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

[IronHalen]

Habs were never dangerous tonight - they capitalized on two bad mistakes. Other than that, they had nothing going for them.

We were pretty much horrid up and down the lineup tonight. Shell-shocked for that first period, understandably. I've never seen a team take 3 over the glass penalties. Nylander missed a wide open corner from 3 feet away. We hit a post and a cross bar.

Basically, it's almost impossible for us to be this bad for the rest of the series, whereas I think the Habs played as well as could be expected.

This is the most accurate take I've read so far. Anyone shitting their pants needs to take a chill pill. This Habs team is trash. No one should be worried. This isnt a best of 5 like last year.

 

[yort2010]

Predictable loss. Load up on grit and this is what happens. The grit fans have a lot of explaining to do.

Montreal beat the hell out of us. Jumbo needs to sit.

 

[egd27]

When you have a PP with 8 minutes left in a 1-1 games, and give up a SHG, its on you. No one else.

Hey no excuse.....just saying that when they did get rolling, they screwed themselves with some bad penalties.

 

[authentic]

Anyone trying to make the argument Matthews was bad tonight is to put it bluntly terrible at evaluating hockey. He was all over the puck, had like 8 shots, credited with 5 hits but I think it was more, hit 2 posts. He played very well. Obviously we need production, but his effort level is without question and he had his chances

Meh. He had a lot of shots on the powerplay and played a decent game overall, but decent doesn't really cut it anymore.

 

[The Masters]

Thornton gotta be benched. He caused both goals.

 

[Sypher04]

It's comical how almost every Leaf fan was convinced that the lack of physicality wasn't an issue and it turns out we lose game 1 because of it. And this was against Montreal. Imagine against one of those central or east division teams

Montreal's physicality had absolutely nothing to do with this loss actually.

It's also overblown. That hit counter was botched.

 

[pcruz]

No need to panic.

price performed.

Matthews did not.

Hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard.

1-0 Habs.

plenty of hockey left though I am a little worried that I have seen this before.

1 post.
8 Sog
5 hits
3 Takeaways
24 minutes

Created 2 great scoring chances for Nylander and Marner (neither could finish).
Drew 2 defenders on him all game long.
I mean, it's not like he coasted through a game.

 

[fahad203]

It's comical how almost every Leaf fan was convinced that the lack of physicality wasn't an issue and it turns out we lose game 1 because of it. And this was against Montreal. Imagine against one of those central or east division teams

Wasn't Simmonds and Foligno supposed to change all that? I was told SImmonds needs playoffs and he'll magically reappear

Mikaheyev supposed to be fast as McDavid. He's going to generate so much chance. Soup is so cute, so loveable. He's trash
If you didn't win with Kapanen, you think you are gonna win with Mikaheyev?

AJ was not very good but he was better than Simmonds
Kappy was better than Mika
Playing Spezza with Simmonds is a crime

Our PP has been a joke for months and people think just because it's playoffs, it's automatically going to chnage over a period

 

[Suntouchable13]

I don't know what people see in Mik. He sucks.

 

[Fogelhund]

 

[Aashir]

He was great

I personally didn’t like the 1 goal, but cannot say anything about his solidity afterwards

 

[Leafsdude7]

We hit 2 off the post on the PP, Matthews had a solid 3-4 chances on the PP. Thornton f***ed the powerplay, apart from him the rest of it looked better. That very easily could've been a 3-1 game for us, game of inches.

For a game of inches, the Leafs have certainly been off by two or three consistently the last few months...

 

[ORRFForever]

And it really shouldn't come to that... Leafs should have skated circles around the Habs but they didn't.

Every Canadian played a hard 200 foot game. It was smart.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Habs were never dangerous tonight - they capitalized on two bad mistakes. Other than that, they had nothing going for them.

We were pretty much horrid up and down the lineup tonight. Shell-shocked for that first period, understandably. I've never seen a team take 3 over the glass penalties. Nylander missed a wide open corner from 3 feet away. We hit a post and a cross bar.

Basically, it's almost impossible for us to be this bad for the rest of the series, whereas I think the Habs played as well as could be expected.

Have you met the playoff version of the Leafs in the last decade? They make the impossible possible.

Honestly the mental pressure on this team is crazy. That’s what they’re fighting the most.

 

[egd27]

thought they are not playing till Saturday?

You are correct.... I assumed the OP was in a different time zone when tomorrow is Saturday

 

[Kiwi]

A Pp that didn’t work

Thats not exactly new

I wonder if you can decline a PP? I'm not joking either

 

[6ix]

Riley Nash played as advertised. Absolutely nothing offensively but gave up nothing defensively.

That will be very important later. Don't think you take him out over a guy like Thornton, especially if you are adding an offensive specialist like Galchenyuk.

absoutley, but we all know keefe won’t take Thornton out. That’s why it had to be Nash. Habs aren’t an offensive team, we don’t need a defensive specialist.

 

[fahad203]

I don't know what people see in Mik. He sucks.

I been saying that for months. I am told he's great on PK and generates offense. Just bad luck, it's his wrist injury from last year

 

[tbone1968]

We made a goalie look good in the playoffs. Rinse, repeat.

Not just ‘a goalie’. It’s Carey Price. Vezina winning, Team Canada Gold Medallist. Show some respect and get over yourselves

 

[SeaOfBlue]

The problem is he was the new #1PP QB, this isn't good

He didn't look good there in the regular season and didn't look good there again today.

Just put Rielly back on PP1 and maybe use Galchenyuk instead of Thornton but they were getting great looks otherwise. At least they changed the structure and it made a difference.

 

[Sypher04]

Matthews was really good in the first half of the game, cooled down in the 2nd half. We have the bar high for him because he's the teams best player.

I don't feel like he cooled down really at all in the 2nd half. He had plenty of looks, and that's despite the Leafs getting a whack of penalties and disrupting any offensive flow we had

 

[Not My Tempo]

thought Jack also played good....

Yea he did, I was just referring to the skaters though.

 

[tmlms13]

If you consider losing good... sure I guess.
If we can play half decent D at the expense of our forwards being neutered that's not a good thing. We're a skill-heavy team that can't score in the playoffs.

was commenting about the guy who said this team's problem is defense.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Not starting Campbell? Dude was excellent tonight he only got beat on a couple tough breakaways.

And sitting Sandin? Are we not watching the same game? Probably our best puck mover and was snapping the puck around on the PP. You think Rielly wouldn't have gotten beaten by a faster Byron on that breakaway?

Our problem is more of a roster construction issue like why is a young Swedish kid in his first playoff game having to anchor the PP in the first place or why are we putting out slow ass vets on there?

 

[wingman75]

Habs were never dangerous tonight - they capitalized on two bad mistakes. Other than that, they had nothing going for them.

We were pretty much horrid up and down the lineup tonight. Shell-shocked for that first period, understandably. I've never seen a team take 3 over the glass penalties. Nylander missed a wide open corner from 3 feet away. We hit a post and a cross bar.

Basically, it's almost impossible for us to be this bad for the rest of the series, whereas I think the Habs played as well as could be expected.

Thanks. I guess we saw the game a little differently. No doubt the first they were in shock, and played like it. Could not have a worse period.

I thought we dominated the 2nd with generally no results gained. And once again had amply opportunity to TAKE the game but never did.

So what happens when the Habs have a good game? They steamroll us... because they just beat us and were hot garbage.

Again, I love your confidence. I am generally a very optimistic person... except when it comes to the Leafs. Until they show me the can do it, I don't believe they can. #nofaith And that kills me to admit.