Post-Game Talk: Leafs Lose In Columbus

[Hoglund4MvP]

 

[Stephen]

What those people don’t understand is that the Osgood strategy involved having a legendary defenseman anchoring your blue line coupled with multiple proven HoF players up front. We have none of those.

Agreed.

 

[Mess]

Is this another mirage?

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

Kind of a Déjà vu of the last 2 playoff years against CBJ and Montreal these last 2 games..

So are we any closer to feeling comfortable competing for the Cup?

 

[BrannigansLaw]

You can kind of tell other teams like playing the part of tough guy spoiler against our "outskill them" mentality even when they're not tough guys. A guy like Nick Suzuki has no business running around on anybody and yet has no issue throwing Justin Holl into the end boards on a cheap shot like he's Mr Power Forward all of a sudden. If we still had Roberts and Tucker he wouldn't be going to any corners the rest of the night after pulling that kind of stunt.

You are absolutely right. God I miss the Roberts/Tucker days. It feels like a lifetime ago at this point but what those teams lacked in talent they made up for in pure heart and effort. I remember the 2002 run with all the injuries and how we overachieved making the conference finals, now we have a bunch of man children whose greatest accomplishment is perennially choking.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

I don't really get the overreactions.

We knew this team would be good in the regular season (pacing for 111 points... so living up to that). And they're going to live or die based on playoff performance. I don't think a single thing about the regular season means anything whatsoever other than actually making the playoffs. And we'll clearly do that.

I don't care at all who the first round match up is. Our last two years show that being the cinderella-story level underdogs means diddly squat. Montreal looked like shit all regular season then made it to the cup finals.

The playoffs are all that matter this year. And this leafs team will clearly make the playoffs. Lose in the first round? Literally trade everybody, even including Matthews, and start from scratch.

 

[PromisedLand]

Spezza did tie the game late to give Campbell a chance to salvage the W.

here is campbell's game log for this season

Since Dec 1st he has played 19GP; 11W, 4L, 3OTL

Of the total 36 games he has started and 23 total games he has won he has had less than 0.9 SV% only 3 times i.e. 3 times team has bailed him out. 30 SAA, 1.6 GAA

Of the 8 regulation loss he has had, he has had more than 0.9 SV% twice. 28 SAA, 4.1 GAA

Of the 4 OTL losses he has had, he has had more than 0.9 SV% twice; 37 SAA, 3.5 GAA

*One game he was pulled where Mrazken finished the game.


Notes:

• If Leafs can play well defensively in front of him, he wins more often than not
• He is not being paid to be a #1 goalie and should not be relied upon as being an upper echelon goalie like Price or Vasy etc...
• 8 regulation losses where SAA is the smallest and GAA is the largest are: Feb 19 Feb 10 Jan 19 Dec 9 Nov 20 Nov 8 Oct 25 Oct 23 that is to say spread out and not grouped together.
• Of the total 23 wins he has faced more than or equal to 30 shots in about 13 or so games

Given the cap space/crunch we have, knowing full well we will either face tampa or florida, I dont see that its fair to ask Campbell to do more than what the stats are suggesting. Instead perhaps Mrazek given his high AAV should put in better effort.

Cap allocation matters. Tavares has to own up and start putting up points. He was signed to be a super star here not be a guy who is "trying hard" for freakin 11 AAV

Date	Team	GS	W	L	OT	SA	GA	SV%
Feb 22	@ CBJ	1	--	--	1	30	4	0.867
Feb 19	vs STL	1	0	1	0	33	5	0.848
Feb 17	vs PIT	1	1	0	0	46	1	0.978
Feb 14	@ SEA	1	1	0	0	25	2	0.92
Feb 10	@ CGY	1	0	1	0	26	5	0.808
Feb 1	@ NJD	1	1	0	0	32	1	0.969
Jan 31	vs NJD	1	--	--	0	9	3	0.667
Jan 26	vs ANA	1	1	0	0	20	3	0.85
Jan 19	@ NYR	1	0	1	0	26	5	0.808
Jan 15	@ STL	1	1	0	0	25	5	0.8
Jan 11	@ VGK	1	1	0	0	34	3	0.912
Jan 8	@ COL	1	--	--	1	49	5	0.898
Jan 5	vs EDM	1	1	0	0	30	2	0.933
Jan 1	vs OTT	1	1	0	0	23	0	1
Dec 14	@ EDM	1	1	0	0	36	1	0.972
Dec 9	vs TBL	1	0	1	0	26	4	0.846
Dec 7	vs CBJ	1	1	0	0	32	4	0.875
Dec 4	@ MIN	1	--	--	1	40	3	0.925
Dec 1	vs COL	1	1	0	0	31	3	0.903
Nov 28	@ ANA	1	1	0	0	40	1	0.975
Nov 24	@ LAK	1	1	0	0	32	2	0.938
Nov 20	vs PIT	1	0	1	0	31	2	0.935
Nov 18	vs NYR	1	1	0	0	28	1	0.964
Nov 16	vs NSH	1	1	0	0	24	0	1
Nov 12	vs CGY	1	1	0	0	31	1	0.968
Nov 10	@ PHI	1	1	0	0	36	0	1
Nov 8	vs LAK	1	0	1	0	28	4	0.857
Nov 6	vs BOS	1	1	0	0	44	2	0.955
Nov 4	vs TBL	1	1	0	0	25	1	0.96
Nov 2	vs VGK	1	1	0	0	26	0	1
Oct 27	@ CHI	1	1	0	0	29	2	0.931
Oct 25	@ CAR	1	0	1	0	35	3	0.914
Oct 23	@ PIT	1	0	1	0	21	5	0.762
Oct 18	vs NYR	1	--	--	1	23	2	0.913
Oct 16	vs OTT	1	1	0	0	21	1	0.952
Oct 14	@ OTT	--	--	--	0	10	0	1
Oct 13	vs MTL	1	1	0	0	32	1	0.969

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[RaFe]

Well, okay... think I'll get medicated now, too.

 

[ViD]

How would you assess Lyubushkin’s debut ?

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Well, the shopping list is clear:
- Head coach
- Goalie
- 1-2 Defenders

You forgot a new GM.

 

[Maplebeasts]

How would you assess Lyubushkin’s debut ?

It was meh. He had good underlying stats but very badly misplayed the third goal.

 

[Stephen]

Cap allocation matters. Tavares has to own up and start putting up points. He was signed to be a super star here not be a guy who is "trying hard" for freakin 11 AAV

Tavares' personal production is always pretty good and he's on pace to deliver 78 points. Problem is he's such a massive step down from Matthews, but the Big 4 calculus and his 5 on 5 play doesn't approach his AAV.

 

[Kiwi]

It's almost like there can be multiple problems or needs for improvement instead of just one thing that will make this team the GOAT.

You aren't doing **** if you're goaltender has turned back into a pumpkin

 

[RaFe]

Andersen was a trainwreck last season. Outplayed as a backup by Hutch isnt a great look.

The trainwreck were injured last year which made him look terrible and we couldn’t afford to sign him this year.
Prolonging Andersen was not an option and it was probably best for both parties to move on.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Tavares' personal production is always pretty good and he's on pace to deliver 78 points. Problem is he's such a massive step down from Matthews, but the Big 4 calculus and his 5 on 5 play doesn't approach his AAV.

yeah, he has 7 points in 20 games at 5v5 since the new year. Engvall has 8 in 17 games. And it's not his linemates, as Kerfoot has 14 and Nylander has 10. You could also make a case that he doesn't bring a ton of value beyond his point totals

 

[Stephen]

yeah, he has 7 points in 20 games at 5v5 since the new year. Engvall has 8 in 17 games. And it's not his linemates, as Kerfoot has 14 and Nylander has 10. You could also make a case that he doesn't bring a ton of value beyond his point totals

The stats shield him from scrutiny, IMO.

 

[Mess]

It was meh. He had good underlying stats but very badly misplayed the third goal.

CBJ Brendan Gaunce blew right by him for that 3rd goal, so will we see if his foot speed holds up as a top 4 or if he will be a bottom pairing guy.

 

[aingefan]

Rittich just beat Florida.

Big save Dave.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

yeah, he has 7 points in 20 games at 5v5 since the new year. Engvall has 8 in 17 games. And it's not his linemates, as Kerfoot has 14 and Nylander has 10. You could also make a case that he doesn't bring a ton of value beyond his point totals

Important to remember that between October and December, before he had Covid, he was our top 5-on-5 producer. By far. Matthews was better at goal scoring of course, but Tavares was second. In fact, he was pretty much on a career pace for everything except goals in October-December (I doubt he is ever going to break that 47 goal season; but he was pacing for almost 40).

Tavares has a 5.41% shooting percentage at 5-on-5 in 2022. He had almost 12% before. The only forwards lower in that time are Kampf, Kase, and Simmonds. That will get better. The guy didn't suddenly forget how to score, and it is not like he isn't getting chances. His PDO is also 120 points lower.

As for not a ton of value outside of points, he is literally the best faceoff guy in the league besides Bergeron, who may be the best faceoff guy in NHL history. He is extremely consistent and is well known for making all of his linemates better. He is never going to be seen as a shutdown guy, but he is also not nearly as much of a defensive liability as our goaltending makes him (and his line) look right now. He's average. Always has been, and likely will be for at least the rest of his contract.

Things aren't going his way right now, but I am not going to let 2 months of hockey after going through a bad case of Covid override the large sample of dominant play that has made him worth every penny of his contract before it.

 

[TimeZone]

It's not that he did nothing in the offseason, for me it's that he didn't even consider making a major move, doubling down on the same group after 4 years of embarrassing playoff runs

Nothing significant is nothing to me.

 

[Gabriel426]

Missed the game, did the team gave up like they did against the Habs or actually shows up and just got bested by BJs?

 

[ponder]

Love Campbell, but he just hasn’t been playing well for some time. Campbell, when playing well (everything before this funk) easily stops the Boqvist goal, and stops probably one of the other 3 as well (the other 3 weren’t at all bad goals, but all were stoppable).

The team overall wasn’t great, but were decent. Incredible play on the Bunting goal by Marner. Mitch was probably our best player tonight, though he did have that one brutal turnover leading to the first Laine goal. But once again, I’d say goaltending was the number 1 issue. Really need one of Campbell/Mrazek to start playing well, night in, night out. Or, need to make a deal for a goalie (Fleury!).

 

[ktownhockey]

Not many goalies will look good behind the defense the way it has played of late.

They barely had sustained pressure on us. The goals were off the rush... Campbell needs to make a save or two off the rush. Our probably in the playoffs last year and this year when we lose is when we give up goals off the rush. We have the puck ALOT and teams just collapse and wait to pounce on a bounce, blocked shot going the other way or a flip out bounce to get odd man rushes. It's weird but we need a higher F 3 to support if we are playing a D active O zone. Not chirping your post, just don't agree about the D being really bad tonight.... they were "Just Ok".

 

[fahad203]

Love Campbell, but he just hasn’t been playing well for some time. Campbell, when playing well (everything before this funk) easily stops the Boqvist goal, and stops probably one of the other 3 as well (the other 3 weren’t at all bad goals, but all were stoppable).

The team overall wasn’t great, but were decent. Incredible play on the Bunting goal by Marner. Mitch was probably our best player tonight, though he did have that one brutal turnover leading to the first Laine goal. But once again, I’d say goaltending was the number 1 issue. Really need one of Campbell/Mrazek to start playing well, night in, night out. Or, need to make a deal for a goalie (Fleury!).

Being a good guy and being good at things are not the same thing. Jack is a good guy, just not very good at what hes supposed to be good at

 

[yzerman]

I'm pretty sure that's Andrew Raycroft in there. Just pull that mask off and you'll confirm what we all know.

I checked and it was Vesa Toskala

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Missed the game, did the team gave up like they did against the Habs or actually shows up and just got bested by BJs?

They showed up and played well overall.

Wasn't a great 1st period overall, but not bad for travelling on a back-to-back.

Campbell let us down again. Two weak goals and outplayed by a career AHLer. Par for the course in 2022.