Post-Game Talk: Leafs Lose In Columbus

[Zybalto]

This is a false narrative. Tampa changed their team outlook; and their core bought in to playing hardnosed tough hockey instead of cute fancy bullshit that they were doing against CBJ when they got swept.

Dont have to believe me just read Tampa players, Cooper's interviews

Naw, they had to say something after getting swept after losing only 12 games all season.

They were still the same team that went to game 7 of the semis the year before and I would argue an even better version.

The big difference was Vasy.

You know the most saves he's ever made in a playoff game? The same game Kopisalo set the playoff save record in. Hes taken it upon himself and refused to let his team lose since that sweep series. They were badly outplayed by Florida in the first round last year and he carried them through.

 

[hotpaws]

Agreed!!!

Timing is everything. Sometimes you gotta be smart and know that probably this is not your time. Spending future with nothing to show is not good.

Quite frankly... There is a very high probability that Leafs face either Tampa or Florida. And similarly high probability that Leafs dont win that series.

As a "stats" person I hope dubas at least thinks about it before throwing away futures

if Dudas believes his job is on the line which it probably is he'll trade all the futures to try for a deep playoff run

 

[PromisedLand]

Its so exhausting being a fan of this team. There always seems to be somthing wrong, wether its defense, goaltending, both. If things play out like last year I don't believe Matthews stays when his contract is up.

To be honest, Matthews has THE BEST contract in NHL, and other earning potential because he is a Leaf. If after all that he still wants to leave then good luck to him.

We will rebuild again in the hopes of a more competitive core then.

 

[LastOne2100]

We don't need a .940 save percentage to win. We didn't need it before and we don't need it now.

Campbell and Mrazek's combined save percentage over the last several weeks has been among the worst in the NHL. Our record during that time is a testament to our offensive and defensive play.

We don't need a .940 save percentage, but league average would be nice.

I agree - we are a good team with league average goaltending. We aren't going to win a cup with league average goaltending and this defense.

If you guys are satisfied to keep winning regular season games, I'm happy for you.

 

[Shooter2x]

Not sure why people keep giving this defense a pass. They are awful, definitely nowhere near what you would hope to have in a contender.

3/6 of our D would likely not crack the roster of any of the top teams.

They only look good when a goaltender stands on their head with a .940% save percentage . When we stop getting that, blame the goaltending!

Campbell is a conditional no.1 like how Holl is/was a conditional no.4 depending on which version of Muzzin we're getting.

How many of those .940 saves were in games Leafs dominated xGF? Majority of the huge saves were off transition with next to no traffic. Just needs to spread that pad out and he's good to go for the SOUP chants. There's many goalies in the league capable of doing this the way Leafs played in front of him.

Now that games resemble actual hockey grind (for a lack of better words), Campbell has no idea wtf he's doing.

 

[ULF_55]

Is this another mirage?

As we get closer we'll find out if it is nothing.

 

[LastOne2100]

Campbell is a conditional no.1 like how Holl is/was a conditional no.4 depending on which version of Muzzin we're getting.

How many of those .940 saves were in games Leafs dominated xGF? Majority of the huge saves were off transition with next to no traffic. Just needs to spread that pad out and he's good to go for the SOUP chants. There's many goalies in the league capable of doing this the way Leafs played in front of him.

Now that games resemble actual hockey grind (for a lack of better words), Campbell has no idea wtf he's doing.

Yep, I agree with this. I am not trying to defend Campbell - I think the Leafs absolutely blew it on goaltending and Campbell should've been the backup this year at best. That being said, he's getting beaten of the rush a lot lately, not really grindy goals and traffic in front.

But I just don't understand how people that think we're average goaltending away from a cup.

 

[PromisedLand]

if Dudas believes his job is on the line which it probably is he'll trade all the futures to try for a deep playoff run

Quite frankly, unlike last season or seasons prior; most of the Leafs fans I know they are not expecting to have a stelllar post season given that Leafs will have to face either Florida or Tampa.

Dubas technically has backing of most of the Leafs nation if he doesnt want to spend the future. If he does and Leafs still exit in the first round then dubas should definitely be fired.

If he doesn't mortgage the future I am fine with him sticking around. To me it means he has learned to act in a timely, calculated fashion

 

[The Iceman]

I wonder if we can afford to even call him up. Maybe with the Muzzin injury we can?

Can't hurt, except for Woll's confidence.

1-We should have tons of caps space with Muzzin out
2-Woll is injured
3-He has a save percentage in the .8s as a Marlie. Dude is not ready

 

[BigGulpsEh]

Get a top 4 D before deadline and cross
your fingers one of these sieve goalies can figure it out before playoffs

 

[LastOne2100]

1-We should have tons of caps space with Muzzin out
2-Woll is injured
3-He has a save percentage in the .8s as a Marlie. Dude is not ready

Yeah and then we have Hutchinson barely being an AHL goalie too. It's incredible how bad our goalie drafting & development has been for so long.

We have literally nothing in the pipeline.

 

[cupcrazyman]

Looks like we'll be a wild card team at this rate.

 

[Leafsfan74]

I think all three of the Big 3 lack that blue collar hockey persona that you kind of need in your elite group. We have 3x Adam Banks and not enough Charlie Conway’s, to use a Mighty Ducks analogy.

I think other teams love playing against them and this team in general.

"So what if they are talented and creative, we aren't afraid of being hit or having a rough night".

Some level of trepidation for an opponent is beneficial. This is why I enjoyed Bush first game. He wasn't perfect but he was engaged in a new system.

Get at least another D like him and maybe mosve some of the 1 dimensional players up front.

The happy locker room can only go so far, I'm not seeing enough of a mob mentality.

Tonight I saw Engvall with a bit of attitude, that should be his demeanour every night. I saw Brodie just miss a big hit. I nod my head to that.

You can't keep that up all night, but you need to have enough of it to impact other players time, space and thought process. Life is just too easy for the opponent and then it is magnified with poor offensive giveaways and one way play.

 

[Superstar]

Is this another mirage?

As we get closer we'll find out if it is nothing.

Looking to drink champagne to quench that thirst out of the Cup in the distant...

 

[Marshy]

Forget Campbell and his expiring deal. We have 2 more years of Mrazek @ 3.8M AAV playing like a #3.

 

[cupcrazyman]

Yeah and then we have Hutchinson barely being an AHL goalie too. It's incredible how bad our goalie drafting & development has been for so long.

We have literally nothing in the pipeline.

3 picks last year & only 2 more picks this year
Great job Dubas.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

I didn’t catch the game tonight but wtf happened this time?

 

[PromisedLand]

It all depends on how at risk his job is if the crap out 1st round for the 6th year in a row

Tanenbaum should veto any futures related trade IMO.

 

[Superstar]

Forget Campbell and his expiring deal. We have 2 more years of Mrazek @ 3.8M AAV playing like a #3.

Maybe moving Mrazek for half a season of Mike Smith might not be a bad idea.

 

[123offtheglass]

Not a bad game, Jack sucked tonight.

Every goalie goes cold here and there, maybe .890 Mrazek can save the day in the meantime.

 

[LastOne2100]

Tanenbaum should veto any futures related trade IMO.

At this point, I expect they will approve anything to try and make this season be the one. Hopefully at least it's for players who they think can fit in long term, not more garbage rentals.

This is really the last kick of the can with this management group, I think. Hard to fire them all if you don't give them the flexibility to sink their own ship.

 

[Zybalto]

As I said, our defensive numbers are good because we’re a great possession team.

The stats can’t tell you the quality of the chances you give up. I get you’re using HDC but not all HDC’s are equal. An all alone, no back pressure 2 on 1 (like Laine’s first) is a HDC the same as a shot from the slot with the goalie set, no passing options, sticks hacking you and a guy on you back.

Far too many of the HDCs we give up are of the High-HDC variety. There’s a reason Freddy went from consistently terrible in HDSV% his entire time here then jumped up 100pts in Carolina meanwhile Mrazek went from excellent to horrible, 136pts below his career average this year.

Previous 2 seasons:

5v5 HD save%:

Campbell: .848

Hutch: 808
Andersen: .808

Campbell runaway Vezina winner with the Canes this season? Maybe they should grab Hutch in case Andersen goes down?

 

[123offtheglass]

Jason Spezza deserves better

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Ok I read a couple posts and it seems like Campbell was ass yet again. I really don’t want to trade our 1st but if it means getting Fleury I’m all for it. Using that 1st on someone like Chiarot will make no difference if we have a pair of sieves in net.

 

[Racer88]

Tanenbaum should veto any futures related trade IMO.

Agreed.