Post-Game Talk: Leafs win 5-4 Game 1 of Round 2

[ACC1224]

Yeah, IMO it was the missed slew foot that was dangerous. Marner had good instincts to avoid it.

He's been targetted all his life.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Quick Hits:

1) Outside of a the huge pushback from Florida for the first 5-8 minutes of the third, we pretty much dog walked them. We got on it early, we built on it, and if not for the Stolarz injury, we might have continued to do so.

2) I don't want to make much of it, he came in cold and put in a real tough spot, Woll didn't look great. I very much worry about him being beat high easily. Having said that, I'm not worried about him starting, he did a lot of good things in the playoffs so far in his career.

3) Damnit they are dirty. From the Bennett crap to Brady's brother going after Marner at the end of the game. They will do anything and the league won't do anything, I don't think.

4) And... we had an edge back. I'm not gonna pretend that the Pacioretty and Domi hits from the side/behind weren't borderline. Easily could've called those as penalties and we got away with them.

5) Big Willie Styles. No more to be said.

6) I know the points didn't come from the rest of the Core Four, but they were all very good last night. Matthews in particular. It's shocking to me he didn't have a point, he was everywhere and led the team in shots. You can tell he's not right with that shot, but he was awesome. That play/pass from Marner to spring Knies was also pretty brilliant.

7) The power play will need to be better. We're not going to get that many opportunities most games.

8) Huge to get the first one. This series is gonna be a battle, but that win and surviving a pretty big push is a big deal. Let's get the second one now.

The PP is right up there with the Stolarz health situation as my biggest concern. Gave up two shorties against Ottawa, and 0 for 5 last night, that's just not going to get it done.

Goaltending and special teams are crucial in the playoffs so not gonna lie, I'm worried.

 

[Evilhomer]

The PP is right up there with the Stolarz health situation as my biggest concern. Gave up two shorties against Ottawa, and 0 for 5 last night, that's just not going to get it done.

Goaltending and special teams are crucial in the playoffs so not gonna lie, I'm worried.

If Carolina gets past Washington, I think special teams will be a legitimate concern against Carolina given their special teams success. I don't expect it to be an issue against Florida.

 

[IPS]

If Carolina gets past Washington, I think special teams will be a legitimate concern against Carolina given their special teams success. I don't expect it to be an issue against Florida.

I really didn't like the look of that 4th PP they had, way too much passing , borderline playing hot potato with the puck.

 

[The Shadow]

We're cooked if Woll has to take over this series

Calm down. Not true at all.

 

[Evilhomer]

I really didn't like the look of that 4th PP they had, way too much passing , borderline playing hot potato with the puck.

Carolina's special teams are pretty elite, despite their shaky goaltending. Let's see if they can get past Washington.

 

[AllHeartNoSkill]

The PP is right up there with the Stolarz health situation as my biggest concern. Gave up two shorties against Ottawa, and 0 for 5 last night, that's just not going to get it done.

Goaltending and special teams are crucial in the playoffs so not gonna lie, I'm worried.

Somebody needs to explain to me how, regardless of the revolving door of coaches and assistants, the PP always seems to be an issue and never really changes significantly.

 

[tuckerintensity]

The PP is right up there with the Stolarz health situation as my biggest concern. Gave up two shorties against Ottawa, and 0 for 5 last night, that's just not going to get it done.

Goaltending and special teams are crucial in the playoffs so not gonna lie, I'm worried.

We made adjustments late last night, I noticed Rielly out there to not have five forwards. I expect more adjustments, as well. I'm not super concerned about the powerplay overall, only that we do need it to be better going forward. It's the first game against a much better team and a different style penalty kill. I know they have footage and four games from the regular season, but in game learning last night should go a long way.

 

[Maple Leaf]

Perhaps it will light a fire in their loins

 

[ToneDog]

The PP is right up there with the Stolarz health situation as my biggest concern. Gave up two shorties against Ottawa, and 0 for 5 last night, that's just not going to get it done.

Goaltending and special teams are crucial in the playoffs so not gonna lie, I'm worried.

You go 5 forwards on the PP for a long time and then when you need a goal, you play not to give up a SHG by playing Rielly over Knies, who pretty much neuters the PP. Not sure what message that sends.

 

[IPS]

Don't understand why some people bitch about the GDT being a little negative. If you don't like it, don't read it, maybe just watch the game.

Some people act like fans don't have a reason to be skeptical after 8 years of similar stories and are acting like this in year 1 of this core people are hating on. The fact people even stick around is good at that point. They've earned the right to skepticism. American fans would have collectively bailed on this team by now. I think part of the reason the Leafs are playing better is because of lower expectations so it's not a bad thing.

Leafs need to figure out the powerplay to win this series though. I hope Stolie is alright. Leafs in 6/7

They can't help themselves. They feel it's their obligated duty to tone police any opinion they don't like. Typical weak-minded behavior.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Somebody needs to explain to me how, regardless of the revolving door of coaches and assistants, the PP always seems to be an issue and never really changes significantly.

If someone comes up with something, do let me know.

We made adjustments late last night, I noticed Rielly out there to not have five forwards. I expect more adjustments, as well. I'm not super concerned about the powerplay overall, only that we do need it to be better going forward. It's the first game against a much better team and a different style penalty kill. I know they have footage and four games from the regular season, but in game learning last night should go a long way.

We've been making adjustments for years, hasn't done us much good as we always seem to have big problems in the playoffs.

 

[thewave]

A slew foot attempt followed by that, the definition of dangerous. Not sure why we're even debating that. Too each his own.

Well you have your thinking cap on for this stuff.

 

[1specter]

We're cooked if Woll has to take over this series

Not at all. Woll does well under pressure, only concern would be his health, but he stayed healthy this year after coming back from his initial preseason injury

 

[dangomon]

If someone comes up with something, do let me know.

We've been making adjustments for years, hasn't done us much good as we always seem to have big problems in the playoffs.

Am I taking crazy pills? Going 0-5 last night stinks, but it wasn't without opportunity. They produced almost 1.5 xG in those chances, and didn't capitalize. Even with the 0-5 they're close to 30% in the playoffs, and was a huge reason we jumped out 3-0 against the Sens.

Lets take a breath and hope we keep humming along at %30.

 

[DarkKnight]

You go 5 forwards on the PP for a long time and then when you need a goal, you play not to give up a SHG by playing Rielly over Knies, who pretty much neuters the PP. Not sure what message that sends.

That was odd I thought.

 

[DarkKnight]

They can't help themselves. They feel it's their obligated duty to tone police any opinion they don't like. Typical weak-minded behavior.

Knee jerk negativity isn't strength. Not in any real world I've participated in, in fact that's the opposite in my experience. Pointing it out isn't a weakness either. And no I don't see other fan bases picking apart a big win against Goliath. Some areas to acknowledge, but man some people are just losers their mentality. Just saying, this place is special lol.

 

[Avilaj07]

Regarding the powerplay, I think it comes down to not having the threat of a booming shot from the point. Yes, Marner has been great at facilitating the powerplay from the point but it also allows the defense not to worry about a slap shot coming and worry more about boxing out and tying up sticks. Matthews looks off these playoffs. He's missing the net a ton and hasn't really been himself offensively. They just need to focus on getting the puck to the net and moving the puck quick. Florida is so aggressive on the pk that if you're moving your feet and moving the puck quick, you're going to open up a lot of shooting lanes

 

[IPS]

Knee jerk negativity isn't strength. Not in any real world I've participated in, in fact that's the opposite in my experience. Pointing it out isn't a weakness either. And no I don't see other fan bases picking apart a big win against Goliath. Some areas to acknowledge, but man some people are just losers their mentality. Just saying, this place is special lol.

I don't understand why people can't just scroll past the posts/usernames they don't like.

 

[thewave]

Not at all. Woll does well under pressure, only concern would be his health, but he stayed healthy this year after coming back from his initial preseason injury

I think Woll can do it too. The team needs to be their best and play for Stolarz who just got made into a victim.

 

[QJo]

The powerplay looked stagnant at times again last night. Happy with possession. Couple guys around the net, 3 perimitarians waiting for the clouds to part and some shining opportunity to reveal itself.

 

[thewave]

The powerplay looked stagnant at times again last night. Happy with possession. Couple guys around the net, 3 perimitarians waiting for the clouds to part and some shining opportunity to reveal itself.

You know it. Marner was the ring leader

 

[Avilaj07]

As much as people wanted to Leafs top retaliate to what Bennett did to Stolarz and then you have Rodriguez run Woll. I'm glad they didn't last night. It was too close of a game to take penalties at that point of time. Florida had the momentum and was pushing hard. The Leafs stayed focused and won the game.

Now game 2 is a different story. If I'm Berube, I'm telling every player on this team, you finish every single check on Bennett. I look at Benoit, Mccabe, Patches, Domi to constantly give it to Bennett all game. I'd also be willing to take an early penalty and just put the head down and drive the net and take out Bob.

Our Leafs didn't respond in game 1 but got the won which is definitely more important, but I'm totally expecting them to respond in game 2 and get the definitely Scotiabank rocking early.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Am I taking crazy pills? Going 0-5 last night stinks, but it wasn't without opportunity. They produced almost 1.5 xG in those chances, and didn't capitalize. Even with the 0-5 they're close to 30% in the playoffs, and was a huge reason we jumped out 3-0 against the Sens.

Lets take a breath and hope we keep humming along at %30.

I've never been big on all these x stats, 0-5 is that number that matters and a few of those PP's looked absolutely terrible. JMHO.

They're at 27.3% ATM, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't factor in giving up shorties. If you subtract the 2 shorties from the total then the PP% goes below 20. I did this calc in my head so let me know if I'm wrong but that's the way it looks to me and below 20% with most of the time the opponent being Ottawa isn't exactly humming along. It's nowhere near as bad as the last playoffs, but it's not very good either.

 

[ruaware41]

Are you confident with Woll being the starter for a while?

No. And that's okay. He has a chance to prove something. I'm confident about his skill level no doubt but he had the #1 spot handed to him on a platter and lost it to a guy who was Florida's back up last year. Doesn't show good progress year to year and seems to get injured at bad times. He has a chance to prove otherwise and I hope he does.