Post-Game Talk: Leafs Blow Another Lead, Lose to Avs

[weems]

Clock management and protecting a lead is a pleasure to watch, but you need a coach who has a game plan and committed troops to understand the importance of protecting the gains you've already achieved in the game. The careless back and forth, fire drills, that's not serious hockey.

It also involves making alot of simple low risk plays and not beating yourself.

We play a pretty high risk brand of hockey and are routinely throwing pucks to dangerous areas of the ice or trying to thread perfect finesse passes that many times get picked off.

We have great overall skill but aren't that strong at the fundamentals side of the game.

 

[Nineteen67]

Include Mathew's and Nylander
MO as usual shows up when the going gets tough

Matthews was working and digging pucks out, especially against NYI

 

[Hellcat]

This is a prime example of why we lose in the playoffs, out coached. Keefe is a one trick pony, he knows how to coach one way, there is zero ability to adjust, he has not taught the team how to slow the game down, he has no game plan to slow the better players on the opposing team down. Zero chance we get past the 1st round this year, heck we may not even make the playoffs.

Leafs have 50 points 3 points ahead of 9th place... 6 points out of 24th place.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

I think people underestimate how many teams blow multi goal leads in today's NHL. It's unfortunate but not really the end of the world, especially with game management

They're still an average team at best, and are going to find it extremely difficult to even be average next year with Matthews and Nylander having their new deals kick in

 

[Nineteen67]

It also involves making alot of simple low risk plays and not beating yourself.

We play a pretty high risk brand of hockey and are routinely throwing pucks to dangerous areas of the ice or trying to thread perfect finesse passes that many times get picked off.

We have great overall skill but aren't that strong at the fundamentals side of the game.

Overall skill? A couple of players have high end skill.

 

[BallardEra]

The same said cup contender who’s won just as many cups as we’ve won playoff rounds in the last 8 years????

They have more than earned the benefit of the doubt for a few bad games. The Leafs haven’t. Not even close.

And by the way, just to humor you and play your trolling game, what does that say about the Leafs that blew a 3-0 lead and lost in regulation to the team that blew a 4-0 lead to the Coyotes?

Coyotes also have the same amount of wins that the Leafs have.

 

[Hellcat]

Penalty



Not a penalty

 

[DarkKnight]

The second line was awful, apart from that I liked our game actually. Spirited tilt, that could have gone either way.

 

[WTFMAN99]

There were multiple problems.

1. Reffing - 4-1 advantage in penalties was a joke

2. Big boys, especially the 2nd line has sucked the last 2 games

3. Keefe - He gets outcoached every time - winning % blah blah - don't care. Proof is in his playoff performance, always gives us a chance to lose a series.

 

[Nineteen67]

There were multiple problems.

1. Reffing - 4-1 advantage in penalties was a joke

2. Big boys, especially the 2nd line has sucked the last 2 games

3. Keefe - He gets outcoached every time - winning % blah blah - don't care. Proof is in his playoff performance, always gives us a chance to lose a series.

Management gave Keefe a crappy team and he puts them in a good position to lose.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Management gave Keefe a crappy team and he puts them in a good position to lose.

We did give him a good team in the playoffs last year and I just remember the one comment that blew my mind and I am paraphrasing here but "The pace of play was faster than we expected" or something to that degree and it's like what? The pace of play is going to be super intense, it's the f***ing playoffs.

 

[sittler rules!!!]

OK, we have seen moments where they prove that when they want to, they can play a pretty sound, tight defense. My thinking is that they need a shakeup, and since you cannot or will not move one of the big 4 bables, time to rock the room with a coaching change. Coach Dudley Dumbass has got to go, or grow a pair. Stop benching one of the remaining 8 forwards for the lack of commitment and leadership from the "4 babies" I feel that that option for Keefe was neutered last year when he had to apologize for calling out "little Mitchy". He no longer has that card to play.

 

[Nineteen67]

Penalty



Not a penalty

They missed the cross check on Matthews, but live it looked he pushed him.

We did give him a good team in the playoffs last year and I just remember the one comment that blew my mind and I am paraphrasing here but "The pace of play was faster than we expected" or something to that degree and it's like what? The pace of play is going to be super intense, it's the f***ing playoffs.

You can’t build a team at the trade deadline.

They are a slow team and have been for a couple of years. That’s why you don’t want the Hymans to get away.

 

[WTFMAN99]

They missed the cross check on Matthews, but live it looked he pushed him.


You can’t build a team at the trade deadline.

They are a slow team and have been for a couple of years. That’s why you don’t want the Hymans to get away.

We did add a bit in Lafferty but did trade off Engvall so that's a wash, ROR/Acciari weren't exactly burners.

I agree though, that wasn't even discussed nearly as much in the off-season that we are not a fast team. Yea, we can probably move the puck fast but we don't go in on the forecheck and outwork or out muscle teams because either we're too slow or weak to get it back.

It's a very flawed roster construction. David Kampf for example or the bottom 6 under Dubas traditionally has felt like a group that was meant to kill time off the clock to get the "big 4" back out there instead of actually contributing anything. Vegas there isn't really a match up line, there job is to get pucks in, outwork you and be better than the guys across the ice.

 

[ToneDog]

Could not believe the team I saw in the first, taking it to a good team like the Avs. Unfortunately, once the Avs turned it up in the second, it seemed like they were hanging on for dear life the longer the game went. Avs seemed to win most of the puck battles in our end and their speed was too much for the Leafs.

MacKinnon and Makar skating and IQ greater than all last night. No idea if the Leafs could hang with them in a 7 game series with a few upgrades.

 

[Leafs98]

I think people underestimate how many teams blow multi goal leads in today's NHL. It's unfortunate but not really the end of the world, especially with game management

They're still an average team at best, and are going to find it extremely difficult to even be average next year with Matthews and Nylander having their new deals kick in

Avs did the exact same thing to Stars in a game I went to a few months ago. Avs kicked it in a bit later in the game. No surprise for me. True, Leafs are average, Avs are very good.

 

[Mess]

They missed the cross check on Matthews, but live it looked he pushed him.

Mikko Rantanen didn't have the puck so that was an easy call for interference. It was a real dumb play by McCabe, who made a few more like that after he came out of the box that might have got him sent right back in.

Matthews had the puck, and in real time it did look like Josh Manson just pushed him off the puck to get control, while in slower speed you could see it was more a crosscheck then a push. Probably a 50/50 judgement call.

However in the corner where it occurred it would have been hard for a Ref to get a clean look.. That said players are allowed to finish checks and battle for possession so that type of contact is not all that uncommon along the boards during a game.

 

[Borschevsky]

I was at the game. Anyone who didn't see it coming, wasn't paying attention. Forget about the reffing for a minute.

Even when they were up 3-0, they were still getting dominated at times in the 1st. MacKinnon was just toying with the Leafs every time he was on the ice. Jones still played pretty well but you could tell they were just getting lucky in the 1st when the Avs couldnt score on their chances.

 

[Gallagbi]

We did give him a good team in the playoffs last year and I just remember the one comment that blew my mind and I am paraphrasing here but "The pace of play was faster than we expected" or something to that degree and it's like what? The pace of play is going to be super intense, it's the f***ing playoffs.

Are you confusing pace of play with intensity?

 

[Nineteen67]

We did add a bit in Lafferty but did trade off Engvall so that's a wash, ROR/Acciari weren't exactly burners.

I agree though, that wasn't even discussed nearly as much in the off-season that we are not a fast team. Yea, we can probably move the puck fast but we don't go in on the forecheck and outwork or out muscle teams because either we're too slow or weak to get it back.

It's a very flawed roster construction. David Kampf for example or the bottom 6 under Dubas traditionally has felt like a group that was meant to kill time off the clock to get the "big 4" back out there instead of actually contributing anything. Vegas there isn't really a match up line, there job is to get pucks in, outwork you and be better than the guys across the ice.

I’ve been commenting on team speed for a couple of seasons.

 

[ICBM]

Colorado are fast AND big. They matched the Leaf's speed and switched to the next gear after that. And the Leafs have no next gear. They don't know how to work hard. And Colorado's size allowed them to storm the crease. There was no answer here from Toronto. The end.

 

[LeafGrief]

When you have to pay elite prices in this market to fund the try before you buy pricing around the league, you're damn right I'm going to be petulant when this market is treated like this by the league. Colorado came in here on our HNIC night, and the league fixed them up like they were walking into Columbus.

You think LA Dodger fans would enjoy their team being salary capped to Milwaukee Brewers budget while getting bullshit calls so the Colorado Rockies can walk away with a nice W? They might be upset too.

I don't mind that other teams fans see us as the big bad evil. It's part of the fun. But the league could certainly stand to respect the Golden Goose. I've long since wondered what the hell the Leafs stand to gain from expansion and equalization payments. More teams to send our money to, to compete for players and staff with, and more teams to climb over. The mainboards seem to have bought the idea that putting a rink in a new city is growing the game, but all I see in real life is that Canadian hockey fans are rapidly losing interest.

The expansion Ponzi Scheme has really started to gain steam and it's propelled massive valuations in Forbes for all of the league's irrelevant teams. It's all an illusion of course, but the league really doesn't give us (nor the Habs for that matter) any appreciation for having kept half the league afloat for decades. I love hockey and the Leafs, but I hate the NHL.

 

[Anthrax442]

 

[horner]

Matthews was working and digging pucks out, especially against NYI

Matthews was working and digging pucks out, especially against NYI

Not last night
Majore giveaway

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Folks likely best game of year to watch live .. really really fast game by Avs .. that team is built on speed .. our Leafs had a hard time keeping up except Domi line .. Domi was fast .. this is what happens in playoffs as games will be at this speed level .. our skill just does not match up to Avs speed .. I could foresee a Domi Bert and Willy line doing a ton of damage in da post season .. but it was same old same old with our D .. folks we got Rielly and thats it .. most of you guys don't see it but unless Tre fixes our D we are gone again in round 1 .. Matty Mitch and JT don't do well in super fast games .. Matty can do it but he gets handcuffed by Mitch's lack of pace