Lessons from the game against a super elite team

[stickty111]

Could put this in the PGT but needed a fresh section.
Had time to think about this now so here are my thoughts
The obvious need is a top 6 forward
This team is easy to shut down when the big boys have an off night. They need another threat. Whether thats Meier or Buchnevich IDK but another impact forward is needed.

2nd
As much as I defended the D core and still think it's fine, Lilly with Sandin as his partner can't be your third pair. Sandin was awful today and while Lilly wasn't much better, Sandin got overwhelmed. If you can get another partner for Lilly, I think you're fine. I would leave the other pairs.

3rd
Goaltending obviously. It's on Sammy or Murray to prove it

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[BallardEra]

Great level headed post.

I worry most about the goaltending come playoff time.

 

[stickty111]

Great level headed post.

I worry most about the goaltending come playoff time.

Goaltending is a different topic
We are really close but adds needed.
The positive is all 2 moves are doable.

 

[ULF_55]

Could put this in the PGT but needed a fresh section.
Had time to think about this now so here are my thoughts
The obvious need is a top 6 forward
This team is easy to shut down when the big boys have an off night. They need another threat. Whether thats Meier or Buchnevich IDK but another impact forward is needed.

2nd
As much as I defended the D core and still think it's fine, Lilly with Sandin as his partner can't be your third pair. Sandin was awful today and while Lilly wasn't much better, Sandin got overwhelmed. If you can get another partner for Lilly, I think you're fine. I would leave the other pairs.

3rd
Goaltending obviously. It's on Sammy or Murray to prove it

Two youngest defenders on the ice, Sandin and Liljegren.
188+117=305 games

Bruins youngest defender tonight MacAvoy has 422 games.


It really shouldn't have to be said about how many games a defender needs before he's cooked.

Rielly should point this out ... Rielly 730 games.

 

[ER89]

Great level headed post.

I worry most about the goaltending come playoff time.

this is why I'm a huge supporter of going after demko if your're not making a splash on meier.

Send murray + assets the other way.

We can't have 4-5 games of great goaltending followed by 2 ass games like clockwork.

 

[Racer88]

Could put this in the PGT but needed a fresh section.
Had time to think about this now so here are my thoughts
The obvious need is a top 6 forward
This team is easy to shut down when the big boys have an off night. They need another threat. Whether thats Meier or Buchnevich IDK but another impact forward is needed.

2nd
As much as I defended the D core and still think it's fine, Lilly with Sandin as his partner can't be your third pair. Sandin was awful today and while Lilly wasn't much better, Sandin got overwhelmed. If you can get another partner for Lilly, I think you're fine. I would leave the other pairs.

3rd
Goaltending obviously. It's on Sammy or Murray to prove it

Sound like a start but can they afford any of these upgrades

this is why I'm a huge supporter of going after demko if your're not making a splash on meier.

Send murray + assets the other way.

We can't have 4-5 games of great goaltending followed by 2 ass games like clockwork.

do you think anyone would really want Murray?

 

[Eye Test]

Could put this in the PGT but needed a fresh section.
Had time to think about this now so here are my thoughts
The obvious need is a top 6 forward
This team is easy to shut down when the big boys have an off night. They need another threat. Whether thats Meier or Buchnevich IDK but another impact forward is needed.

2nd
As much as I defended the D core and still think it's fine, Lilly with Sandin as his partner can't be your third pair. Sandin was awful today and while Lilly wasn't much better, Sandin got overwhelmed. If you can get another partner for Lilly, I think you're fine. I would leave the other pairs.

3rd
Goaltending obviously. It's on Sammy or Murray to prove it

Are you okay with Holl in the top 4? Or rielly as our 1D? Rielly should be a #2 and holl a 5/6. Sandin as you mentioned will have trouble in the playoffs. Lilly will be fine but he’s young too so do you want 2 young D in the same top 6 learning in the playoffs?

We have a lot of team needs but I don’t get how ppl can push for a forward instead of a D after we lost Muzzin. Yes our D have played well overall this year, better than expected but that’s the regular season. Rip our goalies come playoffs

 

[ER89]

Sound like a start but can they afford any of these upgrades


do you think anyone would really want Murray?

Honestly he's cheaper than Demko and would allow vanc to tank. For a first plus Murray? Why not?

 

[ULF_55]

Would we be so focused on Sandin and Liljegren had Samsonov played up to his abilities.

But may Samsonov needs a break. He has only played the equivalent of 3 seasons as a platoon goalie.

 

[Petrus]

Its unforunate Muzzin is hurt and likely done for the season. Toronto could have used his type of presence against Boston.

Are you okay with Holl in the top 4? Or rielly as our 1D? Rielly should be a #2 and holl a 5/6. Sandin as you mentioned will have trouble in the playoffs. Lilly will be fine but he’s young too so do you want 2 young D in the same top 6 learning in the playoffs?

We have a lot of team needs but I don’t get how ppl can push for a forward instead of a D after we lost Muzzin. Yes our D have played well overall this year, better than expected but that’s the regular season. Rip our goalies come playoffs

Wish list for me:

We needed a Muzzin equivalent tonight and for the playoffs.

We also need a veteran forward that is versatile enough to play LW and spot duty at 3C.

Maybe add Knies to playoff roster to provide an option with skill, speed and a bit of size.

 

[Stephen]

Two youngest defenders on the ice, Sandin and Liljegren.
188+117=305 games

Bruins youngest defender tonight MacAvoy has 422 games.


It really shouldn't have to be said about how many games a defender needs before he's cooked.

Rielly should point this out ... Rielly 730 games.

Rielly is cooked alright…

 

[Rude Dog]

This team has too many forwards outside the core 4 who are essentially the same player and none impactful. Desperately need a top 6 scorer. Really wanted Horvat.

Need three lines that can score and an energy line that pisses people off and hits everything in sight.

Need 2 big physical D. Niemela Sandin Lily too similar. Leafs have the hard part. Game changers. But need a different kind of sandpaper and willingness to win at all costs spread elsewhere. Bring up guys who know it may be their last shift. Can’t believe there wasn’t more desperation in Anderson’s game tonight.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Just a lot of holes to plug and not much cap room/assets to address all the needs.

 

[Stephen]

This team has too many forwards outside the core 4 who are essentially the same player and none impactful. Desperately need a top 6 scorer.

Need three lines that can score and an energy line that pisses people off and hits everything in sight.

Need 2 big physical D. Niemela Sandin Lily too similar. Leafs have the hard part. Game changers. But need a different kind of sandpaper and willingness to win at all costs spread elsewhere. Bring up guys who know it may be their last shift. Can’t believe there wasn’t more desperation in Anderson’s game tonight.

The Leafs seem to like to collect technically proficient forwards who kind of have that Kerfoot package. Zippy footspeed, carry a puck clean, make little area plays, not overly concerned with finishing a hit (probably not to be taken out of the play or risk injury or some efficiency calculation) very active on stick while on defensive detail, back pressure. Not a lot of scoring touch. Play between the whistles, minimum personality.

 

[Stephen]

I didn't learn anything new watching tonight. They just sort of lost to a better team in an inevitable way like when we beat the tires off the Red Wings. Bruins didn't do anything special and our cheap parts just broke down.

 

[Eye Test]

The Leafs seem to like to collect technically proficient forwards who kind of have that Kerfoot package. Zippy footspeed, carry a puck clean, make little area plays, not overly concerned with finishing a hit (probably not to be taken out of the play or risk injury or some efficiency calculation) very active on stick while on defensive detail, back pressure. Not a lot of scoring touch. Play between the whistles, minimum personality.

This sounds like every player on our team minus bunting, Gio, lilly, rielly and then fillers zar, Simmonds.

Maybe I’m missing 1-2 ppl but…

 

[Buds17]

While I would definitely encourage - and even expect - the addition of a forward, it's important to remember that the return of Matthews will at least bump that group's weakest link from the lineup. The blueline might very well benefit from an acquisition as well. Come playoff time though, I wouldn't necessarily expect a repeat of the negligible difference in TOI that we saw tonight amongst the group of Giordano, Holl, Sandin and Liljegren. The goaltending will absolutely need to be much better. Of course, another goal in support should help the overall cause too. Finally, the first playoff opponent looks to be Tampa Bay, and almost certainly not Boston (which isn't meant to suggest that Tampa is all that inferior to Boston).

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

Shocking, just absolutely shocking that we lost to the Bruins.

But.......I think we got 'em right where we want them, you know?

While I would definitely encourage - and even expect - the addition of a forward, it's important to remember that the return of Matthews will at least bump that group's weakest link from the lineup. The blueline might very well benefit from an acquisition as well. Come playoff time though, I wouldn't necessarily expect a repeat of the negligible difference in TOI that we saw tonight amongst the group of Giordano, Holl, Sandin and Liljegren. The goaltending will absolutely need to be much better. Of course, another goal in support should help the overall cause too. Finally, the first playoff opponent looks to be Tampa Bay, and almost certainly not Boston (which isn't meant to suggest that Tampa is all that inferior to Boston).

Boston is too good.

Maybe that shouldn't be a thing, and yet it kind of is historically.

That doesn't mean the Leafs are going on a run though. But we'll see.

 

[BayStBullies]

Two youngest defenders on the ice, Sandin and Liljegren.
188+117=305 games

Bruins youngest defender tonight MacAvoy has 422 games.


It really shouldn't have to be said about how many games a defender needs before he's cooked.

Rielly should point this out ... Rielly 730 games.

Reilly is cooked on one side. Raw on the other side. He also rolled under the fridge.

Shocking, just absolutely shocking that we lost to the Bruins.

But.......I think we got 'em right where we want them, you know?



Boston is too good.

Maybe that shouldn't be a thing, and yet it kind of is historically.

That doesn't mean the Leafs are going on a run though. But we'll see.

No reason to fear Boston when the first round has been a mountain for Keefe, who can't outcoach anyone in a series. Heck, Boston could lose in the first round. Shit happens. Take the first step and worry about that.

 

[ANDI P IS CUTE]

simple- dubas and shanahan gotta go before anything changes. period. enough.

 

[Pebble live]

Another top 6 forward with similar ilk to what we already have is not the answer. You need a couple of mean f***s in the top 9 who make it miserable to play against.

Look at the Bruins forwards in the top 9. Their dept is why they are tops in the league. Frederic, Foligno, Greer, Coyle, could even throw Nosek in there. The leafs counter with f***ing Kerfoot, Engvall, Holmberg, Zar, and Simmonds? This leafs team is not one piece away. It's multiple pieces and an ideology change at the GM level.

That's just the forward group.

I could not believe when I saw Rielly get beat by a f***ing chip / bounce play tonight from Pasta. That is some minor league shit man. 30 games left in the season. It's pretty obvious what this team is and it's not a contender.

Hopefully it only means 30 games left at the helm for Dubas. Unless he has an incredible deadline where things are really shaken up, it has to be over for him.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Would we be so focused on Sandin and Liljegren had Samsonov played up to his abilities.

But may Samsonov needs a break. He has only played the equivalent of 3 seasons as a platoon goalie.

That is what I was thinking. If he plays his last 30 minutes like his first 30 minutes, we win this game. That is effectively what Ullmark did, even though we were getting inside on the Bruins a lot more than they were getting inside on us.

Samsonov fell apart in the second half of the game and the first 4 goals he gave up were all very saveable. They were not high quality chances, and they came from non-scorers too (two defensive defensemen and a 4th line grinder for the first 3 and a long wrister from Zacha for the 4th).

Sandin and Liljegren will have a tough -3 at 5-v-5 today and certainly could have done some things better, but they are barely to blame for that stat line. They had a lot of excellent stretches in this hockey game too.

We've been through enough playoff games like this to know that we can't have these performances from goalies and expect to win. The team in front of the goalie was just as, if not more, deserving to win this game than the Bruins were... And that was without one of the best players in the NHL up front. It's really been that way in every game we've played against the Bruins so far this year.

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

We need David Allan Coe, Waylon Jennings, and Merle Haggard

 

[Visnovsky]

You really think they're gonna learn? Right.

 

[ZEBROA]

22-10 in blocked shots. So Leafs need to get better at blocking shots and get shots through blocks. Then they will get more scoring chances for and less against.

Our forward side had 3blocked shots there had 9. Not nearly good enough.

And a Ullmark ( Woolground ) would be safe place to fall. Wish we had him instead.