Post-Game Talk: Leafs Lose 3-1 To VGK

[Stephen]

Man one person can only do so much in hockey. Linemates need to show up to and not cough up possession of the puck; keep cycle going until lanes open up.

If Marner was making league minimum I'd agree with you, with Marner making 11 AAV losing puck/board battles and then coughing up the puck to get out of o-zone is unacceptable. Marner has been trying all the fancy BS that he needs to shut down and simplify the game. I don't call out Bunting as much b/c his caphit isn't crazy

Matthews and Marner have both sucked. If we're going to be honest with appraisals you can't let Matthews off the hook for playing so many shifts like he wants to play that loosey goosey Mitch Marner game.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

You weren't underwhelmed by their efforts when they lost to the #31 and #32 teams from last year?

Of certain players, maybe. Of the entire team like this, no. We were the better team in those games.

This was up and down, pretty much 60 minutes worth of awful. We have not given up that many Grade A chances in a game in a long time. Offensively we actually did have a few good stretches, but that was one of the worst defensive performances ever under Keefe.

And I checked, in the last 3+ seasons, we have only had 3 games worse than that one from an xGA perspective at ES and at all strengths. That is 206 games... Or subtract 20 if you don't want to include Babcock, but those 3 games were all under Keefe.

So it is safe to say that this game is not a regular occurrence for this team, and we can thank Samsonov for it not being nearly as bad as it could have been.

 

[hockeyes]

Easy one to turn off early. I don't know the stats but I am sure the record when you get scored on twice during a single power play probably isnt very good.

Samsonov is going to be burned out by Christmas if the 11 million dollar kids expect him to carry the team on his back.

 

[Machinae]

Feels like nothing will ever change with this core. Marner is not a winner or a leader, and certainly not a man.

 

[saffronleaf]

As a group it just seems like they often like to see how much they can win by doing the bare minimum. They just don't have a burning desire to kick the crap out of anyone and put in a hard effort. Then they get embarrassed. And then they play hard when they need a redemption. Once they get that big win, they revert to slacker mode. Rinse and repeat, same story since they got Babcock fired in 2019-20.

scary how much the leafs resemble me

 

[Darcy Tucker]

Yeah Marner's a forever tweener , but some of you just seem to want Matthews leaving town in a blockbuster. New era of leafdom for sure

 

[Stephen]

Feels like nothing will ever change with this core. Marner is not a winner or a leader, and certainly not a man.

Mitch Marner will eventually break out and score a boat load of points. He's always terrible to start a season and there's always one stretch where there's a crisis in confidence, he's forgotten to play hockey and then he remembers. Big game player? He isn't until he is. As far as the man part, well he comes across as a fun loving young adult.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

We barely outplayed an AHL team, we’re looking good boys!

It wasn't barely. We were clearly better. We couldn't hit the broad side of the barn (or were heat seeking their shin pads), but we were clearly better.

But as Keefe said, our elite players didn't play like elite players... And even ARI has enough to win a game when an entire top line which plays a third of the game does absolutely nothing positive.

And right now, that is a regular occurrence. The fact that we still somehow have a winning record despite that happening all 7 games so far this year is a testament to the team on the whole, because we are winning in spite of guys like Marner and Matthews right now.

And yes, if Matthews and Marner play like this in the playoffs, we are not winning a series. There is nothing Keefe, Dubas, or any other player on this team can really do about it. Our best players are not our best players right now, and there are far too many stretches where they downright suck too.

 

[ponder]

A few players showed up - Tavares, Nylander and Samsonov. They've been our top 3 players all season, really.

I thought Sandin and Jarnkrok were decent too. But overall ... ugh, shitty performance.

We really need Matthews and Marner to wake up soon, neither have looked themselves at all this year. Dominating the play less AND finishing worse than normal. On the finishing point, Matthews especially, his shot has been WAY worse than normal, he's at 3% shooting percentage, and it's not bad luck, his shot has been garbage. Poor accuracy, poor power, straight up whiffing on 1-timers, etc.

If I'm Keefe, I try swapping Matthews and Tavares, see if that wakes Matthews and Marner up (i.e. Nylander/Matthews/Robertson and Bunting/Tavares/Marner). Matthews and Marner need to be our top 2 players, them combining for 2 goals through 7 games doesn't cut it.

 

[saffronleaf]

Mitch Marner will eventually break out and score a boat load of points. He's always terrible to start a season and there's always one stretch where there's a crisis in confidence, he's forgotten to play hockey and then he remembers. Big game player? He isn't until he is. As far as the man part, well he comes across as a fun loving young adult.

that's just not enough for eleven mil. long stretches of poor play in the regular season; poor playoffs performances; toxic negotiation tactics; unwillingness to get bigger.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

2nd line (with Malgin for 4 games and Robertson for 3): 10 goals in 7 games.
Matthews/Marner/Bunting: 4 goals.
Kampf/Kerfoot/Jarnkrok: 4 goals.

Bunting has still met expectations because he has had some really nice assists (and has more goals than Matthews and Marner right now), but we are playing Matthews and Marner 22 minutes a night and they have 2 goals in 7 games combined. That is how many goals Kampf has alone, and he plays almost half the minutes and they are almost all in the defensive end... With ZAR, NAK, Clifford, and Simmonds as his linemates.

We still need to tinker with that bottom 6 and get Malgin back in there especially, but this team starts dominating games when our top line starts producing like our top line.

 

[AllDay28]

seasons over cause Leafs lost, right?

 

[centipede2233]

It would be a leaf’s type of season where samsonov has the best season as a leafs goalie in years and still miss the playoffs.

 

[kevsh]

I hate picking on Pierre, again, so I won't directly, but this is just as much on Keefe - who has coached Engvall for years - not convincing this guy to use his body. With his size and speed he could be a forechecking beast.

Instead, we have this. Just embarrassing.

 

[klmdg]

I hate picking on Pierre, again, so I won't directly, but this is just as much on Keefe - who has coached Engvall for years - not convincing this guy to use his body. With his size and speed he could be a forechecking beast.

Instead, we have this. Just embarrassing.

With his size, speed, and shot he could be a serious power forward in the league

If he were to finish checks like that hard, he would cause innumerable turnovers because a lot of D would panic at the sight of him

Alas, he wants to play like Freddy Gauthier and will probably be joining him in Europe soon enough

 

[Dreakmur]

I hate picking on Pierre, again, so I won't directly, but this is just as much on Keefe - who has coached Engvall for years - not convincing this guy to use his body. With his size and speed he could be a forechecking beast.

Instead, we have this. Just embarrassing.

It’s on Keefe and Dubas for having him in the lineup, but a coach can only change certainly things about a player. You can’t make a dumb player smart. You can’t make a soft player tough.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

anyone catch what Edmonton did after McDavid left the game?

(the answer, they outshot the Pens 26-4 in the second period).

Why would any of us care? good for them?

 

[supermann_98]

Are you seriously not including the Arizona game?

They’re getting pumped by every team in the league and we put up 5 shots in the first against them lmao

Yeah but teams always seem to bring their A game against the Leafs . Puts us at a disadvantage because our team overlooks most teams and doesn’t try hard very often to begin with

 

[All Mod Cons]

Moronic penalties by Gio and Kerfoot again. Kerfoot has to be the worst disciplined player on the team.

 

[MSZ]

I wouldn't be surprised if they come out flat against that godawful Sharks team too.

 

[francis246]

that's just not enough for eleven mil. long stretches of poor play in the regular season; poor playoffs performances; toxic negotiation tactics; unwillingness to get bigger.

What? Unwillingness to get bigger? Didn't marner add a bunch of weight this year? Pretty sure he's done growing he aint getting taller, not sure what you mean by get bigger. Plus there's an optimal weight each player is most effective at. Adding a bunch of "weight" isn't going to help marner's game, it's going to slow him down. That's not what we want. We want Marner to simplify his game and play more north-south. You don't need to add weight to do that...

How about our 60 goal man though? Should he not be subject to criticism? Cause Marner has done a pretty good job of getting him the puck and Matthews has lacked finish bad to start the year.

 

[Racer88]

Sounds like I made the smart move of going to bed after the first period

 

[TMLAM34]

Wasn’t able to watch the game but by everyone’s reaction that seems like a good thing. Overall, you can’t win them all. They’re coming off two really good performances against Dallas and Winnipeg so it was just a matter of time before we shit the bed in a game.

 

[Brown Dog]

I blame the scheduler. Leafs don't do Mondays.

 

[MSZ]

Sounds like I made the smart move of going to bed after the first period

Same here.