Post-Game Talk: Leafs win 3-0.

[crump]

Barabanov starting to look more comfortable. Good thing, we’ll need depth and he is looking pretty safe on any line. On a fully healthy lineup it might come down to him or Boyd, but who’s kidding who, we will never have a fully healthy lineup.

 

[Captain14]

This is what the pathetic Oiler fans are saying on their board. I mean...if we’re not legit, what does that say for them after being shutout in two straight with a 2nd and 3rd string goalie and without 34 in the lineup!
I so wish I could respond to their bad takes...

“The flip side of this is that the Leafs aren't a legit contender. They're the best of a mediocre division”

 

[Notsince67]

I really doubt that personally. Matthews can score 50 goals no matter what in my eyes. Nylander can pot 60-70 points playing with matty. Hyman can pot 30-40 points as well.

I think mitch would suffer more honesty playing with those lines.

Hmmm. You havent seen Marner and Tavares play together yet?
You want to run back 2 years ago and add a great playmaker to their line to boot?
It would take about 5 games to make it pretty clear.

 

[Mikeyg]

Conner mcdonalds has been trash thru 2. Must be such a shit feeling to get domed by your childhood team back to back!!! He’s going to watch mitchy boy hoist one this year and probably cry himself to sleep tbh. Oil suck.

 

[Not My Tempo]

I love how salty the other Canadian fanbases are getting lmao. I love that they can’t stand Leaf fans.

 

[zeke]

This is what the pathetic Oiler fans are saying on their board. I mean...if we’re not legit, what does that say for them after being shutout in two straight with a 2nd and 3rd string goalie and without 34 in the lineup!
I so wish I could respond to their bad takes...

“The flip side of this is that the Leafs aren't a legit contender. They're the best of a mediocre division”

Just remember that:

1. all of EDM, MTL, VAN, CGY, WPG were all generally considered to be "average" teams last year. Not bad, just mediocre.

2. All of them, except VAN, were considered to have improved significantly in the offseason over last year's team.

3. Even the one legit bad team, OTT, had a huge influx of exciting young talent this offseason.

Them pretending that all their teams are now horrible is just a beautiful example of their leafs-hate trumping even their fandom for their own teams.

Also note that most all of the top teams from last year took significant hits to their teams this offseason - TBay lost their best forward Kucherov and good dmen in Shattenkirk and Bogosian, Boston's dcorps was shredded by the loss of Krug and Chara, STL lost Pietrangelo, etc. etc.

 

[Auston 316]

This is what the pathetic Oiler fans are saying on their board. I mean...if we’re not legit, what does that say for them after being shutout in two straight with a 2nd and 3rd string goalie and without 34 in the lineup!
I so wish I could respond to their bad takes...

“The flip side of this is that the Leafs aren't a legit contender. They're the best of a mediocre division”

There’s a guy over there who gets triggered when Leaf fans come over and “like” his posts. Apparently it “proves his point” lol

so much salt. So delicious.

 

[MapleLeafs77]

Hmmm. You havent seen Marner and Tavares play together yet?
You want to run back 2 years ago and add a great playmaker to their line to boot?
It would take about 5 games to make it pretty clear.

2 years is a long time. JT is not the same player at all. Matthews has become one of the best players in the league with mcdavid and mackinnon

 

[ottomaddox]

I love how salty the other Canadian fanbases are getting lmao. I love that they can’t stand Leaf fans.

They hated us because we were losers. Now they hate us because we are winners? You can't win. It's so sad how unhealthy (mentally) non Ontario people are. I guess they can't stand that we have all the fun, all the money, all the culture, all the honeys, all the booze, all the finest wines/spirits, all the sports...

 

[Stolie the Goalie]

This is what the pathetic Oiler fans are saying on their board. I mean...if we’re not legit, what does that say for them after being shutout in two straight with a 2nd and 3rd string goalie and without 34 in the lineup!
I so wish I could respond to their bad takes...

“The flip side of this is that the Leafs aren't a legit contender. They're the best of a mediocre division”

They are one obsessed fan base. They actually have a specific thread about Steve Dangle on their main page.

 

[MattySnipes]

outplaying Nurse is a very, very low bar.

Check out these 5v5 numbers for Nurse. You're right. In what's considered his career year, look at this.

Nurse 5v5

CF% 50.31
SF% 50.09
xG% 52.23
HDCF% 54.64
oiSH% 10.42
PDO 1.024

OZ starts: 53.57
Giveaways: 23
Total PTS: 9

5v4

TOI: 40:49
Pts: 4 assists
CF% 87.10
xG% 92.01
HDCF% 87.50

oiSH% 17.24
PDO 1.172

It seems his PP numbers are boosting his all-strengths. His 5v5 play is meh.

Then you look at his shooting % + pdo and expect this won't last.

 

[Notsince67]

2 years is a long time. JT is not the same player at all. Matthews has become one of the best players in the league with mcdavid and mackinnon

McDavid was shut out for 2 games without adequate line mates.

 

[MattySnipes]

McDavid was shut out for 2 games without adequate line mates.

Do you think McDavid is a hard player to play with?

 

[Pi]

This is what the pathetic Oiler fans are saying on their board. I mean...if we’re not legit, what does that say for them after being shutout in two straight with a 2nd and 3rd string goalie and without 34 in the lineup!
I so wish I could respond to their bad takes...

“The flip side of this is that the Leafs aren't a legit contender. They're the best of a mediocre division”

If the Leafs aren't a good team in their eyes, I'd hate to think what they think of their own teams LOL.

 

[Not My Tempo]

They are one obsessed fan base. They actually have a specific thread about Steve Dangle on their main page.

I never understood the hate Steve gets. I don’t like his content so I just don’t watch it, but by all means he seems like a good guy, doing a ton of stuff for charity and whatnot. It’s kinda cringy seeing grown ass adults getting upset that someone has made a career out of being a sports fan. I’ve seen people say they wish they can punch him and other stuff and all I can think is “just don’t click on his videos?”

 

[1specter]

McDavid was shut out for 2 games without adequate line mates.

And Tavares was matched up against him too

 

[Notsince67]

Do you think McDavid is a hard player to play with?

I think that there is a large element of elite players carrying other players. When elite players can play with players that can carry their own baggage and drive play, they can shine. If they don't, they are easier to neutralize.

 

[willmma]

Going a bit above .500 from here on basically locks up first place. I am hoping we start resting our players in April.

at that point wins don’t matter as much as making sure we’re healthy to start the playoffs.

Wins and points matter for the seeding in the third round.

But that said, I agree we need to manage the load for our players. Our schedule March 25th the end of the season on May 8th is going to be intense. 24 games in 44 nights (that is the same time it took Vancouver to play their first 24 games) and it includes 15 road games and 5 back-to-backs.

 

[RealisticLeaf55]

This is what the pathetic Oiler fans are saying on their board. I mean...if we’re not legit, what does that say for them after being shutout in two straight with a 2nd and 3rd string goalie and without 34 in the lineup!
I so wish I could respond to their bad takes...

“The flip side of this is that the Leafs aren't a legit contender. They're the best of a mediocre division”

Imagine if we win a cup? Posters will boycott HFBoards for the entirety of the summer.

Even a lot of teams around the leagues boards hate us so much, they won't post about us when we win. It upsets them that much. I love the sport, dislike my rivals, but to go so far as to boycott talking about my rivals wins? That's hilarious on a legendary scale.

It's why I love this team. The year when we win it all, this place will humble itself, and t will be a great year for all of us.

 

[Notsince67]

And Tavares was matched up against him too

JT seems to get a bad wrap defensively. People are sleeping on him.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

This is what the pathetic Oiler fans are saying on their board. I mean...if we’re not legit, what does that say for them after being shutout in two straight with a 2nd and 3rd string goalie and without 34 in the lineup!
I so wish I could respond to their bad takes...

“The flip side of this is that the Leafs aren't a legit contender. They're the best of a mediocre division”

I don't see it as a bad take ... it is being honest about it ... Leafs are best of north ... watch Vegas, Tampa, Boston, Carolina even Florida play ... they are faster and stronger on puck ... we would likely be in 3rd place in Atlantic, maybe 4th ... but Atlantic was/is best division in hockey bar none ... and don't forget we lost to 4th place team in Metro in play in round ... I hope league figures out how to better deal with Atlantic next year ... like lets go with top 8 teams in Atlantic and Metro make playoffs and seed by point totals ... then watch Metro go out in 1st round across da board

 

[Sypher04]

I don't see it as a bad take ... it is being honest about it ... Leafs are best of north ... watch Vegas, Tampa, Boston, Carolina even Florida play ... they are faster and stronger on puck ... we would likely be in 3rd place in Atlantic, maybe 4th ... but Atlantic was/is best division in hockey bar none ... and don't forget we lost to 4th place team in Metro in play in round ... I hope league figures out how to better deal with Atlantic next year ... like lets go with top 8 teams in Atlantic and Metro make playoffs and seed by point totals ... then watch Metro go out in 1st round across da board

I've watched all of the teams you listed and they don't do anything fundamentally differently than we do.
We are an elite team that 100% belongs in that group you listed.
Hell, I'll go as far as to say we're outright better than a couple of them

 

[MattySnipes]

I think that there is a large element of elite players carrying other players. When elite players can play with players that can carry their own baggage and drive play, they can shine. If they don't, they are easier to neutralize.

Exactly. Some elite players can elevate lesser players like a Crosby, etc. I see lots of Oilers fans blame McDavid for being a hard player to play with, but maybe it has more to do with not having right players to play with him? Or do you think he should make some changes to his game?

 

[BlueForever75]

If I am the Leafs I leave Tavares with Thornton and Marner. Just seems to be working and might be the ticket to get Tavares going. Would be best for the Leafs to ice these lines:

Thornton-Tavares-Marner
Kerfoot/Barabonov-Matthews-Nylander
Hyman-Engvall-Micheyev
Kerfoot/Barabonov-Spezza-Simmonds
Boyd

Its a great balance with Tavares, Matthews and Engvall down the middle with great defensive and offensive capabilities. This lineup also gives you the opportunity to roll 4 lines and make match ups hard for the opposition. Hyman-Engvall-Micheyev have the ability to become the Osborne-Zezel-Berg line that this team sorely has been missing. High intensity, speed, bangers with some offensive flare and defensively responsible. I know Engvall isnt the best at draws but with Malholtra tutoring him and Hyman on his flank. It can work.

 

[Mikeyg]

Man im now on the woll train for tomorrow, if he stonewalls them as well, you’d see some real fireworks over there.