Post-Game Talk: Leafs lose. Thornton on the first PP unit. Weak. Nice work keefe. Do better.

[egd27]

We need to play with more pace and more possession. Felt like we were "trying to play playoff hockey" instead of playing composed and controlled.

Yea, we kind of got a little screwed there. Lost 1/2 the first period after the JT hit.
We had it going til the Refs called that cheap hook on Spezza, that killed the momentum in the 2nd
Then the delay of game nonsense killed the 3rd.

They need to be better but had a lot go against them

 

[Cleetus]

Do we go Campbell tomorrow again?

we do not play until Saturday... think games 3 and 4 are back to back...

 

[Stephen]

Price is fantastic. I don’t really see a huge issue with our top players tonight. Couple of rushes where we hesitated but other than that I thought we had some good chances that couldn’t be cashed in on.

The issue with guys like Thornton is when they provide nothing offensively and in conjunction become a liability.

I didn’t think Matthews and Marner were very good at all. Yeah they got a few looks but the growth factor we need is for them to be hard to play against and battle. When you compare them to benchmarks I’m looking at like Mackinnon for Matthews and someone like Point for Marner, they don’t fight to make their skill plays. They elect to curl back and avoid going into traffic. They don’t stick up for their teammates like Hyman when they get thrown around. Other stars are doing that. They just don’t get it.

 

[LaPlante94]

Lets be honest, this grit movement made us worse. Skill helps you score, not grit.

Did it help us score last year against Columbus? Every time we make the playoffs we always hear that our skill/depth is way better than the teams we're facing yet we still always lose. Go up against Boston and we hear they are a 1 line team and our depth and skill on every line is way better. Boston ends up beating us. Columbus we talk like it's a cake walk because our skill and depth was way better and yet they shut us down completely. Now against Montreal who knows if they'll continue to shut us down. Hard to judge when we lose probably our 2nd best forward in Tavares so early into game 1.

 

[Kiwi]

Lets be honest, this grit movement made us worse. Skill helps you score, not grit.

This team didn't score against Columbus either, our skill isn't exactly covering itself in glory either

 

[TheShape]

Sick of the politics surrounding this team every year. Keefe can drop the loyalty to the vets who aren't offering anything on the ice. That game could've been played for 10 hours and that 4th line was never scoring a goal. Why did Nash have to play today? Now is the time to experiment? Thornton on PP1 is a fireable offense.

Engvall and Galchenyuk need to be in next game, skate circles around the Habs' D instead Keefe is catering to Montreal by icing a very slow bottom 6. There was nothing happening outside of Matthews and Nylander. Marner is back to playoff Marner it looks like.

Foligno is concerning, the steep price paid for a player who generates zero offense on his own is pretty ridiculous and Dubas deserves all the blame.

Keefe needs to make changes ASAP before MTL sneak another win and this series gets away from us. Tavares or not I still believe we can win this, but right now the coach is setting us up for failure. Habs have planted the seed of doubt now.

 

[Bluelines]

Really poor game. Simmonds didn’t hit. Spezza two penalties. Thornton awful. Sandin pathetic. Foligno Nash nonexistent. Marner indifferent all night. 3 pucks over the glass? Shorthanded goal? No power play goals? Tavares injured. Did KerfootMikayev play? Easily their worst possible game. Only one word comes to mind...CHOKE job. But, it’s only one game.

Worse possible game and we lose by one. So if we just get an Ok game we should win right?

 

[On-the-Fly]

Our captain was laying on the ice.

 

[ORRFForever]

Anyone else think Bogosian is useless?

 

[Popeye7735]

It was a close game - either team could have won this one. Goalie and defence played good which is comforting. Need to score more than one goal with our expensive forwards. The unexpected injury to JT obviously hurt but the team's depth should come to the rescue (just sit Jumbo Joe please).

We'll win the next three. GUARANTEED.

 

[Stolie the Goalie]

There is a reason you play 7 games to win. Habs weren't going to be walked over anyway. Leafs can still win this series but they have fix the PP.

 

[stickty111]

Yeah, our skilled players really lit it up tonight.

Yeah our grit certainly gave us heart today.
I get it when the movement fails, blame the skill still.
Time for this grit to step up.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

He used his timeout earlier but still it seemed like a desperate move at the end where you could see a player like Matthews was just wildly chopping at pucks and barely moving.

When you have a deep team you have to trust someone other the your core players to play the 4 minutes of intense action.

Ya definitely some players (Matthews and rielly) looked gassed at points... even just taking 1-2 guys out for a quick breather and jumping back on.

idk /shrug, only game 1... just got to rebound in game 2

 

[killer1980]

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, this is no playoff team. I think we all know who we can blame for that.

 

[tmlms13]

We shouldn’t even compare a Stanley cup winning team to this team. It’s only game 1, Many overreacted, still think leafs win in 6, but in general, that team had more success even before that cup in a span of 3-4 years than our teams has in 50 years.

My point is TB won the cup without their captain....... so can toronto

 

[CanadasTeam]

Is not the result I was expecting tonight, things went ugly for us.

 

[Incognito]

The Habs are as shitty of a team as they come. There is absolutely zero excuse to lose to them. If we lose this series, then I honestly don't see how we'll ever win another playoff round.

 

[GardinerTheForward]

We need to start posting a link for the PGT on the GDT before it closes. For some reason I cannot load when I’m logged out and I have OP on ignore

 

[Transplanted Caper]

A tough one. I've been watching hockey for more than 30 years and that was one of the most terrifying things I've seen. More than anything else, hope JT is okay.

On the one hand, Montreal will take games like that every time out, even if the series goes 7. On the other, it's almost hard to judge where each team is. You can't blame the Leafs for being out of sorts after the injury. We'll see how G2 goes.

Top line played well, but didn't get the bounces. I don't know what to say about the PP, other than it's absurd.

Dig in, get ready for Saturday.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Who comes in?

Hyman Matthews Marner
Galchenyuk Foligno Nylander
Kerfoot Nash Mikheyev
Thornton Spezza Simmonds

 

[IrishInOntario]

Price is fantastic. I don’t really see a huge issue with our top players tonight. Couple of rushes where we hesitated but other than that I thought we had some good chances that couldn’t be cashed in on.

The issue with guys like Thornton is when they provide nothing offensively and in conjunction become a liability.

Disagree.

1. Blew 3 chances on 2 on 1 plays, without getting a single shot off, because Montreal backcheckers out husseled our guys, who waited too long to make a decision.

2. Powerplay was hideous, again. All that offensive talent and absolutely no class on thr powerplay. Just a disgraceful unit... Gave up another shorthanded goal

3. Matthews hits a post and Nylander hits the cross bar with a wide open net and all the time in the world. Again, players that are offensively reliable, choking when the games really count.

How many high danger scoring chances and man advantages do you want in one game? It was the same think against Columbus last year. All that money on offense and no scoring class.

 

[ORRFForever]

His release sucks, but he shouldn't be reluctant to shoot it in stride. Anyone can surprise a goalie like that.

He is ALWAYS looking to pass. I agree. Just shoot it.

 

[Gallagbi]

Matthews had the effort tonight IMO.. Marner just buckled.

He's really gotten worse in playoffs through the years after a good start.

 

[DcW]

Foligno is a beauty

 

[All Mod Cons]

The overreaction of this fan base after one game. Y’all don’t deserve the Leafs winning a title. Losers.

Is it one game though?