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Should Bunting be put back into the lineup?

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Should Bunting be put into the lineup?

  • Yes

  • No

Results are only viewable after voting.
notbias said:
The 4th line has been our worst line by a fair bit.

Not sure if it is cause Tampa's 4th has been playing well or because ours is just not that good, but pushing Kerfoot down I think makes it better.
Click to expand...

Except for Gm3 where everyone got filled in; the 4th line has been pretty good. Also, they've been used in defensive zone and neutral zone starts. Bunting is a big liability defensively. Kerfoot brings speed and defensive consciousness as a LW on JT's line; given he jsut scored the OT winner you wanna ride him with his confidence high.

Leafs' issue has not been scoring goals but getting scored against we need defensively responsible players, and bunting aint it.

Below are the stat lines for the 4th line from 4 games. Adding Bunting is a mistake for Gm5 especially when you have last change and the issue has been starting on time and giving a decent defensive effort; its not scoring goals

[TABLE=collapse]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]

[TD]Player 1[/TD]
[TD]Player 2[/TD]
[TD]Player 3[/TD]
[TD]TOI[/TD]
[TD]CF%[/TD]
[TD]FF%[/TD]
[TD]SF%[/TD]
[TD]GF[/TD]
[TD]GA[/TD]
[TD]GF%[/TD]
[TD]SCF[/TD]
[TD]SCA[/TD]
[TD]SCF%[/TD]
[TD]Off. Zone Faceoffs[/TD]
[TD]Neu. Zone Faceoffs[/TD]
[TD]Def. Zone Faceoffs[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gm1[/TD]
[TD]Sam Lafferty[/TD]
[TD]David Kampf[/TD]
[TD]Zach Aston-Reese[/TD]
[TD]6.75[/TD]
[TD]50[/TD]
[TD]54.55[/TD]
[TD]60[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]50[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gm2[/TD]
[TD]Zach Aston-Reese[/TD]
[TD]David Kampf[/TD]
[TD]Sam Lafferty[/TD]
[TD]9.10[/TD]
[TD]46.15[/TD]
[TD]66.67[/TD]
[TD]71.43[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]100[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]40[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gm3[/TD]
[TD]Sam Lafferty[/TD]
[TD]David Kampf[/TD]
[TD]Zach Aston-Reese[/TD]
[TD]9.40[/TD]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]8.33[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]11[/TD]
[TD]15.38[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gm4[/TD]
[TD]Sam Lafferty[/TD]
[TD]David Kampf[/TD]
[TD]Zach Aston-Reese[/TD]
[TD]6.73[/TD]
[TD]53.85[/TD]
[TD]55.56[/TD]
[TD]62.5[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]40[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
 
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I can't think of anyone who I would remove in favour of Bunting at this time. Kerfoot just scored the biggest goal of his time with the Leafs.
 
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JT AM da real deal said:
I can only go by what I see watching game at rink .. game 3 we got outplayed pretty much all night long but Sammy held us in in .. Tampa expended a ton of energy and they were not rewarded .. and then ROR took game into his warrior hands with power at net and then clean faceoff win and then total screen of Vasi for Rielly winner .. then game 4 Tampa comes out like a house of fire again and takes lead .. but sometime in 2nd period you could see Tampa was running out of gas (you can really see it well in da backchecking which breaks down 1st when you get tired) and Leafs started to tilt ice .. by 3rd it was obvious Tampa was out of gas .. and we handed them their lunch all 3rd period long ..

Bottom line I see series 2 games Tampa outplayed us and 2 games we outplayed them .. this is watching each game live at rink .. this is without tending factored in .. bottom line Sammy won us game 3 and ROR finished them off .. this is why series is 3 to 1 ..

And i heard enough from da TO guys in Tampa who watch them game in game out all season long to know even they think Tampa has run out of gas .. i hope so and they cave in game 5
Click to expand...
I take it that you agreed we got outplayed game 3 and that the 1 shift ROR warrior mode does t make up for that.

Game 4 I'd mostly agree with you. Especially that Tb ran out of gas. We started to tilt the ice back to even for the period in the 2nd. If the game ended there we all would've said we got dominated the 1st and no will to push back and the team looked happy to go home tied.

In the 3rd of course we got the goals, and yes we outshot them. I wouldnt say we dominated them in play, just on the scoresheet.

So for me game 4 we got outplayed.

If we were even on shots by the end of the 3rd and lost the narrative would've also been we were outplayed and we got some shots when the game was over but no real push back.

Super happy for the win whatever reason tb couldn't put us away, but I wouldn't be happy with the way we played or rest on those laurels.

An extra game rest might give tb enough next game. The only have to play a few mins more than the last 2 games afterall.
 
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ZAR or Lafferty. Indifferent which one, but would rather ZAR to get a bit more versatility in the lineup. Laff is a RHS and can take face offs.

Roll a 4th line of Bunting-Kampf-Lafferty
 
Don't think you can justify putting bunting in on the 4th line; and IMO we shouldn't mess with the top9 the way it is

WithPositionTOI WithTOI AwayCF% WithBunting CF% WithoutFF% WithBunting FF% WithoutSF% WithBunting SF% WithoutGF% WithBunting GF% Without
Auston MatthewsC735.98262.1553.4547.2154.9848.0754.9647.9969.0152.17
William NylanderR506.95605.8851.7551.6653.9751.4654.5651.196662.75
Mitchell MarnerR398.90690.6053.7950.4852.2652.7451.3653.3967.7464.71
John TavaresC201.88886.2749.1452.264853.9447.1754.2146.6767.86
Calle JarnkrokC95.77891.8051.8951.3352.851.8853.9152.215063.16
David KampfC52.221060.6240.8652.1640.5453.2143.8653.2462.564.52
Alexander KerfootC41.721071.1251.3251.7257.4152.5157.552.6310063.27
Sam LaffertyC36.27200.034052.4545.153.234552.525050
Noel AcciariC21.05280.105051.1757.6952.1252.3851.710048.28
Ryan O'ReillyC13.58161.5257.1451.3257.1451.7662.553.235052.94
Zach Aston-ReeseC6.221035.657.1452.011052.8916.6753.05066.67
Matthew KniesL0.1345.43-50-49.21-45.45-33.33
 
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Not for this game, possibly this series.

Fairly or not, he will just motivate T.B even more due to him taking out a top D Man, even if it wasn't vicious.

Let the team that overcame poor game s battle for the series win. If they get through, Keefe can look at getting Bunting in on the 4th line next series.
 
Bunting-Matthews-Nylander
Knies-Tavares-Marner
Kerfoot-O'Rielly-Acciari/Jarnkrok
Aston-Reese-Kampf-Acciari/Jarnkrok
 
The easiest game of the final 3 to win will probably be game 5. Game 6 is the only one of the 3 on the road. If it gets to game 7 Tampa will have all the momentum and the Leafs will have the pressure of blowing another series lead and losing another round 1 game 7. Right now we have all the momentum and a home game with Tampa reeling from 2 frustrating losses. I don't think you make any decision on the basis of we've won 3 without him so wait until a loss before you insert him. The next game is the most likely win, you don't want to field a worse team on purpose just for the sake of doing nothing and seeing what happens before making a change.

Whether you think Bunting playing makes us a better team is a different discussion. If the answer is yes he should play. I think the answer is pretty clearly yes. He's our 6th or 7th best forward, and we've been mostly terrible for the last 2 games. Jarnkrok hasn't done much of anything in Bunting's absence. I would either put Bunting on the top line with Matthews, and Nylander or use Knies there and slot Jarnkrok and Bunting in the middle 6.

I'm way more adament that Liljegren should be in there instead of Holl though. The D has mostly been trash and Holl's been on the ice for something silly like 11 goals against
 
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For me, it's obvious, you put Bunting back here.

This is our 5th best forward the last two seasons, behind Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares. He put up 60+ points last season, and 49 points this season.

Secondly, Jarnkrok has been a black hole. He's playing with 2 of the playoffs leading scorers and has 2 points. Matthews and Marner did nothing last night with Jarnkrok, it wasn't until he was off the line that they scored.

A ~60 point agitator is someone every team would put in the playoffs. Did Boston ever think of removing Marchand when he was a 60 point player?

Also, Tampa is a dirty team that is hot-headed. If Bunting is in the lineup, they will try to chase him around. You need to tell Bunting to keep his cool and don't retaliate, let Tampa get themselves out of the game seeking vengeance.

You ice your best lineup - ZAR is my choice to come out.
 
Of course. Take out ZAR who is playing well but is also our worst player and has brick hands. See opening game goal 1.

Bunting doesn’t even need to play that well to do what ZAR can do.
 
yes, he needs to play and get back in gear. his suspension didn't cost the team anything; in fact, his teammates responded positively to it, with Knies filling in the gap, and being a surprising addition. likewise getting rid of cernak did the Leafs a major favor. bunts is better than we give him credit for in spite of his misgivings, and plays an important role on the team, and in the locker room.
 
Jarnkrok Matthews Nylander
Knies O'Reilly Marner
Bunting Tavares Acciari
ZAR Kampf Kerfoot
 
Yes I think you have to. Start him down in the lineup, and then promote him if he plays well and smart. He gives the lineup so much flexibility too if Jarnkrok can move down in the lineup and Willy can get a few reps in isolation as the main puck carrier. Bunting is dying to get back on the ice and he's pure passion - exactly what you want in the playoffs
 
100%, Not like hes a bad player, and not like you can't swap the lineup because they have been dominating Tampa, we could easily be down 1-3 in the series.
 
Peace Frog said:
Seriously?

They got their lunch fed to them in game one , and eeked out games three and four with OT wins they had no business winning. They won and that’s what matters, but don’t think for a minute that they deserved to win.
Click to expand...
They outshot, outhit, and outscored TB last game. So.....huh? Perhaps there is an agenda here??

Game 1 they were nearly even on shots and hits.

The only game they shouldn't have won was Game 3.

Feelings aren't facts.
 
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A lot of people keep saying 5th best forward.......he is not better than O'Reilly.... 6th best forward at best.
 
Christ said:
I can't think of anyone who I would remove in favour of Bunting at this time. Kerfoot just scored the biggest goal of his time with the Leafs.
Click to expand...
Lafferty. Bunting over Lafferty is a no brainer in my opinion.
 
kb said:
They outshot, outhit, and outscored TB last game. So.....huh? Perhaps there is an agenda here??

Game 1 they were nearly even on shots and hits.

The only game they shouldn't have won was Game 3.

Feelings aren't facts.
Click to expand...
Down 4-1 with 10 mins left and a goal saved by a rookie on the goal line and you think the leafs should have won that game? Historically speaking.... The odds of teams winning under this scenario are very very low... Those are facts not feelings.
 
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Drytoast said:
Yes. It's working. They went through hell together and over came.

BUNTING, like it or not...is going to get penalized. And Tampa's powerplay isn't something to joke around with. So no. He's not worth it. He brings nothing to the table that Accari or Lafferty do not bring in the roles they are asked.

Bunting can't play the physical game they play so instead he makes up for it with dirty shit. So no. Bunting is likely done as a Leaf.
Click to expand...

He'd come in for ZAR or Lafferty, that's pretty obvious. I don't even need the fancy numbers.

Bunting: 82gp 23g 26a
Lafferty: 70gp 12g 15a
ZAR: 77gp 10g 4a

I may not have been the captain of the math team but I do know what number is bigger than the other. And neither ZAR or Lafferty offer enough if any in the way of intangibles to make up for double the raw stats.

It's freaking common sense
 
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