Post-Game Talk: Leafs Salvage A Point | Lose 6-5 in Shootout.

Thank you!

I’ve been asking since the TDL if Benoit was that much better than Myers that we have to force a LHD who is better than both of them to play on his offside, which he clearly doesn’t play as well.

I don’t think Benoit is that much better than Myers (not a Benoit hater), and I don’t understand why Myers has not gotten into a single game since the TDL.

We know what we have in Benoit. I think there is undeveloped potential still in Myers.

They chose Myers over Timmins, so why are they not giving him an opportunity, while reducing OEL’s effectiveness?
Didn't Pittsburgh choose Timmins over Myers ?
 
I'm glad I didn't stay up for this one. This team is so predictable, regardless of the coach.

At least Laughton popped his cherry as a Leaf.
 
I am, he sucks and I told y'all we should have kept Timmins instead. Or y'know gotten someone better to pair with OEL cause Myers ain't it either.
I would have kept lily tbh but apparently he succs and he isnt good at anything sure played a key role in both our losses to the worst team in the league
 
Didn't Pittsburgh choose Timmins over Myers ?
Hard to know, but I don’t think Timmins would have been traded if they felt he was better than Myers?

Sounds like we gave them Timmins for peanuts, so not exactly a scenario that show high potential that Timmins would contribute.

Anyone know what we actually got for Timmins from Pittsburgh?
 
I'm reading a lot of opinions here on our play and I feel like most just saw the highlights and didn't see the game, so here is how it played out line by line, d-pair by d-pair, sie- I mean goalie by goalie:

Forwards:
Line 1 - Terrible 5on5, generated really nothing in terms of High danger chances, were trying to be too cute, even Matthews had a terrible play on a PK where he made an UNNEEDED extra play to get it out which led to the puck staying in.

Line 2 - Easily our best line, Tavares, McMann and Willy have jam, and has some decent looks 5on5, drove play most from any line, still not exceptional and I have no real qualms with their performance, relatively speaking.

Line 3 - This line was okay I guess, Laughton scoring a goal was great, and it was all due to the fourth line cycling impeccably before he scored. Domi took a dumb penalty for no reason, and Robertson was back to his dumb play self. Time for him to be scratched 3-5 games.

Line 4 - Was fine, had that one really good shift I mentioned, that led to the 3rd goal, but otherwise slow and sluggish.

D Pair 1 - Tanev and McCabe were fine, nothing glaring at fault with them, could be better but then its our whole team too.

D Pair 2 - Rielly and Carlo were not great, mainly Rielly but we all know this, Carlo was fine, no issues on his play but it was a weak game what can you say.

D Pair 3 - Benoit and OEL, Benoit easily had his worst game in a whille. I'm down to scratch him and have him rest, making stupid mistakes and boggling the puck.

Goalie - Woll, lack of better words was TERRIBLE. Goals 1, 3, 4 and even 5 to some extent should not go in. Own goal is insane and the 3-1 goal is so f***ing weak, even samsonov might have had that. Our goalies are very fatigued now and its showing
 
Hard to know, but I don’t think Timmins would have been traded if they felt he was better than Myers?

Sounds like we gave them Timmins for peanuts, so not exactly a scenario that show high potential that Timmins would contribute.

Anyone know what we actually got for Timmins from Pittsburgh?
It was money based same as lily you got myers for timmins current cap it just more of the same
 
I would have kept lily tbh but apparently he succs and he isnt good at anything sure played a key role in both our losses to the worst team in the league
Having Carlo in the loop, Liljegren would have been much better suited at 3RHD and paired with OEL, but $3 million is a lot to pay your 3RHD.

I think there are better options, for less and more potential for development than Liljegren, who never seemed to win the trust of anyone behind the bench, to fill our 3RHD needs.
 
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Having Carlo in the loop, Liljegren would have been much better suited at 3RHD and paired with OEL, but $3 million is a lot to pay your 3RHD.

I think there are better options, for less and more potential for development than Liljegren, who never seemed to win the trust of anyone behind the bench, to fill our 3RHD needs.
His issue has never been 3rhd it’s been moving up and he was solid with mccabe but obviously with rielly not soo much so as much as it might appear that lily was the problem at 3m the problem has been rielly at 7.5 if we traded him and kept those two (sandin and lily )we wouldn’t need to play a benoit or a myers which are two players that shouldn’t really be playing n honestly I think rifai beats out benoit next year Anyway
 
Can't help but be negative about this because I've seen this movie before. Last season didn't we also get the PP red hot in March and then it slowly died into April until we had a 4% PP in the playoffs (which was the worst ever IIRC?)
Ya there was definitely a stretch where the PP was hot last season, but I do not recall it being for as long as this current stretch has been. I also think from the eye test we are score far more playoff style PP goals IMO. Winning board battles, making quick reads, and getting to the net front. I also think having our most dynamic playmaker on the point has completely opened up the entire offensive zone. For years we kept trying that cross seem pass through traffic that would usually result in one and done chances. If that. There has been a clear increase in high to low movement of the puck on this PP, and its really opening things up.

Of course playoff intensity reduces time and space, so we don't really know how effective it will be once playoffs start. That said, I am encouraged by the lack of east-west movement of the puck through traffic.

At the end of the day, I can't imagine our PP being any worse in the playoffs than it has been in years past. If anything it may have been a negative when you factor in the negative momentum it would often give us. So it's not like it would need to be setting records to be an improvement lol.

2023-24 Post Season: 4.8%
2022-23 Post Season: 25% (finally won a round, go figure)
2021-22 Post Season: 14.3%
2020-21 Post Season: 13%
2019-20 Post Season: 15.4%
2018-19 Post Season: 18.9%

Ultimately special teams and goaltending are largely the 2 biggest factors for success in the post season. We've never had both simultaneously. Here's to hoping this year will be different lol
 
Personal accomplishments sunk the team last year. Nylander does seem to be more interested in the last 10 games of the season. He checked out last year with 10 games to go.
And then was lights out in the playoffs. It's almost as if players are as tired of the length of the regular season as the rest of us. But everyone keeps telling me that Florida is not on cruise control. Those guys know the limited value of late-season regular games better than anyone else. I doubt they care where they finish in the division.
 
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Went to sleep with I think 1:30 left on the clock & it was 5-3.. at least they salvaged a point..

They lost every single puck battle tonight, looked sloppy, and disinterested... Can't allow SJ to score 5 goals on you, that's a bad game on Woll's part.
Woll is f***ing terrible.
 
Ya there was definitely a stretch where the PP was hot last season, but I do not recall it being for as long as this current stretch has been. I also think from the eye test we are score far more playoff style PP goals IMO. Winning board battles, making quick reads, and getting to the net front. I also think having our most dynamic playmaker on the point has completely opened up the entire offensive zone. For years we kept trying that cross seem pass through traffic that would usually result in one and done chances. If that. There has been a clear increase in high to low movement of the puck on this PP, and its really opening things up.

Of course playoff intensity reduces time and space, so we don't really know how effective it will be once playoffs start. That said, I am encouraged by the lack of east-west movement of the puck through traffic.

At the end of the day, I can't imagine our PP being any worse in the playoffs than it has been in years past. If anything it may have been a negative when you factor in the negative momentum it would often give us. So it's not like it would need to be setting records to be an improvement lol.

2023-24 Post Season: 4.8%
2022-23 Post Season: 25% (finally won a round, go figure)
2021-22 Post Season: 14.3%
2020-21 Post Season: 13%
2019-20 Post Season: 15.4%
2018-19 Post Season: 18.9%

Ultimately special teams and goaltending are largely the 2 biggest factors for success in the post season. We've never had both simultaneously. Here's to hoping this year will be different lol

Knies is also hard to deal with and is very good at winning netfront position.
He's good at retrieving loose pucks which is definitely not a strong point with our core.
He's been a very nice compliment to that #1 PP unit.
 
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No wonder why this guy can't beat goalies with his shot this year. Hopefully this is something that can be fixed during the off season because we need him to be able to score from anywhere like he used to.

Go back even further to his first few years in the league and his shot speed and release are not close to what they were yet last year he scored 69 goals because he’s learned to score in different ways. With whatever is ailing him this year, he’s just not going to beat a good NHL goalie from mid range if they can see the puck. That’s a huge weapon the Leafs can’t rely on right now.
 
Honestly it was a horrible effort and they didn't really deserve the point they got

Woll was bad but to be fair most of the guys looked lifeless and uninterested for the vast majority of the game

Mentally weak, a team this experienced shouldn't have these massive fluctuations of performance against bottom feeder teams

It just isn't good enough, they get a point but Honestly Berube should be tearing strips off them right now
Is it leadership ? Does watching a Tkachuk, Point, Kucherov, MacKinnon, Stone, Schenn … who play with intensity and physicality most nights motivate teammates more than watching a player(s) with inconsistent effort and little physical involvement in the game ?
 
Matthews: I didn’t love our game tonight. We just seemed slow. We didn’t seem to take care of the puck much. We were just kind of messing around with it too much. They are a young, skilled, hungry team despite where they are at in the standings. They are playing hard every night.

The question put to our captain is why aren't YOU playing hard every night? You're the captain, why is the team slow, why didn't they take care of the puck, why were they just messing around, why isn't your team hungry? Wtf, you're the captain, address this with your team and make sure it doesn't happen against shit teams.

Instead of saying “we” he should say “I”. Of course they were sunk by Joseph and the amazing technicolor choke job in net but on a few plays Matthews was pretty sluggish with the puck, got beat for goals against on the backcheck. He was also making low courage curl back rushes when we were down late where instead of driving to the slot he curled back to safety along the boards and the Sharks ended up chasing him down the ice, hemmed the Leafs in for over a minute.

Also, that OT did not impress me. They just escaped choking in a regulation time loss and are playing OT like the Harlem Globetrotters. We want you to finish the job and burn the tape, not have an all-star skills display. Finish them off and get on with the road trip. Instead they lose in the SO.
 
Instead of saying “we” he should say “I”. Of course they were sunk by Joseph and the amazing technicolor choke job in net but on a few plays Matthews was pretty sluggish with the puck, got beat for goals against on the backcheck. He was also making low courage curl back rushes when we were down late where instead of driving to the slot he curled back to safety along the boards and the Sharks ended up chasing him down the ice, hemmed the Leafs in for over a minute.

Also, that OT did not impress me. They just escaped choking in a regulation time loss and are playing OT like the Harlem Globetrotters. We want you to finish the job and burn the tape, not have an all-star skills display. Finish them off and get on with the road trip. Instead they lose in the SO.

No he was definitely right to say we.
 
It’s going to come down to the two games against Florida and game against Tampa. Which team wants it the most ? I’m guessing neither Florida team want to play each other in the first round and see the Leafs as an easier opponent. Ottawa probably wants the Leafs but who do the Leafs want ?
 
It’s going to come down to the two games against Florida and game against Tampa. Which team wants it the most ? I’m guessing neither Florida team want to play each other in the first round and see the Leafs as an easier opponent. Ottawa probably wants the Leafs but who do the Leafs want ?

I’m sure even if the won’t say it aloud, amongst Toronto, Tampa and Florida all 3 teams clearly want to win top spot. Getting away from the other 2 in each case is going to be the goal.
 
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