Post-Game Talk: November fun over, Leafs lose again 5-2

[Niagara Bill]

They should put alex Nylander in for reeves to start at least alex knows how to score goals which we need in the bottom 6 and its going to get worse when kamfp comes back with his 2 to 3 goals per season output

If I were the assistant coach, and I am not, I would take Reilly after practice, and make him take slap shots from the blueline for hours. The first time I see him pass up a shot in a game he would head to the press box for a game.
I am tired of every one deferring to AM and MM.
Please shoot the puck, break an ankle, a nose or a jock strap.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Marner needs less to work with, it seems when he has his buddy he hardly tries to make plays and just defers.

Marner is the best player on this team.

Team? Marner is the best player in the world, easily and that's why people don't care that this core is a sub .500 team in the playoffs for 8 years running. When you get to watch Marner play for your team 82 games a year, who cares about playoffs?

Playoff hockey is so boring. Too much physical contact, tight checking etc., regular season games (especially early season) when supernovas like Marner have time and space to show what they can do, that's where it's really at. They better get this magician signed for another 8 years pronto no matter how much it costs. Go Marner Go!!

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

Marner needs less to work with, it seems when he has his buddy he hardly tries to make plays and just defers.

Marner is the best player on this team.

Objectively but you have to remember that some folks are mesmerized by statistics. Number goes up brrr

Never mind actually making your team better.

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

At times he does selfish things like the empty net half slapper from their own side of ice the other night.

But he must boost his personal stats. I remember when he was out and the Leafs played a completely unselfish game and defended a lead perfectly. Even Wee Willy bought in to the program. Sadly, Austonflation is bigger than the program so he's allowed to make selfish plays with impunity and we're supposed to pretend we don't see it.

 

[DarkKnight]

Matthews has never lead this team, healthy, hurt, or otherwise. He's so talented, he just turns it on when he feels like it, but most of the time rides the spark someone else provides. He might show up, might not, you just never know and that isn't a champion mentality. That's our biggest hurdle as a team come playoffs, does Matthews put the team on his back and lead.

 

[ULF_55]

Getting way off track here because I really am the self-proclaimed world's biggest Tolkien nerd. If you're interested,, he wrote the Hobbit for his kids which is why it has a more juvenile tone to it. People read it though and convinced him to write the more serious books (which he had already laid the groundwork for before writing the Hobbit).

I see your point but still don't see it as apt. Bilbo left the Shire as a naive aristocratic lay about type (the "here" part) but returned as a hardened champion after helping to slay a dragon and was instrumental in aiding Gandalf in saving all of Middle Earth (the "back again" part). f***, I'm even more of a nerd now after writing that. I almost passed out just proof-reading it.

Yeah, I was into it.

Even had the onion skin book I bought in England. I have no idea where on earth (literally) that book is today.

I believe his son did Simarillion from notes his dad left can't recall if I finished that.

IIRC he wrote the Hobbit as stories back to his kids while he was in South Africa?

...

Yeah, Leafs have to get their heads straight. Since he came back they've been 3/4 the team they were without him.

 

[TheShape]

Matthews has never lead this team, healthy, hurt, or otherwise. He's so talented, he just turns it on when he feels like it, but most of the time rides the spark someone else provides. If the team, he might show up, might not, you just never know and that isn't a champion mentality. That's our biggest hurdle as a team come playoffs, does Matthews put the team on his back and lead.

Matthews is a chameleon, if he possessed that trait to put the team on his back (ala McDavid, Mackinnon, Crosby) I think we would've seen it by now. The guy cares and he plays hard in the playoffs, but I just don't think there's another level there. The same applies to the rest of the core.

 

[hullsy47]

Matthews has never lead this team, healthy, hurt, or otherwise. He's so talented, he just turns it on when he feels like it, but most of the time rides the spark someone else provides. He might show up, might not, you just never know and that isn't a champion mentality. That's our biggest hurdle as a team come playoffs, does Matthews put the team on his back and

Matthews is a chameleon, if he possessed that trait to put the team on his back (ala McDavid, Mackinnon, Crosby) I think we would've seen it by now. The guy cares and he plays hard in the playoffs, but I just don't think there's another level there. The same applies to the rest of the core.

The next level will come with Nylander and whoever the next core Is
Split marner and msthews up this is so familiar for the past 7 years

 

[Jeffrey Pedler]

What drives ME crazy is how many people watch Matthews half-assing it and Marner trying to produce anything with him anyway, and choose to blame MITCH for the line not doing anything...

Exactly, during the 6 on 4, Marner was the only one making an effort.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

This team needs to learn how to win away from home. It’s nice that SBA has become a fortress but a 4-5-2 record on the road is putrid.

 

[Dekes For Days]

I criticize Mitch a lot and also think his interviews often come across poorly but I hate that he gets bashed for the “we get treated like gods” comments. I know I’ve said multiple times as a Leaf fan that Leaf players get treated like gods. He grew up a Leaf fan. He was repeating something most of us have said at one point describing Leafs and their relationship with fans.

People criticizing him for that comment clearly didn't even watch what he said. They seem to think he means the exact opposite of what he actually says.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Matthews has never lead this team, healthy, hurt, or otherwise. He's so talented, he just turns it on when he feels like it, but most of the time rides the spark someone else provides. He might show up, might not, you just never know and that isn't a champion mentality. That's our biggest hurdle as a team come playoffs, does Matthews put the team on his back and lead.

Exactly. It's all on Matthews. He needs to follow the example set by his linemate Marner the Magician who raises his level of play in the playoffs. If Matthews hadn't been dragging Marner down in the playoffs all these years, we would have won multiple cups by now.

 

[Captain Crunch]

And hasn't this been the case since this core came together? I sure wish Dumbass and Shan the man with no plan had not continually traded away valuable picks for playoff rentals who never helped get this team over the hump.

And now here we are, hoping that we can win at least 1 Cup, after this vaunted core first came together with thoughts of many deep playoff runs as well as a Cup or two to show for it.

 

[egd27]

I'm sure it's just a coincidence that the team has been playing poorly since the captain returned.

 

[Captain Crunch]

Exactly. It's all on Matthews. He needs to follow the example set by his linemate Marner the Magician who raises his level of play in the playoffs. If Matthews hadn't been dragging Marner down in the playoffs all these years, we would have won multiple cups by now.

Matthews should be forced to train and hang around with Crosby and McKinnon. Imagine if he could bring the fire and intensity to the playoffs like those two have done multiple times.

Tavares lost every important face off in the last 2 games.
And he just can’t finish in front of the net anymore.
Don’t let the numbers fool you.

Tavares does not bear all or even most of the blame for that. All the centers, especially Matthews, were brutal on faceoffs in this game!

 

[Captain Crunch]

No.

He is playing like he is playing with Marner.

It doesn't work anymore.

You are partly right. Every once in awhile it does work, like it did against Nashville, but that does not mean that they should be playing together for entire games.

 

[Captain Crunch]

McCabe man

I still would love to see McCabe wearing the C. He leads by example, and seems to make a difference every time he's on the ice. And yes, I realize that Tanev has played a huge part in that.

 

[Evilhomer]

At least people are rational after losing a whopping two games in a row.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Matthews should be forced to train and hang around with Crosby and McKinnon. Imagine if he could bring the fire and intensity to the playoffs like those two have done multiple times.

What does he need to hang around those guys for when he has Marner?

At least people are rational after losing a whopping two games in a row.

Time for you to make some more predictions IMO.

 

[Evilhomer]

Time for you to make some more predictions IMO.

I predict the Atlantic division will continue to be hot garbage.

 

[Captain Crunch]

Lol!!

 

[horner]

Funny thing is, most of you folks think I'm crazy because I've said repeatedly that resigning Matthews at 13+ was way over paid and that the team might be better off moving him for a handful of draft picks and 1st pairing Dman

Whether it's Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, Keon, Killer, Messier, Yzerman or even MacKinnon they all have the thing Matthews lacks. All of those guys and lots more have motors that won't quit. Matthews even when he's going he seems to be missing a gear. I know he isnt in their category, I don't know how else to describe it.

I have always said that marner is the engine of this team..
I like you think the same thing about Mathew's

 

[Dekes For Days]

Some pretty stupid takes around here. Some people got way too high during a hot stretch, and they're on the cliff's edge now that they're realizing it was a hot stretch. There are some concerning signs though. Another game where we weren't very good, and against a team where we should have controlled the game. Lost our lead in the Atlantic, and down to 10th overall in the league.

Our underlying metrics are a bit concerning. Goaltending has been masking some issues. Our defense has been more leaky since McCabe went down. Our underlying metrics are actually worse than last year (at both 5v5 and all situations), and last year was itself a significant drop from previous years.

Our system hasn't changed as much as some people like to pretend, but the changes we have made seem to be hurting us. Dump-ins have their place, but even the best teams at it lose the puck the majority of the time. It's good to have the ability, but it should be a secondary strategy when carrying isn't an option. We seem to be giving up possession when we don't have to, just because Berube wants it. We should also be activating our defense more. We're playing too timid. These things are hurting our secondary scoring across the board. We also need to stop taking so many penalties. Some players need to realize that you get called for stuff in Toronto that you don't elsewhere. This obsession with trying to be the big bad wolf is so pointless. Reaves is also tanking our 4th line in pretty much every game he plays.

It's great that we've gone back to being a good defensive team again, but that should be coming from the investments we made into it in the offseason; not at the expense of offense. You don't need to suffocate everything to have good defensive results. Our offensive shot and chance generation at 5v5 is 4th worst in the league right now. We've never been worse than 8th best in the Matthews era, and we've had better defensive teams than this.

 

[Leafs98]

They need to practice getting the puck out of their own zone. If they can do that all these other issues of scoring solve themselves. Thats the achilles heel of this team and they suck at it right now. Can it be corrected with these players ?

 

[darrylsittler27]

At least people are rational after losing a whopping two games in a row.

I think the concern is the way the team played without Mathews and the way they play when he is back. I don't know the solution but many think it's time to look at breaking mm and am up.