Post-Game Talk: Leafs lose 4-2

[AvroArrow]

Hoping Rielly can get his head out of his ass before the playoffs start. A bad time to start sucking like this.

 

[AvroArrow]

What happens when Bogo comes back ? I liked Sandins game, especially on the PP. He looks very comfortable on the blue line and makes good plays. Do we play 7D a game ? Engvall has looked MUCH better since Keefe scratched him. Riley Nash coming back maybe as well, interesting to see what our lineup is gonna look like.

 

[fahad203]

This was a win. Nobody got hurt

However, Reilly's decision making is really concerning

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

That 3rd goal is a perfect example of why I'm still concerned with Campbell, that needs to be stopped in the playoffs

 

[Suntouchable13]

That 3rd goal is a perfect example of why I'm still concerned with Campbell, that needs to be stopped in the playoffs

But that was a great shot from a really good goal scorer. How many time would fans of opposing teams say "he should have stopped that" when Matthews scores on their goalies?

 

[egd27]

Our focus needs to be on winning the first, then the second, then the third, the cup. Not the final game of the season putting us into a hypothetical better matchup based on a number of "if" situations

Well said.

 

[budzz]

Agreed. No matter what they have to play whoever comes out of their respective divisions.

Chances are all the 1 seeds won't advance and it's going to be a tough two final rounds.

In my dream scenario somehow they take out Bos and TB in the final two rounds and leave no doubt

Home ice advantage has a whole different element to it this year too. Most all US stadiums are allowing fans in the building. By then it's likely Canada still isn't. So even if the government allows teams to travel back and forth, in a series with, say Boston, we go into their building with the crowds rocking. Then come home to play to an empty quiet building? If it works out that way, huge disadvantage for Home games already. Rather a game 7 in our quiet building than ANY U.S. building with fans in the stands.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

But that was a great shot from a really good goal scorer. How many time would fans of opposing teams say "he should have stopped that" when Matthews scores on their goalies?

That can't go in from that angle

 

[egd27]

Some of you guys are actually concerned about our potential 3rd round match up. That's so cute.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I know people are scared about Vegas or the Avs, but I actually think it may be a blessing in disguise.
I would rather avoid Carolina than Colorado/Vegas. 2 fewer points in a much tougher division.

In the end, there is a lot of gymnastics that people are worried about for absolutely no reason.
Maybe we have to go up against Colorado/Vegas before we go up against Carolina in the Cup Finals instead of the other way around. Either way, we are playing two top teams and we are playing teams that we can beat.

We're going to have to play good teams no matter what, this is true.

Agreed. No matter what they have to play whoever comes out of their respective divisions.

Chances are all the 1 seeds won't advance and it's going to be a tough two final rounds.

In my dream scenario somehow they take out Bos and TB in the final two rounds and leave no doubt

That's a pretty dreamy scenario but playing NYI somewhere along the line would be even dreamier, just imagine the drama there on so many levels!

Some of you guys are actually concerned about our potential 3rd round match up. That's so cute.

It never hurts to think ahead a bit. It beats losing and then explaining why it doesn't matter.

I remember that great Habs dynasty, must have been hard for them to get motivated on many nights. They were pros though and they always played to win. Larry Robinson used to say before games "we gotta play this game, may as well win it", now that's a winning attitude.

 

[egd27]

It never hurts to think ahead a bit.

Sports is filled with failures due to teams thinking ahead rather that focusing on what was in front of them.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Home ice advantage has a whole different element to it this year too. Most all US stadiums are allowing fans in the building. By then it's likely Canada still isn't. So even if the government allows teams to travel back and forth, in a series with, say Boston, we go into their building with the crowds rocking. Then come home to play to an empty quiet building? If it works out that way, huge disadvantage for Home games already. Rather a game 7 in our quiet building than ANY U.S. building with fans in the stands.

I hadn't even thought about this until yesterday but if this happens, it would be terrible and it would also make losing that last game a lot more significant as every place we could have moved up in the standings would be just that much more important.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Sports is filled with failures due to teams thinking ahead rather that focusing on what was in front of them.

You think that if had played a bit harder last night, our players would find it harder to focus against MTL?

 

[egd27]

You think that if had played a bit harder last night, our players would find it harder to focus against MTL?

No, not what I was saying.
I meant worrying about who they may face in the 3rd round seems like a bad idea before the first round has even begun.
And that sports is riddled with failures due to teams (and individuals) thinking about their "next" opponent. Let alone the one after that.

 

[Gary Nylund]

No, not what I was saying.
I meant worrying about who they may face in the 3rd round seems like a bad idea before the first round has even begun.
And that sports is riddled with failures due to teams (and individuals) thinking about their "next" opponent. Let alone the one after that.

Nobody's "worrying". I'm just pointing out that those people saying last night's game was meaningless are wrong. For WPG it was meaningless but for the Leafs that's just not true.

 

[egd27]

Nobody's "worrying". I'm just pointing out that those people saying last night's game was meaningless are wrong. For WPG it was meaningless but for the Leafs that's just not true.

Winnipeg leapfrogged STL in the standings. It had the exact same meaning it had for the Leafs should those two teams get out of their divisions.

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

Hoping Rielly can get his head out of his ass before the playoffs start. A bad time to start sucking like this.

Good thing we have Brodie and Muzzin now. Rielly on his own would be a nightmare.

 

[Menzinger]

And that lack of physicality is exactly why this talk about about saving ourselves for the playoffs makes no sense. Skate a little harder, we don't play again for 6 days FFS.

Not really though. An injury that happened last night can last a lot longer than just a week. The concern wasn't guys being too tired after the game, it was avoiding the risk of a broken bone, or tweeked back or groin ect.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Nobody's "worrying". I'm just pointing out that those people saying last night's game was meaningless are wrong. For WPG it was meaningless but for the Leafs that's just not true.

It's not meaningless, but it is insignificant. If it turns out to be a problem in Round 3, then we will worry about it in Round 3. Until then, it is so insignificant that the main thing Keefe cared about in the post-game presser was the fact that nobody got hurt.

I would put it on the same level as losing a shutout in the last minute of a 5-1 blowout. Sure it sucks, but do we really need to waste our energy on complaining about it? No. There was nothing concerning about the way the Leafs played in the last two games, besides Andersen being a complete disaster, so the Leafs won't care about it.

 

[Captain14]

What happens when Bogo comes back ? I liked Sandins game, especially on the PP. He looks very comfortable on the blue line and makes good plays. Do we play 7D a game ? Engvall has looked MUCH better since Keefe scratched him. Riley Nash coming back maybe as well, interesting to see what our lineup is gonna look like.

I can’t see how Nash is in the starting lineup for the first few games of the series, he hasn’t played.
I do however see him being shuffled in at some point.
I think you need to start with our lineup from the last few weeks of the season and make changes when and if needed.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Winnipeg leapfrogged STL in the standings. It had the exact same meaning it had for the Leafs should those two teams get out of their divisions.

I think we both know the odds of that happening.

Not really though. An injury that happened last night can last a lot longer than just a week. The concern wasn't guys being too tired after the game, it was avoiding the risk of a broken bone, or tweeked back or groin ect.

Injuries aren't an issue here, when you start playing to avoid injury is when you're more likely to get injured and the game was a no hitting affair anyway. Or do you think WPG won cause they were willing to take risks that might have resulted in injury that we weren't willing to take?

It's not meaningless, but it is insignificant. If it turns out to be a problem in Round 3, then we will worry about it in Round 3. Until then, it is so insignificant that the main thing Keefe cared about in the post-game presser was the fact that nobody got hurt.

I would put it on the same level as losing a shutout in the last minute of a 5-1 blowout. Sure it sucks, but do we really need to waste our energy on complaining about it? No. There was nothing concerning about the way the Leafs played in the last two games, besides Andersen being a complete disaster, so the Leafs won't care about it.

If you think playoff seeding isn't significant OK, we'll just agree to disagree. And there's no point in worrying about it in round 3, it's too late to do anything about it at that point.

I would say this - we lost the game, period. Sure it sucks but let's just accept the fact that we lost and not waste our energy pretending like the game was meaningless when it wasn't.

 

[Menzinger]

I think we both know the odds of that happening.



Injuries aren't an issue here, when you start playing to avoid injury is when you're more likely to get injured and the game was a no hitting affair anyway. Or do you think WPG won cause they were willing to take risks that might have resulted in injury that we weren't willing to take?



If you think playoff seeding isn't significant OK, we'll just agree to disagree. And there's no point in worrying about it in round 3, it's too late to do anything about it at that point.

I would say this - we lost the game, period. Sure it sucks but let's just accept the fact that we lost and not waste our energy pretending like the game was meaningless when it wasn't.

I think Winnipeg won because they happened to get the right shots at the right time and neither team was particularly invested in winning.

I'd simply disagree about injuries not being an issue. If the Leafs were able to I have little doubt they would have outright sat their core players if they could have last night.

Overall I just think we're overanalyzing these 60 minutes of gameplay by an extreme degree

 

[Stephen]

For the general argument that it was a nothing game, I liked the Bruce Boudreau interview on Leafs Hour where he quoted George Armstrong. Bruce said it was his preference for the Leafs to keep playing those meaningless games at a high level because quoting Armstrong, “hockey isn’t a tap you can turn on or off.” Although ironically this team can seem to turn it on and off, I think the old school fan in me would prefer to see a team just always put that best foot forward regardless of circumstances.

 

[weeweeballs]

This comment makes no sense. What does playoff sucess have anything to do with showing up for meaningless games?

So you would prefer win 10-0 in this game and then lose in the 1st round?

If they won this game, nobody would care. Since they lost, all the silly criticism comes in.

I never mentioned winning or losing, just playing better. I don't believe in "flipping the switch" when the playoffs start and I'd rather have them playing well going into the playoffs than not.

 

[Doublerum1975]

Everyone is talking like the leafs got dominated go back and look at the game we didn't play that bad few bounces we win