Post-Game Talk: Utterly Rittich-ulous Leafs Lose 6-3

[TheGreatOne11]

I think we're all freaking out a bit much about the goaltending situation, Campbell didn't just look good for 9 straight games, he was great last year and on L.A as backup posted a .928 in 31 games played.

He is a good goalie, he had a few bad games, come playoffs i think the goaltending situation won't be our biggest issue.

 

[Leaftors]

Bud it just goes to show that i have f*** all to worry about when you are my critic. I look at from where it comes from. My team was fantasy,Engvall is your fantasy dude. Worst player in the league. Best at stealing money from any team. There’s no way to even get him out of the lineup, he’d never get injured

Engvall is my fantasy? I literally said engvall doesn’t have a spot when everyone is healthy. There’s no denying engvall is better at hockey than sabourin, but there’s also no denying that neither of them are good enough to be constant 4th liners. There’s also worse players in this very division than engvall.

 

[binop7]

Campbell is playing through an injury that likely will not fully heal until the offseason. That is one of the reasons why they got Rittich.

Let's call a spade a spade. Campbell is made of glass and can't be depended on.

 

[Zybalto]

Any chance you have those stats on hand?

It's probably more accurate to say it started the 2nd half of the 2018-2019 season and it's a bit complicated to do perfectly but last I checked was before Campbell's crazy run and he's sitting around .925 on the year for MD and .975 for low danger shots which is at least respectable and driving 5v5 numbers up a bit.

I remember them sitting in the mid 20 last I checked but, including Campbells numbers, its up to around 20th which is still awful considering the defensive improvements the team has made.

Probably best to look at the numbers under Keefe though as the team has been hovering around the top 10 defensively the whole period.

5v5 numbers in the 93 games Keefe has been in charge (I know the weird divisions skew things but the point will be made):

Shots Against/60: 11th in the NHL
Expected Goals Against/60: 9th in the NHL
Team save%: 21st in the NHL

Low Danger save%: 16th in the NHL
Medium danger save%: (90.26, 26th in the NHL)
High Danger save%: 12th in the NHL

The fact these numbers include Campbell's data just shows awful we've had it here with the other goalies. If we can get more stops on those routine chances, we can go on a real run.

 

[Marshy]

Very fragile team. The Sens look more composed out there lately.

When we can't grind out a win against Vancouver that is very troubling. Which team could we beat right now in this division? We look like the worst team and it's not close.

Sure they can right the ship but they need to end this skid now.

 

[Gallagbi]

I think we're all freaking out a bit much about the goaltending situation, Campbell didn't just look good for 9 straight games, he was great last year and on L.A as backup posted a .928 in 31 games played.

He is a good goalie, he had a few bad games, come playoffs i think the goaltending situation won't be our biggest issue.

He's also never been a starter and took a ~10 year detour to recover from the mental pressure he put on himself for being a first rounder.

I'm hopeful he (or any of them) get it together, but there's big question marks with all 4 of our goalies

 

[binop7]

Ive never been more concerned for this team's fortunes in the playoffs than I am now after this game. Goaltending is a massive issue, none of the 4 are capable of winning us any games. I guess the best we can hope for is Columbus series Andersen.

Other issues include our defence, particularly Holl. If you notice his positioning when the other team has the puck in our end, he is too high. As a result, any pucks that get through to our sieve-like goalies have a greater chance of rebounding to an opposing player or going directly in.

Rielly has no instinct for the game. Puck goes on his stick and he either refuses to shoot, makes a meaningless pass, or shoots it into the defender's shin pads.

Simmonds, Thornton, and Engvall are useless right now. Did Simmonds hit anyone tonight? This is a team that just came off Covid, a couple of hits will take their will to play away. We couldn't even do that.

Foligno I really believe will make a big difference as will Nash. We need real players who hustle, not players who are done like Thornton or Simmonds.

Foligno is done too. Just as done as Simmonds. Good comparison actually.

 

[Zybalto]

Top 5 teams for xGF% on the year so far:

1. Avalanche: 59.85
2. Leafs: 56.04
3. Knights: 55.54
4. Hurricanes: 54.37
5. Panthers: 54.17

Need a goalie to take the reigns on this great team. Can Campbell step up?

 

[Stephen]

He's also never been a starter and took a ~10 year detour to recover from the mental pressure he put on himself for being a first rounder.

I'm hopeful he (or any of them) get it together, but there's big question marks with all 4 of our goalies

Wouldn't be surprised if they tried Veini at some point.

 

[binop7]

LA Kings squeaked in the playoffs as the last seed and went on to win the cup

my only aspiration is playoff success. I dont care how they are seeded in the regular season

Is 2012 Drew Doughty walking into that Leafs dressing room?

 

[Zybalto]

Is 2012 Drew Doughty walking into that Leafs dressing room?

Id take that years Quick over a Doughty in a heartbeat.

 

[AzNightmare]

Aside from Campbell's first 7-8 games this season goaltending has been consistently poor throughout. At some point, the finger needs to be pointed at the coaching staff/goalie coach if every goalie we play can't play at an at least average level.

Goalie coach maybe...

I'm starting to believe Canucks have very solid goalie coaching team, if it's the only one thing Canucks have been good at, it's been farming out elite goalies for the past decade or so.

Maybe the Leafs need to make that adjustment.

 

[Gordy Elbows]

Any truth to the rumor that Dubas is offering the Flames a 1st round pick to take Rittich back?

 

[Kiwi]

Top 5 teams for xGF% on the year so far:

1. Avalanche: 59.85
2. Leafs: 56.04
3. Knights: 55.54
4. Hurricanes: 54.37
5. Panthers: 54.17

Need a goalie to take the reigns on this great team. Can Campbell step up?

It does show you that if we get a goaltender go on a heater come playoff time we will be a bloody tough out

I doubt this can keep up, one of the goaltenders is bound to go on some sort of run shortly

 

[Dekes For Days]

It's on the guy that traded for him.

It's one game, and what would, when healthy, be our 3rd goalie...

 

[binop7]

Id take that years Quick over a Doughty in a heartbeat.

That Doughty over Rielly and the PP would be 30+%

 

[ER89]

Rittich didn't ask to come here. Who scouted him and paid a third pick?

So he asked to let in trash goals my grandmother could save? Did dubas do that too?

 

[Zybalto]

It does show you that if we get a goaltender go on a heater come playoff time we will be a bloody tough out

I doubt this can keep up, one of the goaltenders is bound to go on some sort of run shortly

Yup.

Usually an amazing xGF% results in having good goaltending since D is such an important variable.

Heres how those same teams rank for save%:

1. Avalanche: 59.85 (11th for team save%)
2. Leafs: 56.04 (18th for team save%)
3. Knights: 55.54 (1st for team save%)
4. Hurricanes: 54.37 (3rd for team save%)
5. Panthers: 54.17 (6th for team save%)

Extending the xGF% rankings out further:

6. Lightning: (12th for save save%)
7. Islanders: (2nd for team save%)
8. Bruins: (8th for team save%)
9. Oilers: (9th for team save%)
10. Rangers: (13th for team save%)

Literally the only team in the top ten with below average goaltending. Just brutal.

 

[NK94]

Wouldn't be surprised if they tried Veini at some point.

Throwing an unready prospect with zero success in North America yet into the fire during a losing streak is a pretty poor idea. Baptism by fire really worked out for Kaskisuo.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

The extreme feast/famine disparity between Campbell's .945 stretch and the .830 stretch currently are what makes it so infuriating IMO. If we had just ho-hummed along at a .915 we would have still had a very good record throughout.

Definitely. The thing to note is that our defense has remained consistent up until this last little stretch.

(Note: At all strengths)
March 4th- March 19th (start of that brutal Andersen losing streak until Andersen was hurt):
5th in xGA. 29th in save percentage.

March 19th - April 10th (Campbell's hot stretch):
3rd in xGA. 3rd in save percentage.

April 10th - Present:
21st in xGA. 30th in save percentage.

I think Muzzin-Holl have had a consistently rough go of it the past week or two, which is contributing somewhat, but poor rebound control and positioning has also been a major issue in both of those metrics.

 

[Zybalto]

That Doughty over Rielly and the PP would be 30+%

PP could be 100% and not winning without a goalie.

I'm not really too worried about the PP TBH.

 

[Dave92]

Any truth to the rumor that Dubas is offering the Flames a 1st round pick to take Rittich back?

I blame Lou.

 

[binop7]

PP could be 100% and not winning without a goalie.

I'm not really too worried about the PP TBH.

PP is just an indictment of a lot of issues the team has. Rittich was trash in this game, but there's more issues than just goaltending. What about the countless giveaways at their own blue line or just past center ice.

 

[Cobra777]

Maybe Dubas was right. Grit is useless if it can't play. He listened to the fans and well...............disaster
Can we have a redo of the trade deadline? Boston is 4-0 since going for skill

Posting the same drivel, what happened the last four seasons hmmmm? Oh yea the skill has no fight or battle and LOST to teams that are built heavy and are tough to play against. Dubas brings in a couple old guys who used to have some jam and you blame it solely on a couple grit guys passed their prime with your regurgitation posts because sane fans recognize that this team is too easy to shut down. This team lost 2 &^%$ing times to a team that has not played for over a month and your skill guys on the 1st line at over 22 million did squat Boston is just good and their skill plays hard unlike ours or are you too *&^ing blind to see that.

 

[2 Slick]

I just watched the replay of the game, first one I missed all season. Holy hell Rittich is beyond awful. He gave up at least two stinkers, probably more. Talk about a break breaker and letting his team down. Pathetic effort on his part.

Easily winnable games against a bottom feeding Vancouver team, but lost twice due to bad goaltending from Rittich and Campbell.

Rittich just sucks and Campbell has zero confidence. Andersen isn't the answer either. Goaltending will cost the Leafs chances of any hope in the playoffs.