GDT: Round 1 - Game 7 | SERIES TIED | Leafs Vs Habs - May 31, 2021 @ 7:00 pm EST

[Amadeus]

Goals come in bunches for Auston as we've seen. Let's hope tonight is the start of a hot streak. Same for Marner.

 

[Tak7]

I'm still partial to some of the Cup winners and the guy that threw the team on his back and carried them to within a bad call of the SCF

So am I.

Regular seasons mean absolutely nothing.

 

[Rude Dog]

I guess that Hutton is still hurt if he is not playing over Sandin. He makes a lot more sense for the Leafs than Sandin right now.

I take Sandin all day long. He has had three tough moments for sure, but he is twice the player Hutton is.

 

[Madap]

It's not unreasonable to be critical of the team for not showing up for the first 40 minutes of game 6 given their history. And it's certainly not unreasonable to expect your star players earning nearly 22M combined to produce more than 1 combined goal against the worst team in the playoffs. These are both very reasonable positions to take as a matter of fact.

I just meant that it may be unreasonable to say that they don’t give a shit about the playoffs. Obviously they should be performing better.

 

[BayStBullies]

After the leafs failed to close it out at home on game 6, I didn't watch game 7 of the second Bruins series. We all knew what would happen... and it did.

I watched game 5 against the Jackets because I thought it would literally be impossible for the leafs to lose to Columbus. COLUMBUS!!!! But of course they lost. Of course they did.

I'll watch tonight. Kind of. But my expectations are at an all time low. I think these core players are spineless cowards and i have NO faith in them at this point... but I hope they prove me wrong.

I don't understand how you thought they couldn't lose to Columbus. Both teams were fairly close that year.

 

[Curt]

For the first time in over 50 years as a leaf fan, I am not excited for tonight.
I’m not nervous, anxious or anything.
I hate feeling this way, but this team does nothing to excite me.
There is no high energy line that Keefe can throw on the ice to sway momentum, lay crushing hits and play heavy.
There is no urgency, no passion or will to compete.
They have broken me. I’ll watch tonight but I just don’t have that feeling about this roster, especially after watching Colorado last night.

There's no hope with JT and muzzin not being close too a 100 percent the rest of the playoffs, if they even play...

This team already blew this season... Might as well lose this game so there's a better chance marner is gone

 

[Throw More Waffles]

I don't understand how you thought they couldn't lose to Columbus. Both teams were fairly close that year.

All we've done is swap out some league minimum depth player veterans since last year. I don't see how you think we're any better. Brodie's better than Barrie I guess... but I mean it 's pretty much the precise same core of players. And we can't say goaltending because Andersen was INSANE that series.

 

[egd27]

I don't understand how you thought they couldn't lose to Columbus. Both teams were fairly close that year.

Full season results.....yes.

But we were told the only reason for that was because of the evil and incompetent coach we had for the first 20ish games.

Once he was gone, we were apparently one of the upper echelon teams in the league.

Were those posters wrong?

 

[genk]

I have been a Leafs fan for far too long to think anything other than this game being a foregone conclusion. I will not be watching.

 

[Lightsol]

I'm sure they won't do this, but seriously, I'd go with this for this game:
Foligno - Matthews - Hyman
Galchenyuk - Kerfoot - Nylander
Robertson - Spezza - Marner

And DARE Montreal to try and shut it down. Betting they can't cover all three lines.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I take Sandin all day long. He has had three tough moments for sure, but he is twice the player Hutton is.

Not defensively he is not.

Sandin needs to take major strides in his own end if he wants to take an NHL shift, never mind an NHL playoff shift. It has been that way from the beginning, not just the playoffs. That is why Liljegren is a better prospect than him right now despite Sandin being more dynamic offensively.

If Hutton plays like he mostly did in his 4 games with the Leafs, and how he played last year in LA, he is the guy we need right now. PK, physical, strong in his own end while still being able to transition fairly well. That is why he was brought in at the TDL... For situations exactly like this. I think he is injured right now though.

Sandin was given multiple chances and he unceremoniously blew all of them. Barring having no other options (and we still have Marincin available... People cringe, but I'd rather have his defensive steadiness over Sandin's uncertainty as well), Sandin should not have seen another game in these playoffs. He is given a chance that he otherwise should not have received, so he better make the most of it or else this will be his last game of the year (and possibly the last game for everyone else too).

 

[Northernguy10]

In my years of playing and coaching I've always said that goaltending and forechecking are the two most important things in big games.. I'm happy with our goaltending but we need to forecheck relentlessly..Montreal has a fairly slow defence...work them hard....wear them down...force mistakes...in other words when you're being forechecked relentlessly as we have been , turn the tables and do it to them...

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I'm sure they won't do this, but seriously, I'd go with this for this game:
Foligno - Matthews - Hyman
Galchenyuk - Kerfoot - Nylander
Robertson - Spezza - Marner

And DARE Montreal to try and shut it down. Betting they can't cover all three lines.

I'd swap Spezza and Foligno and then put Brooks out there instead of Robertson. Give Matthews some other option for a guy who can pass and shoot, even if it is a Spezza or a Galchenyuk. Mikheyev-Engvall-Simmonds for a large 4th line. Two guys with major speed and one with physicality.

 

[Coachcorner]

In my years of playing and coaching I've always said that goaltending and forechecking are the two most important things in big games.. I'm happy with our goaltending but we need to forecheck relentlessly..Montreal has a fairly slow defence...work them hard....wear them down...force mistakes...in other words when you're being forechecked relentlessly as we have been , turn the tables and do it to them...

You already know bout ice hockey sire! We finna WIN TONIGHT! OUR TEAM CAN'T BE MO READY THAN TONIGHT! Y'all SEE!!! WITNESS SOME HARDNESS TONIGHT SIRE! WE GON BLOW IT ALL OUT TONIGHT! GEZAME SEVEN IS OURS AT LAST!

 

[Puckstuff]

I'm sure they won't do this, but seriously, I'd go with this for this game:
Foligno - Matthews - Hyman
Galchenyuk - Kerfoot - Nylander
Robertson - Spezza - Marner

And DARE Montreal to try and shut it down. Betting they can't cover all three lines.

I thought about this too.

Breaking up Nylander, Matthews and Marner seems like an effective way to get around Danualt shutting down Matthews and Marner

 

[Lightsol]

I'd swap Spezza and Foligno and then put Brooks out there instead of Robertson. Give Matthews some other option for a guy who can pass and shoot, even if it is a Spezza or a Galchenyuk. Mikheyev-Engvall-Simmonds for a large 4th line. Two guys with major speed and one with physicality.

Marner really needs someone who can shoot the puck. Matthews is likely to be better with two wingers mucking it up and crashing the net.

 

[Northernguy10]

You already know bout ice hockey sire! We finna WIN TONIGHT! OUR TEAM CAN'T BE MO READY THAN TONIGHT! Y'all SEE!!! WITNESS SOME HARDNESS TONIGHT SIRE! WE GON BLOW IT ALL OUT TONIGHT! GEZAME SEVEN IS OURS AT LAST!

I love your positivity and enthusiasm...Can you somehow pass that on to the players?

 

[Blanche Blanche]

Full season results.....yes.

But we were told the only reason for that was because of the evil and incompetent coach we had for the first 20ish games.

Once he was gone, we were apparently one of the upper echelon teams in the league.

Were those posters wrong?

The scariest part if we collapse today is that it’s the start of everything Babcock said about this team - is coming into fruition.

we need more grinders. We need certain (Hyman) like players. We need heavier players who can do a certain job.

As of this season Dubas went full 180 on his speed skill experiment, with No D. To having heavier support players, front and back. We kept Kerfoot who is becoming a Hyman lite, and got Galchenyuk, who goes into dirty areas more naturally than our big 3.

I hope it’s not the case… but it is sure looking atm, We don’t need 2 11 million dollar players.

 

[axman15]

I understand Danault is a ‘defensive specialist’, but on no planet should he be able to shut down Matthews and Marner 7 games in a row. As others have said, those two need to break out tonight.

 

[Leaffan1991]

I'm sure they won't do this, but seriously, I'd go with this for this game:
Foligno - Matthews - Hyman
Galchenyuk - Kerfoot - Nylander
Robertson - Spezza - Marner


And DARE Montreal to try and shut it down. Betting they can't cover all three lines.

This right here needs to happen. It would throw off Montreal so hard

 

[Cleetus]

Full season results.....yes.

But we were told the only reason for that was because of the evil and incompetent coach we had for the first 20ish games.

Once he was gone, we were apparently one of the upper echelon teams in the league.

Were those posters wrong?

they seemed to be missing from here to answer?

 

[budzz]

All we've done is swap out some league minimum depth player veterans since last year. I don't see how you think we're any better. Brodie's better than Barrie I guess... but I mean it 's pretty much the precise same core of players. And we can't say goaltending because Andersen was INSANE that series.

Brodie is considerably better than Barrie, defensively it's not even close. With Muzzin out we'd likely be toast without Brodie. Bogosian is likely one of the better bottom pairing dmen we've had in twenty years. Hopefully Sandin doesn't have any "head up his butt" moments. Up front, Simmonds could use some points but his presence is something we lacked. Foligno a solid vet winger we also needed. Hopefully Thornton is keeping the mood right in the room.
I would say this years team is alot more balanced than last years, but I guess we'll see.

I also trust our current goalie more in a game 7 than the last guy

 

[egd27]

they seemed to be missing from here to answer?

I saw one of them acting all "rah rah" in the GDT earlier after being MIA all day yesterday. The other one is still AWOL.

 

[TiMo15]

JT hit the ice in the morning skate with blue jersey on. Holy, can the team make a W tonight.... JT is a warrior.

 

[Rude Dog]

Trust me when I say, I didn't need to see Dr Love a few years ago after getting kicked in the nuts so many times. Their fan base had little hope a few days ago. Now they are fully charged with anticipation. Think of how sweet it will be to see Gallagher's punch-able face on TV tonight watching the Leafs celebrate the win. Their fans will be screaming with excuses. The drought has to come to an end at some point. Tonight is the night. Don't give up hope now.