Post-Game Talk: Leafs win 7-6 in OT

[LeafsNation75]

Maybe this sounds selfish of me to say but besides the disappointment of Kane tying the game twice when they were playing 6v5, was anyone upset that Tavares didn't have a chance at the empty net to get a 4th goal or Matthews didn't have a chance to also get himself a hat trick.

 

[Drew311]

I don't know what you're watching but Sparks hasn't done anything to tell us he's an NHL goalie so far. Not a thing.

Generally a goalie will be as good as the defense you put in front of him. Tell me how many goals Sparks let in on clean shots tonight.

 

[SoVi3t]

I heard my dad swear for the first time today, in reference to Sparks' goaltending abilities.

How the hell do you give up two goals in the last minute just because they pulled their goalie?

And I swear to GOD, can Babcock PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE spend 90% of the next practice going over how to carry the puck out of our own end without firing it to center ice and praying for a miracle?

 

[LeafsNation75]

 

[93gilmour93]

 

[Leafling]

This team is crazy man! I love it!

My bro doesn't like or watch hockey but luckily i made him watch those last 5 min and i think he's hooked now

And ya sparks doesn't give me any confidence, hopefully it's just the first game jitters

 

[Ryan Michaels]

Not sure why all the Sparks hate, just reviewing their 6 goals and 4 of them were not on Sparks.

Goal 1 - Toews, tip, no chance
Goal 2 - Debrincat, Tic tac toe, no chance
Goal 3 - Manning, screen shot from point off the post, no chance
Goal 4 - Hayden, squeezes one 5-hole which should have been stopped
Goal 5 - Kane, left hash marks, should have been stopped
Goal 6 - Kane, deflects off Hainsey's stick, no chance

So two goals which should have been stopped, but I'm not putting the others on him. He bailed us out a few times throughout the game as well (stoned Kane a couple of other times during the game), so all the we shoulda kept McBackup BS, is just that.

I'm sorry, what do you want us to say? Every time someone posts a breakdown like this its the same old story, sure there's a reason the puck went in the net but he let in 6 goals on 30 shots...he wasn't good. There comes a point where facts are facts.

I'm certainly not losing any sleep over Sparks play, the game was way too much fun to fret over it, but don't say he was good, that's just absurd.

 

[Morbo]

Generally a goalie will be as good as the defense you put in front of him. Tell me how many goals Sparks let in on clean shots tonight.

In all of his appearances, not just tonight, what have you seen from Sparks that makes you think he's an NHL goalie?

 

[Liminality]

This team is crazy man! I love it!

My bro doesn't like or watch hockey but luckily i made him watch those last 5 min and i think he's hooked now

And ya sparks doesn't give me any confidence, hopefully it's just the first game jitters

Now he's going to be expecting all hockey games to play like that.

 

[LeafsNation75]

 

[Dayjobdave]

Every Leafs game should be called by Joe. I just love the man and his enthusiasm.

And can we just take a moment to say that we went into one of the toughest barns in the league, second game of a back to back, and our free agent prodigal son scored a hatty as we got the win!

 

[LeafsNation75]

Hopefully after their 82nd game we still see Matthews picture leading those categories.

 

[Nithoniniel]

And I swear to GOD, can Babcock PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE spend 90% of the next practice going over how to carry the puck out of our own end without firing it to center ice and praying for a miracle?

The biggest issue there is that the d-men usually have no options. I don't know how many times I saw our d-men turn up ice and look for that pass and there was not one easy option. Even if we want to utilize a quick break system, you don't do that effectively by the forwards rushing straight ahead blindly leaving the d-men to solve it. You want one guy breaking quick to push the defense back, another guy joining him while being open for a pass, and the third forward providing a shorter option, a link to the top forwards, and a second wave.

 

[member 300185]

I don't know what you're watching but Sparks hasn't done anything to tell us he's an NHL goalie so far. Not a thing.

Howabout AHL goaltender of the year? Give him a chance and relax. He is still young, and there is one guy who didn't choke in the playoffs, and it was Sparks.

 

[hector morrison]

Oh get over it and yourself.

Just didn't think it was cool!You thought it was? Not Hyped,but kinda surprised he is like that!

 

[Semantics]

People are not going to like reading that but I agree with him partially.

Well Hyman's Corsi this season is 50%, which suggests Babcock's claim he plays in the offensive zone all the time rather Dubias.

 

[member 300185]

omg 2 big saves he is vezina quality now.... he got lit up for 6 goals, if you think that heap is a nhl goalie u know nothing about hockey at all.

Bud you need to relax. He is young, athletic and was AHL goalie of the year. You sound like we lost?

 

[SnizzMitch]

Oh f*** off babs..

 

[Liminality]

In Babcock terms that sounds very promising for Kappy. He could potentially sneak into a top 6 role like Hyman has.

Woops wrong tweet

 

[Mitch nylander]

Was Kap playing with matthews today?

 

[PromisedLand]

Lots of wacky scores early in the season

Defensively and goaltending they need work, but they’re getting better offensively and geling more.

I hope to hell Kap stays in Matthews line, he was the game changer

Marleau looked good too.

I think Ennis was basically stapled to the bench after the first

Ennis and Johnsson less than 10 mins

Tavares: 21 mins 3 goals
Marner: 19 mins 2A

Matthews: 16 mins 2G 2A


Imagine if Matthews had played 20 mins

 

[TheRexman]

The team is on a 270 goal pace without Kadri. Chances are opposition coaches will actually try to cool down Matthews and Tavares and stop paying so much effort to shut down the other lines.

Matthews was on a 328 goal pace after 1 game in his rookie year. As much as I don't want to admit it, Matthews and Tavares will cool down and we'll need Kadri to step up. That line isn't working right now and I'm willing to bet it only last's a couple of more games before it gets changed up. I'm not worried about Kadri, I'm worried about finding him someone to play with, without screwing up our top 2 lines. Nylander needs to come back, even though I'm not happy with him right now.

 

[JEI]

Sparks has to play better. No doubt about it - and I'm one who was more willing to keep him around to roll the dice on. Willing to give him a longer look though as it is his first game and in his hometown. Issue is a back-up only gets so many starts a year. I can give Sparks some credit on the first few that went in, but that back-half is unacceptable at this level.

What a wild few games to start this year though. I imagine things will tighten up when the month is through.

 

[bionic]

Generally a goalie will be as good as the defense you put in front of him. Tell me how many goals Sparks let in on clean shots tonight.

I kind of agree with this. There were a lot of deflections in front of Sparks. No way in hell will I judge him on this one game.

 

[Drew311]

In all of his appearances, not just tonight, what have you seen from Sparks that makes you think he's an NHL goalie?

Being one of the best goalies in AHL history leads me to believe he can be a good NHL backup. He just can’t be successful at the NHL level when the Leafs play terrible defensively. Few goalies in the world can.