Nylander - In round 2 doing his thing.

[notDatsyuk]

No, that was the goal Knies didn't follow his man behind the net, and he came out the other side and scored a sitter.



You're wrong.
All he needs to do is skate.

When he's skating, he's amazing, when he's not skating, he's a massive liability.

It's not hard to ask a player to move his feet is it?

He's not laying the body on anyone, he's not blocking shots.
The least he can do is move his feet and chase the pucks when they're up for grabs.

He let up on a bunch of plays tonight again in the 1st and 2nd periods.

Woke up in the 3rd and OT and was doing well again.

Amazing that he can get so much better when he just skates!!

What goal are you talking about? Their third? Tavares lost the faceoff, the play went behind the Leafs' net and out in front for a clear shot. The wide side wingers' job on a lost faceoff is the cover the point, which is what Willy did. Only someone who doesn't really understand positional hockey would blame Nylander on that goal.

Amazing that he can be so much better as soon as they get him away from Tavares.

 

[Hoglund4MvP]

Look at the effort and tell me that's ok for the playoffs.

It's not.

Nylander is covering his zone in both clips. You see him even look at the point man in the 2nd one to make sure he's covered.......Thank you for proving my point

The third one it would have been nice if he got there in time but there's still 3 other Leafs back there too......the fact a story is being made about nylander there also proves my point. 99% of players don't go all out in that situation when they have 3 team mates already back. Why would he cover their zones that hard?

 

[pcruz]

What goal are you talking about? Their third? Tavares lost the faceoff, the play went behind the Leafs' net and out in front for a clear shot. The wide side wingers' job on a lost faceoff is the cover the point, which is what Willy did. Only someone who doesn't really understand positional hockey would blame Nylander on that goal.

Amazing that he can be so much better as soon as they get him away from Tavares.

You can make excuses all you want.

I posted videos of 2 of the 3 goals he was on the ice for tonight.
The 2nd goal is just bad by Samsonov, but the other 2 have really lazy coverage by Nylander.

Again, Tampa scored 3 goals tonight, Nylander and Tavares were on the ice for all 3 of them.

That's just not good.

And if he's not generating offense, he has to either be physical or be defensive.

And Nylander is neither of those, so he has to be good on offense, otherwise what the f*** is he there for?

 

[DraftSchmaft]

lmao apparently nylander has to cover all 5 opponents on the ice to be good now

 

[DraftSchmaft]

You see him even look at the point man in the 2nd one to make sure he's covered

If Nylander can't cover at least 3 guys at once he shouldn't be on the team

I mean, at a certain point you need to trust your team mates have their men covered too and their zones under control. That's a lot of ice Nylander will leave open if he leaves his zone.

 

[Havoc]

Look at the effort and tell me that's ok for the playoffs.

It's not.

Buddy you can fully see 3 other Leafs lose all their defensive attempts before Nylander even comes into view on the Cirelli goal. (Okay he's in view the whole clip but you know what I mean, the point in question)

 

[notDatsyuk]

You can make excuses all you want.

I posted videos of 2 of the 3 goals he was on the ice for tonight.
The 2nd goal is just bad by Samsonov, but the other 2 have really lazy coverage by Nylander.

Again, Tampa scored 3 goals tonight, Nylander and Tavares were on the ice for all 3 of them.

That's just not good.

And if he's not generating offense, he has to either be physical or be defensive.

And Nylander is neither of those, so he has to be good on offense, otherwise what the f*** is he there for?

Not making excuses at all - just explaining good hockey to you.

Tavares lost his man on the first, who scored. Admittedly Nylander didn't manage to cover for him quickly enough, but that doesn't make it his faul.

Nylander was not on the ice for their second goal. Once Keefe got him away from JT, he set up the tying goal and was in for the winner. JT was -3, Willy was even.

 

[Havoc]

Unless it's the selke forwards of the league there really isn't anything abnormal about Nylander in these clips. That's the standard you're going to get from right wingers in the league -- defaulting to covering their designated area.

Keep in mind Nylander has himself setup to put on the jets the other way. If a team mate can get a blocked shot, he's gone. He knows how to turn his limitations (not being a selke kinda guy) into strengths (elite transition, elite burst)

 

[pcruz]

Buddy you can fully see 3 other Leafs lose all their defensive attempts before Nylander even comes into view on the Cirelli goal.

The first breakdown is Knies letting his man go freely to the back of the goal line.
We see this at the 0:04 mark of the video.
At that time, 91 is on 91, 78 has his man and 22 is going to cut the guy off.
Nylander is in great defensive position at the has marks.

The hit is brushed off at the :05 mark and now the trouble starts.

23 and 91 are both on 91.
78 has his man boxed out and he's non-existent at this point. Great.

Nylander is facing away from the puck for some reason and looking backwards to his right. Still in a decent position, though - face-off dot.


At the 0:07 mark:

For some inexplicable reason, Nylander doesn't attack the puck carrier who is about to come out to the face-off dot Nylander was occupying just a second ago. He can skate into the guy and hit him or just attack him.

22 and 78 are now both about to be engaged with the guy coming around behind the net.


At the 0:08 mark, the shot comes from the face-off dot.

That's the place Nylander was standing in just 2 seconds previous.
He's standing at the edge of the circle, but has not made an attempt to pressure the puck carrier who is about to have a clean shot on net.

Not making excuses at all - just explaining good hockey to you.

Tavares lost his man on the first, who scored. Admittedly Nylander didn't manage to cover for him quickly enough, but that doesn't make it his faul.

Nylander was not on the ice for their second goal. Once Keefe got him away from JT, he set up the tying goal and was in for the winner. JT was -3, Willy was even.

That's true.

It's 91 - 15 - 90 on that goal

 

[notDatsyuk]

That's true.

It's 91 - 15 - 90 on that goal.

No need to highlight one line - everything I said is correct.

 

[pcruz]

No need to highlight one line - everything I said is correct.

Not everything you said was correct.

Apparently, you and others are ok with some players not putting in the effort in their own zone, and are ok with players not laying the body when they have the chance - in the playoffs.

It's been 2 instances of Tampa players skating freely around the net and the puck ending up in the net with 3 seconds.
Both times there was a player who could have stepped up and confronted the puck carrier and didn't - Holl in game 1, and Nylander tonight.


These are simply effort mistakes.

Effort is by far the easiest aspect to a player's game that can be adjusted.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Not everything you said was correct.

Apparently, you and others are ok with some players not putting in the effort in their own zone, and are ok with players not laying the body when they have the chance - in the playoffs.

It's been 2 instances of Tampa players skating freely around the net and the puck ending up in the net with 3 seconds.
Both times there was a player who could have stepped up and confronted the puck carrier and didn't - Holl in game 1, and Nylander tonight.


These are simply effort mistakes.

Effort is by far the easiest aspect to a player's game that can be adjusted.

I agree Holl misplayed the goal in the first game.

I don't understand why you can't see the difference in missing your assignment (Holl) and playing your position properly (Nylander), unless you just don't want to.

It's proper positioning not a lack of effort.

 

[Dasher29]

I found it interesting in today's game that Nylander threw a hit (not a big one, but separated the player from the puck, by doing it) on Colton at the 1:10 mark of the first period and the stats keepers didn't give him a hit on the gamesheet. He ended up being the only player on the team with no hits even though he clearly threw one a minute in. Just goes to show how inconsistent a stat is from player to player and from building to building.

I think fans who are up in arms about Willy's lack of physicality are beating a dead horse, if you haven't figured out or accepted/understand the way he plays by now you are just nitpicking for the sake of argument. Some will fault him for anything on here and disappear when he does well.

Willy seems to play a more anticipation type of defensive game, which makes it seem like he's slacking, when he isn't. He's trying to anticipate where the player with the puck will go nex so he can intercept, and sometimes he gets burned, other times he times his quick attack and stick check perfectly.

 

[DarkKnight]

He was a defensive liability last night and his compete was garbage at times. Lack of effort drives me crazy.

 

[Hoglund4MvP]

Until Matthews and Marner start doing what Mackinnon did on Avs 5th goal just keep Nylander out of your mouths.

The only side step move for the team belongs to Nylander in game 2 and the only player who has been able to shift Tampa defenders around has been Nylander. Like game 1 goal and our 4th goal game 2

Like I said you guys don't deserve him

You guys watch the game taking notes what you can run back to this thread and say bad about him its so obvious

 

[Havoc]

Until Matthews and Marner start doing what Mackinnon did on Avs 5th goal just keep Nylander out of your mouths.

Sums up why I'm worried about round 2.

Tampa doesn't look quite right yet we're making no plays on them.

Nylander pretty much is the only Leaf who has looked calculated and shows potential of breaking down the opponents systems. He's never going to wow us on D but he's damn good at what we pay him for. Preaching to the choir complaining about Nylander's D. It's a team game we have 11 other forwards who are all good at D to insulate him with (May I add, none of his team mates are playing good d either in the hand picked highlights).

This isn't good enough though. We need Matthews-Marner duo to start shake and baking. You think Boston/Florida and Rangers are going to lose a series from Marner slap shots? Whoever thinks that needs to give their head a shake. All 3 of these teams already have a team that is watching tape of our games. If all we have is a Marner slap shot to the net, you can assume it's already gone. It's time to start penetrating.

We are toast in round 2 if this continues. Tampa is bust so we're getting away with it for now. O'Reilly Acciari were almost at single digit xGF% at some point of game 3 and the 4th line isn't going to make or break the team. To get 16 wins, it is mandatory that Matthews and Marner figure something out.

*And I better not @'ed next game if they start shake and baking. I'm saying they need to start I'm not saying they're not capable. Stop turning playoffs into your own egos it's making the series unenjoyable.

 

[nuttica]

Great game by Nylander last night, clutch and smart calculated play by Nylander to get a shot at vaslevsky for O’Reilly to get that rebound.

Must admit Nylander and O’Reilly has been clutch this playoffs so far

 

[Notsince67]

You can make excuses all you want.

I posted videos of 2 of the 3 goals he was on the ice for tonight.
The 2nd goal is just bad by Samsonov, but the other 2 have really lazy coverage by Nylander.

Again, Tampa scored 3 goals tonight, Nylander and Tavares were on the ice for all 3 of them.

That's just not good.

And if he's not generating offense, he has to either be physical or be defensive.

And Nylander is neither of those, so he has to be good on offense, otherwise what the f*** is he there for?

Willy is who he is. A bit of a specialist shooter. Terrible d, no physicality but talented enough to be dangerous when others are doing the little things that make a grind game possible.
Would rather have him as a scoring option than not because offensively, he is miles better than the 200 ft players not in the core.
Just don't expect him to carry the team. He is a young version of Phil Kessel.

 

[Notsince67]

Great game by Nylander last night, clutch and smart calculated play by Nylander to get a shot at vaslevsky for O’Reilly to get that rebound.

Must admit Nylander and O’Reilly has been clutch this playoffs so far

He made some good plays but was a bit of an anchor for most of the game. A lot of lost possessions in the ozone when he had the puck. Far more scoring opportunities for the opposition when he was on the ice and he was dragging his linemates down a bit.

 

[notDatsyuk]

I found it interesting in today's game that Nylander threw a hit (not a big one, but separated the player from the puck, by doing it) on Colton at the 1:10 mark of the first period and the stats keepers didn't give him a hit on the gamesheet. He ended up being the only player on the team with no hits even though he clearly threw one a minute in. Just goes to show how inconsistent a stat is from player to player and from building to building.

I think fans who are up in arms about Willy's lack of physicality are beating a dead horse, if you haven't figured out or accepted/understand the way he plays by now you are just nitpicking for the sake of argument. Some will fault him for anything on here and disappear when he does well.

Willy seems to play a more anticipation type of defensive game, which makes it seem like he's slacking, when he isn't. He's trying to anticipate where the player with the puck will go nex so he can intercept, and sometimes he gets burned, other times he times his quick attack and stick check perfectly.

I think it's just a matter of "not big enough to be called a 'hit' ". It happened with Carl Gunnarsson a lot - effectively separate the opponent from the puck, but not 'hit' him.

The fact that his style works and he has been one of our best players over the last few playoffs seems to elude a few posters.

 

[DraftSchmaft]

Nylander's current point pace is slower and less impressive, but looks more sustainable if we play 20+ games. Marner is racking up the points but the play style is not sustainable for massive point production.

That's just what I see though. If you guys are fine with how marner and matthews are clicking I can respect that.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Nylander's current point pace is slower and less impressive, but looks more sustainable if we play 20+ games. Marner is racking up the points but the play style is not sustainable for massive point production.

That's just what I see though. If you guys are fine with how marner and matthews are clicking I can respect that.

I think M&M can be better, but I can't complain about 13 points in 3 games either.

 

[notDatsyuk]

He made some good plays but was a bit of an anchor for most of the game. A lot of lost possessions in the ozone when he had the puck. Far more scoring opportunities for the opposition when he was on the ice and he was dragging his linemates down a bit.

As soon as he got moved to the ROR line, it became obvious was was dragging down the Tavares line (hint: it wasn't Willy).

 

[Havoc]

Nylander's current point pace is slower and less impressive, but looks more sustainable if we play 20+ games. Marner is racking up the points but the play style is not sustainable for massive point production.

That's just what I see though. If you guys are fine with how marner and matthews are clicking I can respect that.

I am not fine.

Matthews is the best shooter in the league and Marner is doing a terrible job getting him the puck. This is facts. If this statement butt hurts people you simply care more about Marner than you do the teams success. I get it. He has 8 points. It's a fact. But it's also a fact he's wasting Matthews right now.

Nylanders impact is impressive period, but overall impact not even close to if we can get Matthews going and then run the puck through him. That's our key to the Stanley Cup. People are too interested in day to day fluctuations. My eyes are on the bigger prize and for that we need to unlock Matthews. I am not a fan of Marners current style for that and if people want to see me as a villain because of that so be it. It's time for Marner to figure out how to overcome tight 5v5 play otherwise get Matthews on a different line. It's (edit: not) a knock on Marner, it's just prioritizing Matthews and the impact he has on the game when at his best. His game impact is tops in the league from a 200ft perspective.

 

[Jojalu]

I found it interesting in today's game that Nylander threw a hit (not a big one, but separated the player from the puck, by doing it) on Colton at the 1:10 mark of the first period and the stats keepers didn't give him a hit on the gamesheet. He ended up being the only player on the team with no hits even though he clearly threw one a minute in. Just goes to show how inconsistent a stat is from player to player and from building to building.

I think fans who are up in arms about Willy's lack of physicality are beating a dead horse, if you haven't figured out or accepted/understand the way he plays by now you are just nitpicking for the sake of argument. Some will fault him for anything on here and disappear when he does well.

Willy seems to play a more anticipation type of defensive game, which makes it seem like he's slacking, when he isn't. He's trying to anticipate where the player with the puck will go nex so he can intercept, and sometimes he gets burned, other times he times his quick attack and stick check perfectly.

I have posted about this numerous times. Nylander never gets credit for a hit.

Game 1 Nylander threw the first hit of the series and it didn't appear on the sheet.

If you rewatch all the games I will promise you thay in camera view he has at least 6 or 7 hits. He also blocked 3 shots last night.

For whatever reason, fans just want someone to vent their frustrations on and Willy gets the brunt of it a lot