Post-Game Talk: Leafs win 5-2!

[Stephen]

I think the first thing they need to do is eliminate the idea of Dman joining the attacks all the time. I mentioned in other threads of this thread that guys like Benn should not be park in front of the net banging in rebounds even if it proved to be the game winning goal. Hopefully, this will help eliminate odd man rushes and rush chances, something that Leafs of recent playoffs had shown to be a weakness.
Another thing they need to do is be more clutch in scoring and needs to have more shots on goals than just passing around. Gio got a shorty last night but players should never do those drop passes on a clear breakaway. Imagine it is a tie game in Game 7 and MM did what he did last night and it didn’t result in a goal and the opposing team then score later on the PP. If MM took a shot and missed or goalie made a save, that’s fine but if he made a drop pass and nothing happened, that’s different.

The way they activate the D is one of my bigger gripes. Like when they give Holl the green light to do whatever he wants, or you have Jordie Benn leading the rush into a crowd of Sabres, there's certain risk sliders that come with those kind of tactics, and we don't have Lidstrom Rafalski back there doing it.

 

[Martin Skoula]

The way they activate the D is one of my bigger gripes. Like when they give Holl the green light to do whatever he wants, or you have Jordie Benn leading the rush into a crowd of Sabres, there's certain risk sliders that come with those kind of tactics, and we don't have Lidstrom Rafalski back there doing it.

Imo it's something you have to be able to toggle on and off depending on the situation. Gambling on whether or not Holl/Benn pinch forces the other team to make choices in how they defend us.

I've noticed Nylander gets chances every few games on the rare time he doesn't do our usual drop back PP entry, everyone's expecting it and it gives him an extra step on the D if it's set up right. If he stopped doing the drop back entry altogether, he'd get played tighter as a breakaway threat.

 

[Stephen]

Imo it's something you have to be able to toggle on and off depending on the situation. Gambling on whether or not Holl/Benn pinch forces the other team to make choices in how they defend us.

I've noticed Nylander gets chances every few games on the rare time he doesn't do our usual drop back PP entry, everyone's expecting it and it gives him an extra step on the D if it's set up right. If he stopped doing the drop back entry altogether, he'd get played tighter as a breakaway threat.

I agree with you. It's just all about situational flexibility. Just have the ability to play the Dumbed Down Plan B depending on game clock and opponent. Same with mix and matching the Big 4, spreading out talent or stacking it. It's not one thing or the other, it's just when to use those tactics.

The drop back PP entry seems like it should be change up pitch. Not the bread and butter fastball. I just don't get how it makes sense to have all guys lined up waiting to enter while the other team has you stood up at the blueline creating a 9 man pileup on either side of the opponent blueline.

Do something else, like have your RW enter in off the sidewall, stop up to allow the net front and bumper set up and then pass back to your point man for east west distribution.

 

[Gabriel426]

Imo it's something you have to be able to toggle on and off depending on the situation. Gambling on whether or not Holl/Benn pinch forces the other team to make choices in how they defend us.

I've noticed Nylander gets chances every few games on the rare time he doesn't do our usual drop back PP entry, everyone's expecting it and it gives him an extra step on the D if it's set up right. If he stopped doing the drop back entry altogether, he'd get played tighter as a breakaway threat.

I agree with you. It's just all about situational flexibility. Just have the ability to play the Dumbed Down Plan B depending on game clock and opponent. Same with mix and matching the Big 4, spreading out talent or stacking it. It's not one thing or the other, it's just when to use those tactics.

The drop back PP entry seems like it should be change up pitch. Not the bread and butter fastball. I just don't get how it makes sense to have all guys lined up waiting to enter while the other team has you stood up at the blueline creating a 9 man pileup on either side of the opponent blueline.

Do something else, like have your RW enter in off the sidewall, stop up to allow the net front and bumper set up and then pass back to your point man for east west distribution.

No doubt about changing it up here and there. Like when Babs was here, it was stretch pass after stretch pass. Then when Keefe came it was, why don’t they use the stretch pass to break the crowded zone.
Sometime, I really think our boys just have really low IQ to the point that they don’t know how to do play differently depending on situations, while I always see other teams and players make those adjustments in playoffs.

 

[therealkoho]

The forwards who are on the ice need to recognize they need to replace the position the Dman is abandoning. If that happens and a turnover is committed there is less chance for and odd man rush.

I have noticed that some forwards take a step into the offensive zone when there is a loose puck on the halfwall like they're going to retrieve, it's instinctive to a degree. When that occurs depending where people are, the puck is the Dmans responsibility and the centre or opposite side winger is supposed to retreat to high up in the zone and be ready to defend but if the puck gets turned over the covering winger has taken a step in and neither the centre or opposite side winger has gotten into a defensive posture, there it is an odd man rush.

The Dman pinching is a called play, its a dangerous play and the players on the ice have to know whats going on, because it changes their responsibilities, nobody out there does those things w/o the go ahead.

Keefe wants his D active, there are situations where it's advantageous to out man the corner, sometimes its a distraction so one of the forwards can sneak into the slot, or the opposite side winger can slide in behind the net, or even to the post but unmolested. It changes the defense and might pull a defender out of position or create panic. Whatever the myriad of situations they try to use it in, everybody has to know their responsibilities and execute the plan When people don't do their jobs the odd man rush is often the result and is not always the fault of the pinching Dman.

The Red Wings Russian unit was poetry in motion, it was like watching a circus, and they worked it to perfection, but they also grew up playing it. Bowman was the first NA coach to start teaching it, he first saw it in the '72 series. He had a rudimentary version of it in Buffalo, but with players who weren't use to sticking to planned routes and who thought the LW lock, the 221 or the 23 were the craziest things ever. When he finally had a mixed bag of players in Pittsburgh, those Europeans who grew up playing "Russian" hockey, NA players who grew up watching it and playing against it, did he have any success implementing it.