Post-Game Talk: Leafs win 2-1 OT

[Man Bear Pig]

Imagine this team right now but with Kadri, imagine that...

Oh man, imagine if we were first overall missing our starting goalie, our backup goalie, a 1st line winger, a 2nd line winger, and our #3 on the blue line. We won despite all those injuries. Where are we in the standings again?

 

[saltming]

Mathews gets pushed by Anderson nobody stands up for him .

When are we going to stand up for our star players.

We are such a gutless team.

And to all the non fighters on this forum this is our best player .
I don't care if we get an instigating penalty or a major , send a message to the league that he is off limits.

I thought Matthews did quite well for himself and I prefer that. Sid had to establish that he was no easy target and now Matthews is.
I really like it

 

[horner]

I thought Matthews did quite well for himself and I prefer that. Sid had to establish that he was no easy target and now Matthews is.
I really like it

I agree that Mathews stood up for himself but he is one of the players we can not afford to lose .

When I played hockey if you went after our star players we went after you .
We have no one that will even hit Anderson so sad.

 

[BertCorbeau]

From what I saw, this was a well played game. Happy that the team is maintaining strong defense even when they're not scoring. That's good composure.

Willy made up for that defensive gaffe in a big way. What a beauty game winner.

A bit concerned about Matthews' wrist but that sounds like something that can easily be fixed with some rest.

Kudos to Hutch for a strong game in net.

The PP saved our butts earlier in the season and it couldn't stay hot forever. I just hope they can figure out the adjustments sooner than later.

 

[saltming]

I agree that Mathews stood up for himself but he is one of the players we can not afford to lose .

When I played hockey if you went after our star players we went after you .
We have no one that will even hit Anderson so sad.

But now if you go after someone is an automatic 2 minutes. Also it won't stop the cheap shots. The league has to know if you go after Matthews he will deal out the justice imo
He is becoming a big dominant centre and this is part of that. He is reminding me of Mackinnon.
Right now on the forecheck we are missing Thornton and Simmonds and that's a lot of grit gone from the top 6. Anderson will recieve his dues soon

 

[Kazparov]

Leafs really turned it on in the second half of the game. They looked flat and uninspried in the first part but clearly where the better team in the late 2nd and 3rd.

Willy blew the coverage on that Calgary goal. I thought he was going to get benched but kuddos to him for getting the equalizer the the GWG. He needs to remember to go to the net more, I think he was 2nd or 3rd in the league last year with net front goals.

 

[Dragao6]

Oh man, imagine if we we were first overall missing our starting goalie, our backup goalie, a 1st line winger, a 2nd line winger, and our #3 on the blue line. We won despite all those injuries. Where are we in the standings again?

Kadri on matthews wing would be something I think though

 

[aingefan]

Hats off to Hutch.
Stepping up pretty well, overall.

Lends some confidence to a tandem situation moving forward.

 

[Notsince67]

This is what I think.
Really good to see Willy smiling. Hopefully, this gives him a boost.
JT looked better IMO.
Whatever it takes to get these guys going, Keefe should do it including separating Marner & Matthews for a short time. Even if it costs those guys awards or whatever personal accomplishment, the team needs to come first. I don't want to go into the playoffs with 2 strong forwards not performing.
The confidence of these guys matter and I don't really care what they are paid so don't @ME over that. They aren't getting moved in the near future so they need to be good for the leafs to win.

Happy hutch had a good game.

The trap caused some problems early but at least Keefe adjusted to a dump and chase game.
Dermott really good but I'd like to see more slappers from the point. He has a good shot and the team is a bit weak at it.

 

[All Mod Cons]

Willy missed his coverage on the Flames' goal, but made up for it by getting 2 goals.

That's what big character players do.

 

[ShaneFalco]

It's a bit concerning that with Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander that sometimes team's can shut us down.... too easily

But an ugly win and I'll gladly take it

 

[ShaneFalco]

Kadri on matthews wing would be something I think though

Babcock would never have tried it

 

[Pi]

OK I'm imagining this team with a slow defensive liability at center......and yup, no, no thanks.

Yeah, I miss Kadri because of his ability to play on the PP well but that kind of became an afterthought after we got Tavares. There was really nothing else that he did great. On ES he was just okay, couldn't be relied upon to win draws, couldn't kill penalties. What is that kind of 3C good for?

 

[budzz]

The Matthews wrist injury explains alot... 2 games now he has been bobbling pucks a bit, when he's usually like a kitten and the puck is a ball of yarn stuck to it's claws. The fact he's been "battling the wrist all season" and still shown that lethal shot is amazing. Rest up Mats we need you buddy.

 

[HomerJLeafs]

serious question
Marner and Nylander don't like each other?
Noticed Mitch was the only one who hasn't jumped up from the bench when William scored the OT winner
also
William shoved Mitch after he scored the GTG
??????

 

[socko]

And where does our 11 million dollar Capt play? Third line? Thats about as smart as having Willy be the 3C like some have suggested. 17 pts in 21 games and some folks act like hes a cap dump now.

Centering the 3rd line and playing on the 1st PP unit. Give him Kerfoot and Mikheyev that will offset how slow he is. Nylander needs a better playmaker to get him going.

 

[LeafGrief]

First period seemed pretty even, not a lot going on, but we put the pedal down to the metal in the 2nd and didn't let off. Could really feel the tension and frustration building as Rittich made save after save and it really felt like a matter of time until we got our backs broken. Mangiapane's goal (man, he's a good player) felt like it was guaranteed to happen. But the Leafs do feel a little different this year. They battled back to tie it and as I sat on the couch negotiating with myself whether I'd be okay with an OT loss or not, Willy sealed the deal. This team is playing like they believe they'll win every night and they're actually putting in the work to make it happen. The effort is there, the defensive structure is there, the dogged determination to win is all there.

If our powerplay gets back on track the rest of the division better look out. If Tavares gets going, the division better look out. When we get healthy, the division better look out. This Leafs team is good.

 

[Gary Nylund]

First period seemed pretty even, not a lot going on, but we put the pedal down to the metal in the 2nd and didn't let off. Could really feel the tension and frustration building as Rittich made save after save and it really felt like a matter of time until we got our backs broken. Mangiapane's goal (man, he's a good player) felt like it was guaranteed to happen. But the Leafs do feel a little different this year. They battled back to tie it and as I sat on the couch negotiating with myself whether I'd be okay with an OT loss or not, Willy sealed the deal. This team is playing like they believe they'll win every night and they're actually putting in the work to make it happen. The effort is there, the defensive structure is there, the dogged determination to win is all there.

If our powerplay gets back on track the rest of the division better look out. If Tavares gets going, the division better look out. When we get healthy, the division better look out. This Leafs team is good.

Yup. I said it before - this was the best game of the year. Played hard all night, on the verge of being shut out back to back, PP failing miserably, it would have been easy to just give up and say it's just not our night but ... they kept battling and it finally paid off.

So happy for Hutch. The crap he's taken on these boards has been embarrassing and boy did he even come through for us!!

Both teams played hard but we were clearly better and we won. Most enjoyable game of the season by a mile, can't wait for McDavid and the Oilers on Saturday night.

Give Matthews time to rest if he needs it. We need him healthy for the playoffs.

 

[Once]

serious question
Marner and Nylander don't like each other?
Noticed Mitch was the only one who hasn't jumped up from the bench when William scored the OT winner
also
William shoved Mitch after he scored the GTG
??????

You're making that up.

 

[Breakaway3527]

serious question
Marner and Nylander don't like each other?
Noticed Mitch was the only one who hasn't jumped up from the bench when William scored the OT winner
also
William shoved Mitch after he scored the GTG
??????

If you look at replay. Marner was not watching the play. So hard to cheer when you don't see it and he did not know who scored. I seen him do this before

 

[SprDaVE]

I thought the Leafs played a very good defensive game. The Flames didn't get anything going and Hutchinson made a couple good saves.

I questioned the Bogosian signing, but he's been really good this season. I thought last night he did a lot of good plays.

Leafs really need some forwards to step up while Matthews and Marner are falling back down to earth a little. Tavares is struggling badly and is getting no bounces.

 

[Damisoph]

serious question
Marner and Nylander don't like each other?
Noticed Mitch was the only one who hasn't jumped up from the bench when William scored the OT winner
also
William shoved Mitch after he scored the GTG
??????

There is no truth to any of that.

 

[Gardiner]

serious question
Marner and Nylander don't like each other?
Noticed Mitch was the only one who hasn't jumped up from the bench when William scored the OT winner
also
William shoved Mitch after he scored the GTG
??????

Go checkout Marners IG story.

 

[robertmac43]

Unreal from Willie. Love when he chips in with some goals but I thought his overall game was solid throughout.

Post-game he acknowledged he's has a slow couple of weeks and wants to up his game. Hopefully, he can follow through for us.

 

[LeafGrief]

serious question
Marner and Nylander don't like each other?
Noticed Mitch was the only one who hasn't jumped up from the bench when William scored the OT winner
also
William shoved Mitch after he scored the GTG
??????

Bravo is the television network you'll want to subscribe to. Real Housewives, Selling Sunset, Kardiashians, all that drama stuff. Below Deck is probably the show that would appeal most to the average hockey viewer, so maybe start there and work your way up to the platinum tier drama shows.