Post-Game Talk: Leafs Tame The Wild 3-1

[Nylanderthal]

 

[Rude Dog]

Good win. 34 stole the show. But Bunting was all over the ice. Someone needs to tell Bush which end is the Leafs end north of the border. He is hanging out with the wrong goalie. Side note Marner vision is amazing. Two awesome assists.

 

[Teeder Keon]

But what happens if he craps the bed in Saturday

He will have to change the sheets I guess ….

 

[Griffin76]

Matthews Matthewsing isn’t as surprising as Marner marnering but it’s still no where near mrazek not mrazeking

Did i confuse you?

Even Bunting was buntinging tonight.....

 

[therealkoho]

My 3 stars
AM
PM
MM

Solid effort, that 1st line is nuts the way they can turn a sows ear into a silk purse.

MM by all rights should be in Selke territory. His d game is tenacious and he goes and gets pucks constantly creating offense with whomever, AM benefits just as MM benefits from Mattys great play. Bunts is a good compliment to them and understands the job and never takes a shift off

Liljegren 17th overall, starting to look like the guy he was projected to be. He's still got a way to go, but you can see he really gets it and he's starting to push back. It seems like an eternity but he's arrived to stay.

The second line is worrisome, in the first two months, you could say they were 1A, now they're looking more like a 3 line. A line can't function if one guy isn't doing his job.

Mrazek was good but not great, big fat rebounds all night, a team like Boston, Pittsburgh or Tampa would eat that up. If he can grow some velcro I'll feel a little better about him.

Hope Mik isn't gone for long, the Leafs need that big and his speed in the line-up.

I might think about trying him with Willie at centre and have Kampf play the right side, and hope either Kase or Robertson can become the hard working RW that the captain thrives with.

24 19 and 47 give good minutes, when 47 gets his attitude on he gets really effective. At 6'5" and 215 he can be a nightmare for dmen on the forecheck.

Not too many warts tonight and a win is a win is a win.

 

[Ports]

I owe him praise for coming back from an awful performance in the playoffs, getting annihilated in the media, by fans and haters alike. I remember the constant dumb questions he had to answer by the media day after day. He deserves praise for showing how good of a player he really is.

I just hope he can clear his head, turn off the background noise in the playoffs and just play his game.

Yes, it's one of the best lines the Leafs have ever had. Then again, I can only base that on what I've seen since I started watching and I've been watching a long time.

I’ve been watching them for almost sixty years I think Matthews and Marner are the most talented players they’ve ever had and Bunting is s good complimentary player. Sittler, McDonald and Tiger Williams were pretty good with all three being tough, physical players and Gilmour and Andrychuk were also good but none of them had the talent this line has.

 

[Griffin76]

Matthews' 48th 2 goal game of his career.

 

[Dragao6]

My 3 stars
AM
PM
MM

Solid effort, that 1st line is nuts the way they can turn a sows ear into a silk purse.

MM by all rights should be in Selke territory. His d game is tenacious and he goes and gets pucks constantly creating offense with whomever, AM benefits just as MM benefits from Mattys great play. Bunts is a good compliment to them and understands the job and never takes a shift off

Liljegren 17th overall, starting to look like the guy he was projected to be. He's still got a way to go, but you can see he really gets it and he's starting to push back. It seems like an eternity but he's arrived to stay.

The second line is worrisome, in the first two months, you could say they were 1A, now they're looking more like a 3 line. A line can't function if one guy isn't doing his job.

Mrazek was good but not great, big fat rebounds all night, a team like Boston, Pittsburgh or Tampa would eat that up. If he can grow some velcro I'll feel a little better about him.

Hope Mik isn't gone for long, the Leafs need that big and his speed in the line-up.

I might think about trying him with Willie at centre and have Kampf play the right side, and hope either Kase or Robertson can become the hard working RW that the captain thrives with.

24 19 and 47 give good minutes, when 47 gets his attitude on he gets really effective. At 6'5" and 215 he can be a nightmare for dmen on the forecheck.

Not too many warts tonight and a win is a win is a win.

Totally agree
I’ve criticized my share on marner but was very surprised he wasn’t a star tonight and getting very little love
He was great, those assist were just like goals

 

[Leafs1991]

Infinetly better passer for sure. Better hands and probably better or at least even hockey IQ. Someone else made a great comment about reading the other guys and knowing when to get involved and how deep. I wish we had both Bunting and Hyman, but that is way she goes... Bunting has been better than expected and is very consistent in how he plays.

I agree with everything you and the other guy have been saying. Only thing I don't agree with is you saying they may have equal hockey IQ. Bunting is noticeably better in that regard.

 

[BertCorbeau]

The f*** was that trip on Kerfoot by Zuccarello .. what a sore loser.

 

[Ports]

Panthers blow a 3-1 lead at home vs Nashville and giving up 6 goals in back to back games. They are playing a little too sloppy.

If Leafs can solidly their D and Muzzin gets healthy for the playoffs, we could yet see a.team oriented focus on defense that can out grind opponents in a playoff series.

I will never be confident if a team shies away from the physical game so I hope any pickup(s) at least have that gear.

Mrazek's rebound control

Great game overall, Matthews was godly. 17-2 on faceoffs and just dominating the entire ice, we're so lucky to have this guy. Call me a homer but I think he's the 2nd best C in the world.

Bush is extremely physical and actually a decent passer too, I love it. The D looks so much better with him in the lineup. JT really needs to figure this out, he's just throwing any garbage shot at the net hoping it goes in, that's not the way you play winning hockey.

I actually think he’s a more complete player than McJesus. Not as explosive but a better goal scorer and better defensively.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Playoffs style win, eh @Mess ?

I know you weren't talking to me but Yeah, I'd agree with that

 

[CelticDruid]

Solid game by the team.

 

[SoulOnIce]

The f*** was that trip on Kerfoot by Zuccarello .. what a sore loser.

and no one did anything. I’m pretty discouraged by that. Soft.

 

[jiggy35]

I just want to let everyone here know that the panthers got dummied by Columbus 6-3, and Pittsburgh got skunked by New Jersey 6-1 tonight.
It’s a crazy league.

let’s focus on this for a second, good teams lose to bad teams all the time, have dips, get tired, etc. etc. so tired of doomsday talk after 2-4 game losing streaks or losing games we “should have won” - nothing is guaranteed

 

[jiggy35]

Great win against a very good team.

 

[Bellefour20]

and no one did anything. I’m pretty discouraged by that. Soft.

The broadcast camera was zoomed out so Kerfoot's face wasn't clear, but I had assumed he was giving the stunk eye to Zuccarello. When they zoomed back in on the replay, he didn't look upset and seemed to be looking at his teammates.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Happy with the win and the boy's play. They were sound defensively and our best players were our best players. Just out of curiosity, when was the last time we received more powerplays than the other team? I can't remember many games this year where that was the case. As the league's 4th best team 5 on 5 we've had to kill 20 penalties more than we've had powerplay opportunities. Over the course of 82 games that would pace for a 32 penalty difference. It's ridiculous.

 

[tmlms13]

What shall we complain about tonight?

Matthews on the Wild goal. Not a great effort there. Clearly knew I better get my s*** together or else....

 

[fahad203]

matthews has 77 goals in his past 100 games, thats mentalllll yo. and 29 goals in his past 31 games

I dont know what it means to be generational

 

[ZEBROA]

What to do with the second line? Walk it off?

 

[griffon1]

Hard fought game, AM came through.

Good thing we got PM so cheap, MM?

Still need a real gud pro winger to light a fire under JT & WN.

We all trust KD to get it done

 

[francis246]

Last nights win shows you exactly why we should be active at the deadline. One or two players could make a world of difference.

 

[AvroArrow]

I dont know what it means to be generational

To play for a team not named Toronto because we can't have good things

 

[Maplebeasts]

Liljegren 3rd in TOI for the Leafs D and looked like a f***ing stud 5v5 and 5v4.

He's a top-4 defenseman. He's a young guy and will have his issues, but he is absolutely a top-4 guy already.

He's a complete stud. Maybe he makes the odd gaffe but he positions well, has one of the best outlet passes on the team, and makes really smart decisions with the puck and in the offensive zone. He's the second most productive defenseman offensively on the team after Rielly without getting a single second of powerplay time and controls chances for and against better than any defenceman on the team outside of Sandin. He's very clearly one of our 4 best defenseman and could be top pairing for us within a year or two if he takes any more steps forward. The confidence to carry the puck and jump into the play is only just now starting to come for him at this level. He's slowly starting to look more and more like Marlies Liljegren.