and most others) said preseason - that the Leafs were in danger of also being behind 5 or more teams in the super tough metro. So his claim was never just about finishing 4th in the Atlantic, but truly a claim that the Leafs were a mediocre team in tough to finish in the top half of the standings.

Everybody remember.

They way they started the season they were absolutely in danger of an awful finish. Speaking for myself that’s why I was so frustrated with their effort. They have the skill but we’re not using it

 

[IPS]

You have to look at the big picture.

Tampa Bay is a 2 X Stanley Cup champs and one of the best teams in the NHL. Boston Bruins have been Leafs nemesis for a long time and always playoff competitive and have finished ahead of the Leafs in the standing consistently year after year. When the dust settles on an 82 game season there are no guarantees these 2 teams wont again rise to the top of the standings like they do regularly and finish in front of the Leafs. TB currently sits 4 points behind the Leafs with 3 games in hand and Boston has played fewest games in the league and have 5 games in hand on Toronto.

So that brings the Leafs into a potential battle with the upstart Florida Panthers and Leafs battling for 3rd potentially in the Atlantic. If people haven't notice those Panthers currently sit at the top of the NHL standings. So by default then the team the finishes 4th in the Atlantic is by definition a bubble and wild card team. Those same people that see Toronto as a potential "bubble team also see Florida as one and at present they also appear to be exceeding early expectations.

Some fans appear to only see that prediction and a condition of slighting the Leafs or playing poorly, but its a testament more so the strength of the teams in their division the Atlantic.

There is still over 3/4 of the regular season to go, and is anyone with any certainty know Leafs will finish ahead of TB and Boston after just 18 games played? Remember Leafs have been very fortunate with health to date where TB is playing without one of the best players in the league in Kucherov and still holding pace with Leafs. Boston lost their goalie Rask who will not be back until early January and give the Bruins a strong 2nd half boost.

You really hate this team, don't you?

 

[therealkoho]

It's a good thing they are banking all these points as things are gonna get fun the next while.

Back to back this weekend (and 3rd in 4 nights against the Isles who are finally at home), then the dreaded west coast trip against the California teams (who have been playing much better this season) next week followed by a game against the Avs.

Funny enough some peeps were saying this exact same thing 2 weeks ago. Just remember they're playing NHL teams at all times, there's never an easy stretch, heck even the Canadiens win once in awhile.

 

[Dekes For Days]

We're 2nd in our division behind Florida

We're technically 3rd behind Tampa by a tiny amount, by point percentage.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

You have to look at the big picture.

Tampa Bay is a 2 X Stanley Cup champs and one of the best teams in the NHL. Boston Bruins have been Leafs nemesis for a long time and always playoff competitive and have finished ahead of the Leafs in the standing consistently year after year. When the dust settles on an 82 game season there are no guarantees these 2 teams wont again rise to the top of the standings like they do regularly and finish in front of the Leafs. TB currently sits 4 points behind the Leafs with 3 games in hand and Boston has played fewest games in the league and have 5 games in hand on Toronto.

So that brings the Leafs into a potential battle with the upstart Florida Panthers and Leafs battling for 3rd potentially in the Atlantic. If people haven't notice those Panthers currently sit at the top of the NHL standings. So by default then the team the finishes 4th in the Atlantic is by definition a bubble and wild card team. Those same people that see Toronto as a potential "bubble team also see Florida as one and at present they also appear to be exceeding early expectations.

Some fans appear to only see that prediction and a condition of slighting the Leafs or playing poorly, but its a testament more to the strength of the teams in their division the Atlantic.

There is still over 3/4 of the regular season to go, and is anyone with any certainty know Leafs will finish ahead of TB and Boston after just 18 games played? Remember Leafs have been very fortunate with health to date where TB is playing without one of the best players in the league in Kucherov and still holding pace with Leafs. Boston lost their goalie Rask who will not be back until early January and give the Bruins a strong 2nd half boost.

The Leafs were the best team in the North division last year, that same division is running roughshod over the NHL right now. They were never a bubble team. Can injuries derails a season, sure but thats how it works for every team. You can't just assume the teams behind us win all their games.