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

[stats1]

Refs sucked real league dick tonight

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Matthews -3 ?

Ouch

 

[francis246]

Can’t stand hearing the truth about how incredibly flawed this team is eh???

Keep burying your head in the sand.

I think both sides are really extreme. They aren’t as bad as you make them out to be and they aren’t as great as some make them seem. They are a decent team that has flaws sdefensively and in goal

 

[theTTC]

The last two games were not games Marner liked to play in. Maybe tomorrow will be easier for him.

The whole team shines when beating up the disabled. Now, against playoff contending teams like the last two games...

 

[mikeyz]

Oilers won 10th straight. We could us a guy that has a howitzer from the point like Bouchard.

Tuesday night could get ugly.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

That wasnt on Jones

Watch with your eyes man

Avs scored goals most goalies cant save

Refs helped for sure but there guys finished everything

The boys gave him a 3-0 lead, no excuses.

 

[Stephen]

He is the consummate professional from everything that we have heard .. but he doesn't strike me as someone that hates to lose more than he likes to win, and that lack of intensity cascades to the team.

He's a classic Hockey Canada darling who has always had a golden child aura, and like you said is a consummate professional. Sounds like a great guy. But at the same time those traits aren't automatically synonymous with sports leadership in the heat of a game. He is not that at all.

 

[TimeZone]

That has been Marner for the whole year. Dude's skating has taken a hit

Agreed, I've been saying this all year as well.

No idea what Marner did this offseason, but he's lost 2 steps and he's 27 years old.

They both drive play at a world class level albeit in different ways. MacKinnon has the advantage of Makar, Toews, Girard and Byram who open up space for him in a way that no one on the Leafs D can save for Rielly.

MacKinnon has the advantage of being athletically superior, being able to drive the play on his own.

He's simply better than Matthews.

 

[mikeyz]

I think both sides are really extreme. They aren’t as bad as you make them out to be and they aren’t as great as some make them seem. They are a decent team that has flaws sdefensively and in goal

No. Both sides aren't extreme. Just the optimistic side is extreme. They genuinely believe that this team is a cup contender.

 

[wingman75]

I know that’s the hard part but at some point they have to figure that you just can’t build a team like this with these players.

I feel it's a mistake to let Marner walk for nothing, but I believe the team would be better without him regardless of how that happens. If we re-up him, this core will never win the cup imo.

He might have more team success elsewhere, but he plays too important a role here for his soft and whishy play.

 

[MSZ]

The whole team shines when beating up the disabled. Now, against playoff contending teams like the last two games...

We have re-watched this movie again and again for many years.

 

[hamzarocks]

The boys gave him a 3-0 lead, no excuses.

The boys then gave up a 3-0 pead

No excuses

Defense is ass

Jones has far outplayed his contract.

This defensive core wont win a round. We have a 1D in rielly then 3 4/5D in McCabe, Brodie and Lilijgren

No #2 or 3D

 

[stats1]

I totally agree with the Nylander signing. He really proved something in the playoffs and kept it up this year. Marner looks like a guy relying on 1 dude. I’d trade him in a heart beat and I’d let Tavares walk. I’m sorry as much as he wants to stay I’m not keeping him at anything over 4 million

 

[LeafalCrusader]

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

you really going to blame this mess on Jones wow

The boys gave him a 3-0 lead.

Give them a save.

Don't be an ass kisser

 

[TonsofPuppies]

He is the consummate professional from everything that we have heard .. but he doesn't strike me as someone that hates to lose more than he likes to win, and that lack of intensity cascades to the team.

Sorry, but I'm honestly not buying it. Those sort of issues existed before Tavares got there. Bottom line is this... Matthews Marner & Nylander shouldn't need someone else to tell them that they need to run through a wall every night for the team. That agreement was reached when they signed the dotted line on their ridiculous contracts. Go watch the Avs stars effort night in and night out to see what that commitment looks like, because you're never going to see that here.

 

[LeafEgo]

Dude when you get every call 2nd period on it sure looks like they owned it eh!

Griping calls is for the birds, you win some, you lose some, you play hockey. We weren't the better team tonight and that's fine. Avs are top caliber, we need to tighten up a little bit. Keep the faith.

 

[Tlo1]

3-0 lead after the first .. you have to win that game.

Or atleast get a point!!

 

[Hellcat]

I think both sides are really extreme. They aren’t as bad as you make them out to be and they aren’t as great as some make them seem. They are a decent team that has flaws sdefensively and in goal

That might be the problem you never know period to period what version of the Leafs is going to show up.... good teams tend to be consistent...

 

[bax]

Gio looks done , he’s not going to be playable come playoff time.

Gio was awful tonight. Terrible puck decisions and so slow

 

[stickty111]

Bertuzzi was never a "high profile forward". Lmao. Dude fluked his way to 30 goals ONE time. He is a career 45 point player at best, something you could get a lot cheaper than 5.5M. But this is Toronto. Endless band-aid solutions instead of addressing the real issue. 1.3M x 3 for Reaves who isn't even an NHL player. 5.5M for a 45 point 3rd/4th liner. Shanahan loves paying top dollar for mediocrity. That is the DNA of this franchise, almost a decade running.

Oh I agree, but it was praised as an important signing. When depth like Gregor and Benoit and maybe Domi are your best signings, you failed in the off season. Before the Dubas haters come after me, I'm not talking about Dubas here. He failed here and Brad isn't off to a shining start either

 

[TheDoldrums]

The whole team shines when beating up the disabled. Now, against playoff contending teams like the last two games...

What are you talking about lol. Most of the criticism in the regular season over this era has been that they lose to the worst teams and play down or up to competition.

 

[ToneDog]

This group/coach has not won anything.
Paying 4 forwards that lean far on the skilled/finesse side has not resulted in any playoff success.
Sure the defense is a issue but it's not the only issue and this team fails to consistently show up and play 60 minutes of intense, physical, attention to details hockey.

At some point maybe we just have to accept this core isn't as great as we'd like or that their play styles aren't really suited for when the game gets greasy and the intensity gets ramped up.

Some have accepted it. Not Scamahan unfortunately. Run it back again.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Tuesday night could get ugly.

Connor Brown first goal of the year incoming lol.

 

[Scion]

This group/coach has not won anything.
Paying 4 forwards that lean far on the skilled/finesse side has not resulted in any playoff success.
Sure the defense is a issue but it's not the only issue and this team fails to consistently show up and play 60 minutes of intense, physical, attention to details hockey.

At some point maybe we just have to accept this core isn't as great as we'd like or that their play styles aren't really suited for when the game gets greasy and the intensity gets ramped up.

And how do you propose the Leafs change the core without making the team worse?

FWIW I do not believe the core cannot win or is not as good as we think. I believe the defense has never come close to matching the quality of our forwards and because of cap and inability to draft/develop D that issue has never been rectified in the Matthews era.