Post-Game Talk: Leafs win Monday Matinee Blues

[Jojalu]

I agree with the sentiniment that the east is awful and not scary at all come playoff time, but the Leafs are a part of that.

The trip to the SCF is still Florida's (and to a lesser extent Boston) to lose. Everyone after those two is extremely mediocre

So it makes sense that the Leafs record is miles better against the West than the East. Keeping true to form

 

[JKG33]

So it makes sense that the Leafs record is miles better against the West than the East. Keeping true to form

2-0 vs the Jets, 2-0 vs the Stars, 1-1 vs the Canucks, 1-1 vs the Kings, 0-1 vs the Oilers, 0-1 vs the Avs, 0-0 vs the Knights. For a total of 6-4. Better than I thought it would be, but certainly not "miles better" like you indicated.

Unless you want to include beating up on the bottom tier teams of the west, which isn't the flex you think it is.

 

[Jojalu]

2-0 vs the Jets, 2-0 vs the Stars, 1-1 vs the Canucks, 1-1 vs the Kings, 0-1 vs the Oilers, 0-1 vs the Avs, 0-0 vs the Knights. For a total of 6-4. Better than I thought it would be, but certainly not "miles better" like you indicated.

Unless you want to include beating up on the bottom tier teams of the west, which isn't the flex you think it is.

I was including the bottom teams.

I believe they are 19-6-2 against the West.

Which the East has a bunch of underachievers as well, but they don't seem to take care of business for some reason

 

[notDatsyuk]

Just maybe have to repeat that Bertuzzi/Tavares/Nylander have been a great 2nd line this season.

Also, Nylander has been ass when playing away from Matthews and Tavares:

With Matthews: 54.85 xGF%
With Tavares: 58.16 xGF%
With any other center: 27.31 xGF%

Why do folks keep wanting to break up Nylander Tavares?

Expected is one thing, actual is another.

And how much ice time "with any other centre"? And who?

Watching the games, it's pretty clear they don't fit well together.

 

[Jojalu]

2-0 vs the Jets, 2-0 vs the Stars, 1-1 vs the Canucks, 1-1 vs the Kings, 0-1 vs the Oilers, 0-1 vs the Avs, 0-0 vs the Knights. For a total of 6-4. Better than I thought it would be, but certainly not "miles better" like you indicated.

Unless you want to include beating up on the bottom tier teams of the west, which isn't the flex you think it is.

So I doublechecked.

Leafs 19-5-2 against the West
11-11-6 against the East.

All top East teams have an incredible record against Western teams.

Bruins 14-4 as an example.

I don't really know what that all means. The West has some heavyweights, then are pretty blah.

The East looks far more competetive

 

[notDatsyuk]

Tavares had the series winning goal in 21/22 as well when he swung out the corners and sniped it home. The way that game was going, series was ours if it counted.

Holl stole his glory. Penalty or not the pick wasn't needed. Tavares didn't need the help.

Tavares is a warrior.

"Swung out the corners and sniped it home" is an interesting take. He dumped it towards the net from a bad angle and it was going well wide until it hit a defenceman's skate and bounced in.

I doubt if Tavares would have managed a shot without the pick.

 

[JKG33]

So I doublechecked.

Leafs 19-5-2 against the West
11-11-6 against the East.

All top East teams have an incredible record against Western teams.

Bruins 14-4 as an example.

I don't really know what that all means. The West has some heavyweights, then are pretty blah.

The East looks far more competetive

Yea the west is very much 6-7 haves and 8-9 have nots. The east is much more wide open but few of the teams actually scare me come playoff time.

I don't put much stock into the regular season. Colorado, Vegas, and Dallas have all made multiple deep playoff runs with their core groups. The jury is still out on Winnipeg and Vancouver, we'll see what happens this year. LA and Edmonton don't come across as any better than the Carolina/NYR/Toronto group in the east.

But who in the east has made consistent deep playoff runs? Tampa, and now Florida. That CAR/NYR/TOR group always fizzles out when the going gets tough.

 

[Zybalto]

Expected is one thing, actual is another.

And how much ice time "with any other centre"? And who?

Watching the games, it's pretty clear they don't fit well together.

Lets just throw in Bertuzzi to complete the full picture:

Bertuzzi/Nylander/Tavares:
TOI: 353:25
xGF%: 60.16
Goal differential (actual): 57.90

Nylander/Domi:
TOI: 73:16
xGF%: 40.41
Goal differential (actual): 27.96

The Bertuzzi/Tavares/Nylander line has been one of the better 2nd lines in hockey. Why on earth would anyone want this broken up? A combination of the best place for all 3 players IMO......and Domi has looked his best between Robertson and Jarnkrok this season.

We can keep throwing Nylander at another center but I thought we wanted to stablize the 2nd line and find a good place for Bertuzzi? It's like we did and everyone hated it or something.

 

[Jojalu]

Lets just throw in Bertuzzi to complete the full picture:

Bertuzzi/Nylander/Tavares:
TOI: 353:25
xGF%: 60.16
Goal differential (actual): 57.90

Nylander/Domi:
TOI: 73:16
xGF%: 40.41
Goal differential (actual): 27.96

The Bertuzzi/Tavares/Nylander line has been one of the better 2nd lines in hockey. Why on earth would anyone want this broken up? A combination of the best place for all 3 players IMO......and Domi has looked his best between Robertson and Jarnkrok this season.

We can keep throwing Nylander at another center but I thought we wanted to stablize the 2nd line and find a good place for Bertuzzi? It's like we did and everyone hated it or something.

Most likely because even though they created a lot of chances, almost none of them were actually converted.

Add to that, they still don't defend very well, and if you are not finishing it makes it look worse

 

[keonsbitterness]

Just an common everyday ordinary superman, condolences to the family of a great Canadian.

Btw fyi hes the 2nd guy to do that, the other guy had a goal that evening for the Leafs, after a touchdown and either an extra point drop kick or a field goal with the Argos in the Grey cup. His name was Conacher or something, he took a streetcar to the Gardens later, Will ain't got nothing on him

That was Lionel Conacher, named Canada's greatest athlete of the 1st half of the 20th century. He played two years for the Argos but never the Leafs. Won a Grey Cup in 1921 and two Stanley Cups -- 1934 with Chicago and 1935 with the Montreal Maroons. His son Brian was on the '67 Leafs Cup winning team.

Lionel Conacher - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Confucius]

Just maybe have to repeat that Bertuzzi/Tavares/Nylander have been a great 2nd line this season.

Also, Nylander has been ass when playing away from Matthews and Tavares:

With Matthews: 54.85 xGF%
With Tavares: 58.16 xGF%
With any other center: 27.31 xGF%

Why do folks keep wanting to break up Nylander Tavares?



Yea, its good we were able to scratch out those points the first half too (and Thank god for steady eddie Jones to carry the load for a while)

This team does extremely well when not too much is expected of them. played well without Sammy, Rielly, whenever Mathews is out, playing top teams, etc..

 

[notDatsyuk]

Lets just throw in Bertuzzi to complete the full picture:

Bertuzzi/Nylander/Tavares:
TOI: 353:25
xGF%: 60.16
Goal differential (actual): 57.90

Nylander/Domi:
TOI: 73:16
xGF%: 40.41
Goal differential (actual): 27.96

The Bertuzzi/Tavares/Nylander line has been one of the better 2nd lines in hockey. Why on earth would anyone want this broken up? A combination of the best place for all 3 players IMO......and Domi has looked his best between Robertson and Jarnkrok this season.

We can keep throwing Nylander at another center but I thought we wanted to stablize the 2nd line and find a good place for Bertuzzi? It's like we did and everyone hated it or something.

So that represents what? Four or five games with a new centre and an undefined winger.

I'll assume that's just 5-on-5, as that's the only time they're a 'line'.

What do the Bert/JT/Willy stats look like over the last 28 games? Since Willy has 9G 4A, Bert 1G 10A, and JT 0G 4A, I don't think even their pretend numbers will look very good.

I would say it's a good line despite JT.

 

[Zybalto]

So that represents what? Four or five games with a new centre and an undefined winger.

I'll assume that's just 5-on-5, as that's the only time they're a 'line'.

What do the Bert/JT/Willy stats look like over the last 28 games? Since Willy has 9G 4A, Bert 1G 10A, and JT 0G 4A, I don't think even their pretend numbers will look very good.

I would say it's a good line despite JT.

They still have solid analytics but the goal differential is down to around 50% which accounts for the blown chances but defensively, they have been decent on the year.

Theres another game tonight to see how Nylander/Domi/Bertuzzi look but so far its far more underwhelming than many expected. Tavares and the 2 kids seemed to gel better. I just want to get them all going.

 

[Ports]

Totally agree. The real test will be when they play against stiffer competition, but beating these lower teams certainly gets them going in the right direction.
The other thing is, when everybody's healthy, will Keefe continue to use all 4 lines so that the non-core players feel like they're actually contributing and feel part of the team, or go back to overplaying the core 4 while giving the others around 10 minutes if they're lucky?

Good question. With a little breathing room in the standings now he’ll hopefully continue to roll four lines.

 

[therealkoho]

That was Lionel Conacher, named Canada's greatest athlete of the 1st half of the 20th century. He played two years for the Argos but never the Leafs. Won a Grey Cup in 1921 and two Stanley Cups -- 1934 with Chicago and 1935 with the Montreal Maroons. His son Brian was on the '67 Leafs Cup winning team.

Lionel Conacher - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

OK scored for the Rags v our Bud's I think, and yeah I knew it was Lionel, his bro Charlie was a HoF Leaf