Who do you start tonight ?

[al secord]

Jack already had a maintenance day.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Honestly really depends on if Jack is dealing with any sort of nagging injury.

He just can't get injured right now.

Andersen is a risk though. Good chance the Leafs get out-goaltended. While the Leafs are ahead in the series you don't want to give Montreal momentum and a chance to get some confidence.

Probably should have Rittich as an option though he hasn't played in awhile.

I'm pretty sure Rittich is more ready to go than Campbell at this point. He's used to coming after a stretch of not playing while Andersen on the other hand is not and he also hasn't played a meaningful game in a very long time.

With Rittich you have a good idea of what he'll give you if you play him. With Andersen, you haven't got a clue at this point which is why Rittich is the easy choice for me.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

A good way for Campbell to get some rest is win the next 2 games.

 

[crump]

This. I'd still like to know the thinking behind Andersen over Rittich but looks like that ship has sailed.

Yes, Andersen is the guy sitting on the bench right now. So I guess that ship has indeed sailed.

 

[Carltons Cup]

This is friggin playoffs. There's absolutely ZERO room to stroke Freddie's ego and give him a sympathy start.

Jack knows what's a stake. If Jack says he's good to go, you start Jack.

It's the same reason why Price is starting tonight.

End of discussion.

 

[Bomber0104]

Campbell.

No reason to start Fred at this point.

 

[Hockey Crazy]

Play him B2B. This is the playoffs and nothing should be left on the table. If they can win the next two games then he can get plenty of rest.

 

[v4karuna]

The jittery Leafs can't afford confidence building feel good events.

If Andersen lets in some softies, and they lose this series. The decision to play him will not age well.

This ^

We have not won a playoff round in nearly 20 years now, let's make it to round two first!

This is not the time to be f**king around.

 

[Swervin81]

Campbell, this isn't even a question. The only way Campbell is not playing is if he's injured or asks for tonight off (since he's been battling something nagging all year). And while Campbell's the nicest guy on the planet, he's also a battler. He's not gonna ask for a day off lol.

 

[Rob Brown]

Play him B2B. This is the playoffs and nothing should be left on the table. If they can win the next two games then he can get plenty of rest.

I agree with going with Jack, but he wouldn't get a ton of rest. If the Leafs win on Thursday, Game 1 of the next round is probably Sunday.

 

[Gallagbi]

Fred. We have to be good enough to win this game with him in net and there's a good chance he can come to play.

Campbell's never carried a starters workload, is a bit banged up and I'd bet he hasn't played a B2B in consecutive nights since the minors

 

[2 Slick]

Hmm, either the Leafs go with .951% and 1.35 GAA in 3 playoff games or Andersen, who is .895% and 2.96 GAA in 24 regular season games.

Andersen hasn't played but one time in two plus months. Why would anyone think Andersen has any hope to see a game tonight? Sure, I mean, if they want to lose momentum and have to score five or more goals to have a chance to win, why not?

This is the playoffs, you don't rest your best player through three games and put in a goaltender who all but guarantees a Montreal victory. That'd be idiotic.

Not happening.

 

[Swervin81]

I agree with going with Jack, but he wouldn't get a ton of rest. If the Leafs win on Thursday, Game 1 of the next round is probably Sunday.

This. Hopefully, we can still close this out in 5 and every other division has at least 1 7 game series. That would at least put our playoffs back in sync with the rest of the league.

 

[Mattfan02]

Why don't we put all 3 goalies in net

 

[Fogelhund]

This really depends on how Campbell is feeling. Campbell was up and down a bit, dealing with minor injuries near the end of the season. I'm not risking him being out for the balance of the playoffs, even though playing Andersen is a downgrade.

This isn't a decision you make, except for how Campbell is feeling. If he's good to go, you play him. If there is any risk, fatigue, or issues, he sits.

 

[egd27]

Honestly really depends on if Jack is dealing with any sort of nagging injury.

He just can't get injured right now.

The correct and very simple answer.

 

[Strangle]

There is no reason to start Freddie tonight

 

[Joey Hoser]

Jack is better but this what we hope to be a LONG play off run. Do we want to risk running him into the ground or worse injuring him?

Id go Fred

You want to risk Andersen letting in softies and allowing the series to be tied, in order to prevent Campbell from maybe getting tired in a couple weeks?

I think your risk assessment needs work.

 

[wingman75]

We should be able to start Fred... but I do feel, based on past playoffs, if we might not be down in the series if Jack hasn't been in net.

I voted for Jack. But if our backup cannot come in and give us one good game what is the point in having him?

I'd say there is a very deep look at Jack's health happening today and the result of that will dictate where we go. Also, being up in the series gives us some leeway. And if Fred does play and we are up 3-1 then we're looking good.

 

[egd27]

There is no reason to start Freddie tonight

Can you please tell us how Campbell is feeling after last night's game? I think everyone would really like to know.

 

[LeafGrief]

Campbell

If this was game 5 and we were up 3-1, we could start Andersen. But we're up 2-1 and the playoffs are ride or die. Can't let this nonsense go 2-2 because Price is playing out of his mind.

I'll trust Keefe and the boys if he decides to start Freddy, but I'm putting Campbell out there if it's up to me.

 

[BertCorbeau]

If it's not Campbell, I go with Rittich.

Andersen will allow 3+ if he starts .. He's proven to be a goalie that needs game reps to get into any type of groove (hence Freddy's typically poor Octobers). Add on top of his injury which seems to have really hurt his lateral movement, I go with Big Save Dave who is more proven as a back up. More proven as in has shown the ability to make spot starts after long layoffs.

Besides BSD may let in a soft goal or two but I have more confidence that he can make a game-saver in the third than I do Andersen.

 

[robertmac43]

These games have had fairly slim margins. I don't know if I trust Fred yet based on his small sample size since coming back from injury. The confidence of the team is high with Jack in the net, I say keep him in.

 

[BertCorbeau]

One factor that is important to keep in mind is that the Leafs have really held the Habs offense down in the first 3 games. They're not a strong offensive group to begin with, so you'd hate to play Andy and have him give up 4+ goals giving the Habs' shooters some confidence.

 

[Gallagbi]

One factor that is important to keep in mind is that the Leafs have really held the Habs offense down in the first 3 games. They're not a strong offensive group to begin with, so you'd hate to play Andy and have him give up 4+ goals giving the Habs' shooters some confidence.

There's risk in going with a tired, relatively unproven starter too though