Post-Game Talk: Leafs win 2-1 OT

[Randy Randerson]

Suck on that Willy, haters.

fify?

 

[GoodNewfieBoy]

If Auston has a bum wrist, shouldn’t we just give him a couple weeks and let it heal?
I mean obviously if GoodNewfieBoy is thinking about it they are too but man he just needs to be ready for the playoffs

 

[123offtheglass]

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?

Leafs are first in the standings. NHL Hockey Standings

 

[SeaOfBlue]

It doesn't matter how good or bad a team is or looks if they have a superior game plan and are effective implementing it. For 118 minutes Calgary was able to do this and the Leafs looked as dead in the water as they did vs Korpisalo and CBJ in their losses. The strategy of collapsing tight and keeping things to the outside dramatically helps goalies, how many quality 2nd chances did Toronto create before finally scoring? It was a lot of one and done shots with no traffic where Rittich only needed to focus on the initial shot. It requires a goalie in the zone but it doesn't require an all-star back there either to pull off.

Tampa bay was able to drive the net a lot better and CBJ save % dropped by .2 between the rounds. .2 doesn't sound like a lot but that would have been the difference of an extra 3-4 goals in the Leaf series which likely would have been the difference in winning.

Until Leafs have proven they can overcome teams that want to play this way consistently they are always going to be at risk of getting upset and have a hard time going deep.

Rittich had to make a number of ridiculous saves to keep his team in it, and also had to have like 5 posts save him in the first game. We had a lot of sustainable pressure for much of both games, and we were not giving up much the other way. They could only score 4 goals against our subpar 3rd string goalie in 2 games, and half of them came on the powerplay.

Both of Calgary and Columbus' game plans sucked against us, unless their game plan was to hope that their goalie could steal the game and they just hope that a soft one goes in against our goalie (or we have a defensive breakdown, which did not happen very often in any of the games we played against either). It is an unsustainable game plan, which is exactly why Tampa was able to crack through against them eventually. Their physicality was a non-factor, and it did not prevent us from getting inside for quality scoring chances (even though they did their best to try and clog up the middle with bodies and we should have looked for more chances on the outside).

 

[JT AM da real deal]

That's not the case, football, like hockey is now demanding ALL players to be able to do ALL facets of the game. In football now, right-backs can play as centre-mids. Heck, goalkeepers can pass the ball like centre-mids nowadays.

Arsenal's 'invincible' side are the best team i've ever seen play. Their centre-backs constantly passed the ball 10 metres ahead of the full-back, for them to run onto it and drive forwards. It was risky, because if intercepted, they'd be caught on the break. But they'd constantly play those passes without even looking, because the full-back SHOULD have been ready and anticipating the play.

That's what Dermott should have done. If you always react, you are behind the 8-ball. You need to be pro-active and depend on your teammates to make the right moves and act accordingly. The game moves so fast, you simply have to. That's why these guys are so elite. Occasionally, one person isn't where they should be and it costs. But the principle of it shouldn't alter because of that for me.

I want to see people make plays based on where their teammates should be and anticipating what they should be doing. Not waiting for it to happen then acting depending on it. They all need to be on the same page, else the fluidity isn't there.

I think hockey, like football, is trending in that direction.

Who knows what future holds ... but I know on our Leafs we are a much better team now because we have 3 rock solid defenders in Muzzy, Brodie and Bogo ... we are no longer da leaky faucet of da NHL

 

[SeaOfBlue]

If Auston has a bum wrist, shouldn’t we just give him a couple weeks and let it heal?
I mean obviously if GoodNewfieBoy is thinking about it they are too but man he just needs to be ready for the playoffs

He is going for some records, so Matthews will want to play if he can play.

He may get a couple of games off, but not a couple of weeks. We want him to maintain his streak as much as possible, and if it is nothing more than a bruise (and it doesn't prevent him from playing properly), he will probably not even miss one game.

 

[Warden of the North]

Feschuk continuing to be the biggest dumbass in Toronto media.

Just said on Overdrive "If Nylander doesnt score those goals this is another day of "wheres Nylander?"

Well no shit Dave. Thats how sports works. He did score them.

 

[The Man with a Plan]

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.

I repeat. You do NOT move Willy and his 6.9 salary to the third fricking line.

 

[BertCorbeau]

He is going for some records, so Matthews will want to play if he can play.

He may get a couple of games off, but not a couple of weeks. We want him to maintain his streak as much as possible, and if it is nothing more than a bruise (and it doesn't prevent him from playing properly), he will probably not even miss one game.

One thing the Leafs can look at is in March they have two good breaks in the middle of March.

The first is no games on the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th, and then another break with no games on the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th.

Now there is a back to back between those breaks but that's the rest time that the Leafs will have to heal up. Depending on how Matthews' feels, they might be able to ride it out for the next 2.5 weeks.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Feschuk continuing to be the biggest dumbass in Toronto media.

Just said on Overdrive "If Nylander doesnt score those goals this is another day of "wheres Nylander?"

Well no shit Dave. Thats how sports works. He did score them.

Feschuk is going full Simmons.

Such a loser.

 

[The Man with a Plan]

Feschuk continuing to be the biggest dumbass in Toronto media.

Just said on Overdrive "If Nylander doesnt score those goals this is another day of "wheres Nylander?"

Well no shit Dave. Thats how sports works. He did score them.

Thats quite the feat too... the biggest idjit in the Toronto Media. Thats a long and undistinguished list

 

[hamzarocks]

Feschuk continuing to be the biggest dumbass in Toronto media.

Just said on Overdrive "If Nylander doesnt score those goals this is another day of "wheres Nylander?"

Well no shit Dave. Thats how sports works. He did score them.

Is he the guy kessel called an idiot in a post game media session?

If he is that guy really has some notoriously idiotic moments. Pretty sure he was the clown who called Reimers mother asking about his concussion injury/return timeline

Back in 2010-2013 Simmons/Feschuk/Cox etc use to ha e a platform where they were heard and people considered what they said. Thankfully people rarely give these idiots any time now and most people look to the Athletic/other media forms for player pieces.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Of course Rittich plays lights out for 2 straight games against us where we couldn't buy a goal and then he gives up a goal from center ice to the sens.

 

[therealkoho]

Two questions Maple Leafs' Nylander should consider after polarizing week

Was Mangiapane’s Nylander's guy?

No … but eventually yes.

For starters, Elias Lindholm has the puck low in the Leafs zone, and both Engvall and Dermott have their eyes on him. have their eyes on him. A two-on-two low is shaking out, and that’s half the battle of defending -- identifying numbers, situations.

With Lindholm taking it low below the goal line where Dermott is, a switch seems pretty obvious. Dermott and Engvall should be talking here, which they clearly don’t in the video. Still, though, it’s not a hard read. Engvall should hand off the puck carrier to Dermott -- who Lindholm is skating towards -- and just grab Mangiapane. Simple.

Engvall gets caught staring at the puck though, and either doesn’t read the switch or thinks he can disrupt the puck. Either way, it’s a poor decision.

Yeah that’s a “nope.”

Now, in-zone hockey defending is about layers, which protects against breakdowns by allowing some without a nuclear meltdown. When the puck is below the goal line, you always want your weakside wingers down below the hash marks in front of their own net.

Why? If the puck goes up to the points you can skate out at them and get in lanes, block shots, and at worst, a shot comes from a distance. If someone gets underneath you a la Mangiapane, well, this is what happens. Weak-side wingers in the D-zone with the puck low no longer prioritize the opposing D.

Nylander isn’t deep enough by some inches, and it allows Mangiapane to capitalize on the seam that’s caused as Justin Holl -- who can’t be asked to defend both in front of the net and the puck carrier -- tries to disrupt the play below the goal line.

So yeah, I’ve got Nylander as one of the two players most responsible for this goal against. He’s not covering anyone up that high and -- as always -- let me bang the drum for defending people not areas of the ice. And there’s clearly an open “people” there, Bill.

As I mentioned above though, Keefe doesn’t give up on him, he keeps using him, and that allows us to get to the whole “microcosm of a career” thing, where he scores, then scores an elite-skill goal to end the game.

That's from Justin Bourne, he's not a "hater" he's and ex minor-pro player and pro coach(Marlies) who grew up in the game and around Stanley Cup winners. Who now makes his living in the media.

I kind of trust his opinion on this

 

[ottomaddox]

Where is the post game?

 

[ottomaddox]

Leafs win 4-0

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