Post-Game Talk: Leafs lose 4-2

[binop7]

Is it me or is Bunting as pedestrian as Denis Malgin?

No chance would I give him 8 years

 

[rocketman588]

He has such respect in the league, he‘d walk in that room and command it instantly. He‘s an upgrade no question, but It’s all about relationships and loyalty here.

You think this band of f***os will be willing to nerf their personal stats for the cause?

 

[rdogg]

Matthews is an absolute loser and you can't win with him.

Hopefully he walks as a UFA and curses some other team with his high cap hit. Then the Leafs can bring in someone who knows how to win a playoff series like McJesus.

 

[BallardEra]

You think this band of f***os will be willing to nerf their personal stats for the cause?

It’s not like the Caps stopped scoring goals under Trotz. They were always at the top of the league in goals scored.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

It’s not even about winning or losing. Yes, we all want to see them win but you can’t win every regular season game even against ass opponents like Arizona.

It’s the lack of growth that’s infuriating. They keep spewing BS about how they’re different this year and how much they believe in themselves and not even 5 games in they’ve already managed to show multiple times they’re the exact same shit as years past. If they played hard consistently for 60 mins every night, win or lose, it would be a positive. But they don’t.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

Well they can "throw it in the blender" but even that only goes so far.

If our top line starts playing to what they are capable of doing, then we are easily 4-0 and none of these games are close. The other things start looking a lot less dire and the coaching staff can focus on fine-tuning those things rather than figuring out how to make up for a floundering top line that we should not need to worry about.

Malgin has outplayed Bunting. Tavares has outplayed Matthews. Nylander has outplayed Marner. It is nice that our 2nd line is doing well, but that is simply unacceptable.

If Malgin is outplaying Bunting, then Bunting has been absolute dogshit because Malgin has been near invisible.

 

[Fogelhund]

Morgan Rielly has been on for more goals against at 5v5 than 24 NHL teams have allowed so far this year.

 

[HellasLEAF]

If Malgin is outplaying Bunting, then Bunting has been absolute dogshit because Malgin has been near invisible.

Malgin sucked on his first tour. Stubborn Dubas goes right ahead and doubles down on him.

He is exactly what the team doesn't need actually. I'm sorry but unless you are one of the top dogs you should be throwing checks and playing tough. I don't care for any dingle dangle outside the top guys because none of them hit either (except Matthew sometimes). So, you can't have the top guys and the middle guys not hitting. That doesn't add up to winning.

 

[IPS]

Morgan Rielly has been on for more goals against at 5v5 than 24 NHL teams have allowed so far this year.

Rielly-Brodie is a dogshit pairing. Rielly-Lyubushkin was getting better results than this last year.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

Malgin sucked on his first tour. Stubborn Dubas goes right ahead and doubles down on him.

He is exactly what the team doesn't need actually. I'm sorry but unless you are one of the top dogs you should be throwing checks and playing tough. I don't care for any dingle dangle outside the top guys because none of them hit either (except Matthew sometimes). So, you can't have the top guys and the middle guys not hitting. That doesn't add up to winning.

You'd think we would have learned that by now. Engvall, Malgin, Kerfoot types don't win you games in the playoffs or when your elite players are not playing elite.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

If Malgin is outplaying Bunting, then Bunting has been absolute dogshit because Malgin has been near invisible.

Oh well, I would rather him be invisible and good than visibly trash... Which ironically the top line has not been but they are so freaking incapable of executing their chances right now.

 

[Stephen]

I’m not an over reactor. Most of the posters here are over the top and don’t apply consistency to other teams. But…..

Losing to the 31 and 32 place team in 2 of your last 4 games when tied late in the 3rd is shocking.

They were losing to ottawa too.

To be this unprepared is insane.

I don’t know if they need a bag skate. Or keefe needs to go but this team is not prepared.

This is mattys contract year.

The team needs a massive shakeup to shatter the notion of job security.

Matthews himself has not been that great. The whole first line is disjointed and as sloppy as anything else.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

Oh well, I would rather him be invisible and good than visibly trash... Which ironically the top line has not been but they are so freaking incapable of executing their chances right now.

The top line is definitely a part of the problem. But the biggest factor in our losses thus far has been the truly horrendous plays late in games. Holl is a train wreck, Muzzin not much better, dumb late penalty. If those don’t happen, there wouldn’t be the angst among the fans about the first line. We’d relax till they found their game.

 

[Stephen]

Morgan Rielly has been on for more goals against at 5v5 than 24 NHL teams have allowed so far this year.

Morgan Rielly looks really bad. The tunnel vision and forcing pucks into traffic, getting caught on the counter rush, terrible puck distribution on the PP. Trade mark muffin shot. He hasn't looked this rough since late 2021.

 

[Stephen]

The top line is definitely a part of the problem. But the biggest factor in our losses thus far has been the truly horrendous plays late in games. Holl is a train wreck, Muzzin not much better, dumb late penalty. If those don’t happen, there wouldn’t be the angst among the fans about the first line. We’d relax till they found their game.

In the offensive zone, the top line looks like it's prioritizing complete the most touches of the puck and % passing completion and zone time on the attack before actually going to the net and getting basic scoring chances. It looks a little bit like hockey players trying to apply Pep Guardiola possession football and it's just wasting time.

 

[Dave92]

Marner attempting to show up the fans, and then claiming he didn't after inadvertently costing his team the game is why he's so beloved.

You could tell he was just waiting for the question in the post game.

 

[MattySnipes]

Good thing in the playoffs there are no weak teams, Leafs should be able to do some damage.

They've been playing down to lower level competition for years, it's very annoying but out of our control. Just gotta hope they put it together for the very meaningful games.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

In the offensive zone, the top line looks like it's prioritizing complete the most touches of the puck and % passing completion and zone time on the attack before actually going to the net and getting basic scoring chances. It looks a little bit like hockey players trying to apply Pep Guardiola possession football and it's just wasting time.

Agreed, particularly on the PP. The goals we’ve scored have come when we shoot on/at the net and get rebounds. This playing on the perimeter, aided and abetted by Rielly, led to an embarrassing 0 shots on the first 4 PP…against the Coyotes!!!

 

[notDatsyuk]

Morgan Rielly looks really bad. The tunnel vision and forcing pucks into traffic, getting caught on the counter rush, terrible puck distribution on the PP. Trade mark muffin shot. He hasn't looked this rough since late 2021.

On the other hand, if the late goal hadn't been called back (correct, although I thought it hit the Coyotes' skate), we'd be praising him for a game-saving play.

Again, Willy was the best Leaf. None of the goals were Kallgren's fault (although he was way out of position on the fourth ).

 

[Stephen]

On the other hand, if the late goal hadn't been called back (correct, although I thought it hit the Coyotes' skate), we'd be praising him for a game-saving play.

Again, Willy was the best Leaf. None of the goals were Kallgren's fault (although he was way out of position on the fourth ).

I just find Rielly has been scrambly and unreliable defensively and ineffective offensively. We could have tied it up on his little play at the point but that wouldn't have changed much. He got his raise and he's been much worse than in 2021-22.

 

[ktownhockey]

It should never be this close to begin with.

Ya, it shouldn't have been that close..... we still got jobbed on that call. I never complain about reffing or calls, the "hand pass" hand pass at the blue when you are tied that late in a game when not called by the officials on the ice is an absolute screw job. I don't care what any of you angry about the entirety of the game posters say. That was an absolute joke.

 

[Leafblooded]

Teams that gain even an ounce of respect in the handshake line don't get chintzy-ass calls like that "glove pass" booked against them

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Rielly-Brodie is a dogshit pairing. Rielly-Lyubushkin was getting better results than this last year.

Lyubushkin was actually dogshit though, and not in a short period of time. That is the difference.

Rielly and Brodie have baring the brunt of a lot of other bad mistakes in a small sample size. Bad offensive turnovers and some iffy goaltending from both Murray and Samsonov have attributed to half of their goals against thus far.

The top line is definitely a part of the problem. But the biggest factor in our losses thus far has been the truly horrendous plays late in games. Holl is a train wreck, Muzzin not much better, dumb late penalty. If those don’t happen, there wouldn’t be the angst among the fans about the first line. We’d relax till they found their game.

Is it bigger than a that PP goes 0/4 with zero shots before finally getting a goal? Or our top 6 putting 3 shots combined in the first 2 periods? What about if Jarnkrok doesn't take an unnecessary penalty or if Gio clears the puck 20 seconds earlier and Holl doesn't even need to make that play? Sure, you would like for him to clear that puck himself, but there have been a lot more than late game plays that have killed us.

We are going through issues with our core players that Cup contending teams do not have to fight through very often, and when they do, they are typically not very successful themselves.

Holl makes 2 mill and is still well-exceeding what should realistically be expected out of him. Those mistakes that he makes... That is the vast majority of the poor play, and only a small fraction of his overall play which is still a net-positive in spite of those mistakes.

A lot can be framed with only a few events. Has Holl made mistakes? Sure. Have some of them been costly? Sure. Should they define him as a player? Not any more than every other defenseman who make those mistakes, and yet they certainly do define him more. Bias is heavily involved in people's perceptions of players in this market, and their biases are probably worse than most others just due to how much the fans care. I have biases too, but I also make sure to gather as much knowledge (both through data and watching all parts of the game, not just the higher event parts) to ensure I can make as informed opinion as possible. I can't say what other people do, and not everyone has to agree with me, but there is a reasonable range of perception before an opinion is just incompatible with reality or at least heavily biased, and that happens a lot around here. Holl (and Malgin) are examples of that.

 

[wingman75]

The leadership of this team is pathetic.

Knowing they lost to this team twice last season, knowing they are even worse this season, this is what they bring?

4 PPs, no shots? You would think that is impossible, but no...

They are the same. Nothing will change. Enjoy the regular season folks.

Great players. Terrible team.

It’s not even about winning or losing. Yes, we all want to see them win but you can’t win every regular season game even against ass opponents like Arizona.

It’s the lack of growth that’s infuriating. They keep spewing BS about how they’re different this year and how much they believe in themselves and not even 5 games in they’ve already managed to show multiple times they’re the exact same shit as years past. If they played hard consistently for 60 mins every night, win or lose, it would be a positive. But they don’t.

The only people eating that shit is them... and I'm not even sure they believe it anymore... they know what they are.

 

[ktownhockey]

Why? The call was correct. The only thing that bugs me about it is there should be a time limit for replay. If you have to look at it for ten minutes then the call (or non call) on the ice should stand.

Explain how it was the correct call PLEASE!! Cannot wait.