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

[Captain14]

Something to keep an eye on going forward. Both Nylander and Marner took delay of game of penalties tonight due to the impending threat of being hit.

I said the exact same think to wifey! They were afraid of being hit.
That is exactly why it’s crucial to destroy the D on dump in’s. You have finish every check, and we do not. Adding players like Simmonds and Foligno are not enough, every player has to go to war for each other and we don’t have that type of roster.

 

[PromisedLand]

The flexibility was there, TO could've traded for Hall or Palmieri but chose to overpay for Foligno.

I think Palmieri was already gone to NYI and Hall according to rumours would not waive is NTC for anyone else except Boston so Foligno was the only one left.

Also, Leafs had to keep delaying the trade as late as possible due to cap issues to accumulate LTIR.

Cap flexibility was just not there

 

[Mopar]

There's way too much judgement being passed for such a bizarre game.

This game was f***ed the second the Tavares injury took place. Not just losing him, but the way it happened. Sucked all the energy out of the building. Team was shell shocked and on top of that, the lines were being juggled.

We were looking just fine up until that point and it was just a matter of time before we got into a rythym and took the game over. We're way to deep for the Habs. We barely gave them anything and Campbell was solid to boot.

They still barely squeaked out a 2-1 win. Price was solid but we didn't really test him.

Regroup and come out stong Saturday night and take care of business.

All that said, the PP is still a disaster which was very predictable. The refs called a lot tonight and we couldn't capitalize on those PP chances. Needs to improve, and quickly.

Marner needs to make quicker decisions instead of overthinking everything while trying to make the perfect pass. Simplify. Get pucks to the net!

Really hope JT is OK. Watching that really killed all the energy and enjoyment of the evening.

 

[Ciao]

Well, that sucked.

I haven't read anyone's comments -- sorry, but my eyes are too tired -- but I thought Sandin got burned on both goals. I had thought he was a much faster skater. I would now rather see Dermott back in the line-up next game, and take it from there

 

[wingman75]

The Leafs need to establish a lead and open the game up. The Habs just trap and turtle with a lead.

First goal is big. Habs get it and they just make the game a slush fest. I would like to think we can find a way though that, and the PP is the easiest way, but that is a joke and trying to generate stuff 5 on 5 is hard work. We generated minimal changes, but no result other than the Nylander rebound. Price made a few big saves on a couple other plays (Marner one-timer was the biggest).

 

[Byron Bitz]

I’d probably go with
Hyman-Matthews-Marner
Foligno-Kerfoot-Nylander
Mikeyev-Engvel-Simmonds
Thornton-Nash-Spezza
Kerfoot is a massive downgrade on Tavares but it’s probably our best option. What a nightmare.

 

[PromisedLand]

TB might have scored 13 but they given up 11 with their Vezina winning goalie and Norris winning Defenseman.

is it the same team that won the cup last season without their captain (Stamkos) even playing?

Just trying to make sure.... or is dubas the almighty and never does anything wrong?

 

[IrishInOntario]

TB might have scored 13 but they given up 11 with their Vezina winning goalie and Norris winning Defenseman.

Yet they're up 2 to 1 in their series... Why?

Because you need to be able to score to win games and they can do that at will.

 

[Captain14]

in reality, the dump and chase style of game does not suit us at all. we dont have the right players outside of hyman that can get possession in the zone that way and price might be the best stick handling goalie in the nhl. we are just giving possession up most of the time. we need to get back to playing our style and come and them with speed in waves.

Because we don’t crash and bang, we perform fly by’s really well though.
Soft teams will never win in the playoffs today.

 

[Twine Tickler]

What the f*** was keefe supposed to do you morons? We lost our 2nd line centre 10 mins into the game. Can people not just accept that we lost a toss up game when the opponent played well, and we played a man down for 80% of the game? They received all world goaltending and played their system to perfection and barely won. Let’s hit the panic button if/when we go down 2-0... we beat Boston game 1 in 2018-19, how’d that work out for us in the end? What about when we were up 2-1 against the caps? Let’s just settle down. We are still far better even without JT

 

[RealisticLeaf55]

Amazing how one game can completely deject your interest in the rest of the series.

Just want news that Tavares is okay and healthy. Series means nothing to me if we have peoples lives at risks over "freak collisions"

 

[djdev]

Doesn't work because the leafs don't preach it. Leafs management focused on being a juggernaut offensive team.

plenty of teams play off the rush...the point is thats how we need to actually play. lol im not sure what you said has anything to do with anything other than be whiny.

 

[tmlms13]

is it the same team that won the cup last season without their captain (Stamkos) even playing?

Just trying to make sure.... or is dubas the almighty and never does anything wrong?

If the Leafs won 2-1 in OT would there be a thread complaining that they only scored 1 goal in regulation. Or a thread praising their team defense and ability to win multiple ways?

 

[djdev]

Because we don’t crash and bang, we perform fly by’s really well though.
Soft teams will never win in the playoffs today.

it has nothing to do with being soft. a possession team giving up possession just doesnt make sense. its no different than the boston series, when we play our game and dictate we win more than we lose, when we try to adapt to a different style we dont play as well.

 

[centipede2233]

If the leafs lose this series, am I going to hear how great Toronto management is still?

newsflash, they are not.

 

[PromisedLand]

If the Leafs won 2-1 in OT would there be a thread complaining that they only scored 1 goal in regulation. Or a thread praising their team defense and ability to win multiple ways?

IF I had victoria secret model as a girl friend would I not be praising the universe for my luck?

IF IF IF IF IF

IF dubas wasn't our GM may be would be a lot better with better contracts, better depth and not all the way up to teh cap and have flexibility????

 

[Antropovsky]

plenty of teams play off the rush...the point is thats how we need to actually play. lol im not sure what you said has anything to do with anything other than be whiny.

Very helpful ....
Could you answer me these questions, because I don't know enough about the systems out there.

Are the leafs systems similar to successful teams? Is our defensive system the same, is the pp system the same, is the offensive system?

 

[3blizzard4]

The short handed goal happens one in hundred times. Nice shot and nice goal. If the chances AM34 had converted this is a 5-2 game. Add the momentum killing over the glass PPs…those also don’t happen everyday. They had three today lol

we got this series. I’m not in panic mode by any stretch.

Keef put Thornton on the PP. Come on man. Galley needs to be in this lineup. It’s a young mans game.

 

[BigBoyNoise87]

Montreal is awful and Price has been washed up for nearly half a decade.

This team is just not mentally up to par, no matter how bad the opposition is. Columbus and now Montreal? Hilarious.

I mean he didn’t look washed up tonight.

 

[IrishInOntario]

What the f*** was keefe supposed to do you morons? We lost our 2nd line centre 10 mins into the game. Can people not just accept that we lost a toss up game when the opponent played well, and we played a man down for 80% of the game? They received all world goaltending and played their system to perfection and barely won. Let’s hit the panic button if/when we go down 2-0... we beat Boston game 1 in 2018-19, how’d that work out for us in the end? What about when we were up 2-1 against the caps? Let’s just settle down. We are still far better even without JT

Calm down. Over Toronto's last 6 playoffs games (5 games last year and 1 game this year) they've scored a total of 11 goals. That's 1.8 goals per game.

That's just not good enough. Not even close for a team with the offensive skill Toronto has iced the last two seasons.

What's worse is that a very similar system that shut them down last year in the Columbus series is being employed by Montreal and Toronto looked to have zero answers for it again tonight, while their big 4 combined for 1 point and what looks like a possible (hopefully not) season ending concussion.

 

[djdev]

lol i give up with some people here, complaining about foligno in this game is just astounding to me, he didnt take any penalties, he was perfect on the pk and actually was the reason willy was able to score his goal. how many other players contributed as much as him tonight? not many...

 

[HellasLEAF]

There's way too much judgement being passed for such a bizarre game.

This game was f***ed the second the Tavares injury took place. Not just losing him, but the way it happened. Sucked all the energy out of the building. Team was shell shocked and on top of that, the lines were being juggled.

We were looking just fine up until that point and it was just a matter of time before we got into a rythym and took the game over. We're way to deep for the Habs. We barely gave them anything and Campbell was solid to boot.

They still barely squeaked out a 2-1 win. Price was solid but we didn't really test him.

Regroup and come out stong Saturday night and take care of business.

All that said, the PP is still a disaster which was very predictable. The refs called a lot tonight and we couldn't capitalize on those PP chances. Needs to improve, and quickly.

Marner needs to make quicker decisions instead of overthinking everything while trying to make the perfect pass. Simplify. Get pucks to the net!

Really hope JT is OK. Watching that really killed all the energy and enjoyment of the evening.

Listen, I don't disagree with much of this. But I'll tell you. You could replace MTL with CBJ and would sound the same.

Outcome is also the same. Leafs lose.

 

[Captain14]

it has nothing to do with being soft. a possession team giving up possession just doesnt make sense. its no different than the boston series, when we play our game and dictate we win more than we lose, when we try to adapt to a different style we dont play as well.

That mentality is great for the North conference in the regular season. This is the playoffs, a totally different animal. Have you been watching the other games? You have to be hard on the puck.
You have to finish your checks and finish them hard! You have to go to war for each other. You have to create a panicked state of mind in your opponent’s.
I will stand by my comment that soft teams do not have playoff success.

 

[djdev]

Very helpful ....
Could you answer me these questions, because I don't know enough about the systems out there.

Are the leafs systems similar to successful teams? Is our defensive system the same, is the pp system the same, is the offensive system?

its keefe s 1st year with his own systems that hes been able to tech these guys to play. hes 1 game into the playoffs under a team that has improved immensely in our own end and dont give up leads and scary chances at nearly the same rate as in the past. we were top 10 in gaa and gf, had just come off an 8 day break and watched our captain crumple to the ice with what could have been a VERY serious injury. clearly everything isnt perfect because the PP is a legitimate head scratcher with our talent, but people need a bit of perspective, its one game with a bunch of crazy circumstances.

 

[Captain14]

IF I had victoria secret model as a girl friend would I not be praising the universe for my luck?

IF IF IF IF IF

IF dubas wasn't our GM may be would be a lot better with better contracts, better depth and not all the way up to teh cap and have flexibility????

If my Uncle had tits, he’d be my Aunt!