Post-Game Talk: Leafs win 4-3 against Rangers

I noticed something in his skating against Florida but didn’t mention it to avoid riling up anyone.
Thinking it’s his ankle again, he’s skating like he did last playoff.
He’s fine dude lol. He’s just had a bad few games. It’s okay to admit that. He will forgive you and I’m sure he’ll bounce back again before the end of the season.
 
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So no one can respond to anything you say about Marner without being “riled up”? Odd stance for a discussion board but what do I know.
It’s hard to tell with Marner cause he is not a very good skater. But he is definitely not hurt. There were lots of oohs and aahs when he made that move behind the net against Colorado.
 
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As game speed picks up as season playoff spots and seeding are up for grabs Mitch will become less impactful to our offence .. but he is still a very important player and his 2 way game is critical for us in playoffs .. what he needs to make sure is he does not resort to throw away passes which turn into chances for our opponents .. his history of overtrying to make creative offensive plays goes back to when he was a kid .. bottom line his stride length really impacts him in fast playoff games where time and space on puck is severely limited .. bottom line is he and Matty together won't make a good playoff pairing as foot speed becomes a bigger issue .. Domi and Knies is a perfect playoff line for Matty .. JT with Mitch and McCann on forecheck might work as you put slower guys together
I’d stick with McMann, JT and William the rest of the way. I like Domi, Mathews and Knies. If it works then Mitch is a waste, we’d be better off investing his 100 million in defencemen.
 
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I’d stick with McMann, JT and William the rest of the way. I like Domi, Mathews and Knies. If it works then Mitch is a waste, we’d be better off investing his 100 million in defencemen.
Bingo or at the very least let him run a third line or something he can definitely feast on third pair d and chip with offence perfect support role that would also show him that his price needs to be reasonable cause he’s a luxury not a necessity
 
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McCabe - Tanev pairing has been so good this season.

#1 ranked amongst defensive pairings in expected goals against per 60 minutes (minimum 541 mins played)

Screenshot (1690).png
 
Brandon Tanev would have been a better get as well. He scored a nice greasy goal around the crease last night. Laughton doesn't sniff the crease.
Problem is we thought we were getting a center if we knew we were getting a winger we’d probably get a top 6 winger instead
 
I love the way the team has rebounded after the slide but if there’s one damn nitpick that’s bugging me it’s the late goals surrendered by Woll late in the Calgary game and the NYR goal on Stolarz late. You want to see a total lock down effort so the team has confidence protecting that one goal game. (Which they did vs Colorado).
 
For me, last night solidified the top 6 for the Leafs playoff lineup. We all already know Betube won’t split things up across the top 3 lines.

Top 6
Knies Matthews Marner
McMann JT Willy

Bottom 6 - we have 8 players for 6 spots.

Domi
Laughton
Robbie
Kampf
Holmberg
Jarnkrok
Patches (should be ready for playoffs)

Gotta figure this out, although I think it depends on who we play.
 
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For me, last night solidified the top 6 for the Leafs playoff lineup. We all already know Betube won’t split things up across the top 3 lines.

Top 6
Knies Matthews Marner
McMann JT Willy

Bottom 6 - we have 8 players for 6 spots.

Domi
Laughton
Robbie
Kampf
Holmberg
Jarnkrok
Patches (should be ready for playoffs)

Gotta figure this out, although I think it depends on who we play.
Add steeves in there as well even though it’s an uphill climb for him
 
For me, last night solidified the top 6 for the Leafs playoff lineup. We all already know Betube won’t split things up across the top 3 lines.

Top 6
Knies Matthews Marner
McMann JT Willy

Bottom 6 - we have 8 players for 6 spots.

Domi
Laughton
Robbie
Kampf
Holmberg
Jarnkrok
Patches (should be ready for playoffs)

Gotta figure this out, although I think it depends on who we play.
I agree. That second line looks very good together.
 
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For me, last night solidified the top 6 for the Leafs playoff lineup. We all already know Betube won’t split things up across the top 3 lines.

Top 6
Knies Matthews Marner
McMann JT Willy

That second line has been thrown together on this site all season long.

That isn't insightful at all.

Two players who skate extremely well, with a good center.

A player who can keep up with Nylander that he can pass to.

I would not be surprised if it is changed before the weekend is over.
 
That second line has been thrown together on this site all season long.

That isn't insightful at all.

Two players who skate extremely well, with a good center.

A player who can keep up with Nylander that he can pass to.

I would not be surprised if it is changed before the weekend is over.
Cause we have to sacrifice the second line for the third line not balance the top nine cause the top line has to play against the other teams best lines we saw yesterday that that theory isn’t accurate cause our second line was dominating their top line before nyr realized that wasn’t the right approach
 
For me, last night solidified the top 6 for the Leafs playoff lineup. We all already know Betube won’t split things up across the top 3 lines.

Top 6
Knies Matthews Marner
McMann JT Willy

Bottom 6 - we have 8 players for 6 spots.

Domi
Laughton
Robbie
Kampf
Holmberg
Jarnkrok
Patches (should be ready for playoffs)

Gotta figure this out, although I think it depends on who we play.
Mark Osborne -- Peter Zezel -- Bill Berg

Leafs needs to find themselves a 3rd line that has an identity and useful purpose like the former Leafs line above that was very effective come playoff time.

Patches -- Laughton -- Domi etc
 
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Mark Osborne -- Peter Zezel -- Bill Berg

Leafs needs to find themselves a 3rd line that has an identity and useful purpose like the former Leafs line above that was very effective come playoff time.

Patches -- Laughton -- Domi etc
Without a shooter I don’t think domis as effective I could be wrong though
 
That second line has been thrown together on this site all season long.

That isn't insightful at all.

Two players who skate extremely well, with a good center.

A player who can keep up with Nylander that he can pass to.

I would not be surprised if it is changed before the weekend is over.

Holmberg when slotted properly on the third or fourth line isn’t bad. I thought Holmberg had a pretty good game last night just didn’t bury his chances
 
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Holmberg when slotted properly on the third or fourth line isn’t bad. I thought Holmberg had a pretty good game last night just didn’t bury his chances
Maybe put Holmberg on the top line and drop Knies to the third line 🤔 they should be able to carry him
 
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Without a shooter I don’t think domis as effective I could be wrong though
This has been the whole problem imo with line construction. Each line needs these skills across the 3 spots:
Puck carrier
Passer
Shooter
Physical/can check retrieve pucks
Defensively sound
 
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This has been the whole problem imo with line construction. Each line needs these skills across the 3 spots:
Puck carrier
Passer
Shooter
Physical/can check retrieve pucks
Defensively sound
Agreed and the higher up shouldn’t get the best of everything example being if matthews is the best center and scorer and marners the best right winger and playmaker the left wing shouldn’t be the best pucc retriever and best player at that position the stars get paid to carry not to be catered to
 
Cause we have to sacrifice the second line for the third line not balance the top nine cause the top line has to play against the other teams best lines we saw yesterday that that theory isn’t accurate cause our second line was dominating their top line before nyr realized that wasn’t the right approach
The top six looked good when we stacked it against the Rangers, but it left the third line with a lot of question marks.

Loading up the top six seems to work against weaker opponents or bubble teams, but I’m less confident that the third line will hold against Florida or Tampa.

I have confidence in six of our top nine forwards: Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares, Knies, and McMann.

Domi as the seventh is interesting because I trust him as a top-six winger if paired with Matthews, but I’m less confident in him as a third-line center. So, when we use him in that role, it’s almost like losing a player.

In the offseason, either the Domi money needs to go toward a third-line center, or the Marner money needs to go toward rebuilding the third line—allowing Domi to play with Matthews. Right now, we have one too many wingers and are still short a center. So either Domi or Marner needs to go in the offseason to fix the 3rd line.

Lines:
Knies–Matthews–Domi/Marner (choose 1)**
McMann–Tavares–Nylander
Third Line

For the playoffs, I’m not sure how they’ll approach it, but as currently constructed, that third line has question marks for me.
 
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