Post-Game Talk: Gong Show!! Leafs win 2:1

[djdev]

I'd say Murray has been doing very well, but too early to call it a total succes when there's still plenty of games to go plus playoffs. On the otherhand all the people who hated the deal this is why you wait and see how it turns out before calling for Dubas' head. Only main downside for me with this deal is the amount of salary we had to take back that hurt cap space abit.

Both Samsonov and Murray have played well when healthy yet many people didn't want to wait and see how one or both played before starting with the Dubas bashing.

thats why i said "IF" as the literal first word in my statement lol. its too early, but hes looking very very good.

 

[dangomon]

To me the standard is at 6th/7th D in/out of lineup type guy .. last night he played safe D .. made some good calls on blocked shots, ate a few pucks on boards, flipped puck out a few times when no options available and stayed in his lane .. for me that is best I have ever seen him play

I'm definitely not the biggest Holl guy out there, but I'm pretty sure if he played on another team we'd probably see trade threads for him as he's the kind of guy this fanbase clamours for at times. For his role and cap hit I'm not sure there are many better options out there, but expectations seem to be unreasonably high at times.

He PKs really well, blocks shots with the best of them, and has enough size to get by. If we're being picky he isn't physical enough and has trouble with the puck at times. But, the guys who can PK and block shots AND handle the puck and play physical and all that are #1Ds and obviously aren't available or paid like Holl.

 

[notDatsyuk]

I blame the refs completely on the last call, the kick was clear and he still pointed for a goal. Why does that even have to go to a review it was in front of your eyes.

It was the right call because the puck was in the net and it may have hit a stick after the kick.

Confirm that it's in the net, stop play, and use the video to decide if it's a goal.

Before the days of video review the right call would be no goal.

 

[ACC1224]

To me the standard is at 6th/7th D in/out of lineup type guy .. last night he played safe D .. made some good calls on blocked shots, ate a few pucks on boards, flipped puck out a few times when no options available and stayed in his lane .. for me that is best I have ever seen him play

Fair enough and I'm probably a bit too critical. Just seems whenever I see the team running around in their own end 3 is usually at the center of it.

 

[OddyOh]

View attachment 612138

By order of the Peaky f***ing Blinders!!!

 

[Fogelhund]

Fair enough and I'm probably a bit too critical. Just seems whenever I see the team running around in their own end 3 is usually at the center of it.

It seems Holl fails the eye test in spectacular ways at times. The rest of the time, his game is completely unnoticeable. ..and at the same time, he logs the most minutes on our PK, and starts in the Dzone more than any other D... and all fairly successfully. He's a guy who is easy to dislike for certain, because he doesn't really do much offensively, yet he's mostly a pretty steady guy, who we rely on a ton. 25 minutes last night, against a top team in the NHL, a top team in goals for... he logs a ton of minutes, and we give up one goal.... It's ok to criticize the guy for his gaffes, but we should recognize that he does a decent job, when he keeps his game quiet.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

You can really see the difference between a winner like Murray and some goalies of the past like Andersen. Murray just wouldn't let them lose, where a guy like Fred would have been leading the charge

That was Murray's hallmark during both Cup runs. Calmness and composure in the net, where if he let in a bad goal he'd just erase it from his memory instantly or if he had a bad game he was an absolute wall the next game.

You can tell he's on when he's economical in net. Very little swimming, not overplaying shots by having to slide side to side just to make a routine save, and having tremendous rebound control where most shots are just sucked up into his equipment and the rebounds he does give up he's booting them into the corner or other areas where they're not a danger.

The composure was kind of the major difference between Murray and Fleury. Fleury could be outstanding and steal games, but he'd also get rattled and things would spiral. When Murray came in and took the #1 job in 2016, it's like he was a robot and nothing bothered him.

 

[Confucius]

It's crazy how much of an expansion team we looked like tonight. Just hanging in there with no star power, some plucky defense and a goalie. Just bizarre what happened to Auston Matthews this year.

He’s turning into a Laine, looking to cash in on one timers, when that option isn’t available he hangs out in the high slot and lets it fly from there. Not much more to his game, He no longer takes the puck to the net

 

[OVO16]

Lmao Jordie Benn hurt? Only player who's physical and he gets hurt.

This organization is allergic to physicality

 

[dangomon]

It seems Holl fails the eye test in spectacular ways at times. The rest of the time, his game is completely unnoticeable. ..and at the same time, he logs the most minutes on our PK, and starts in the Dzone more than any other D... and all fairly successfully. He's a guy who is easy to dislike for certain, because he doesn't really do much offensively, yet he's mostly a pretty steady guy, who we rely on a ton. 25 minutes last night, against a top team in the NHL, a top team in goals for... he logs a ton of minutes, and we give up one goal.... It's ok to criticize the guy for his gaffes, but we should recognize that he does a decent job, when he keeps his game quiet.

It's also the unfair nature of being a defensemen where your gaffes always outweigh your positives (a giveaway is way way more negative than a good breakout is positive. This means errors stand out more and tend to be the only thing remembered. I don't go back thinking, wow that was a great 2ft pass to exit the zone, even if I noticed it at the time.

Unless you're Makar where your positives are insanely positive, the negatives are always easier to remember. Thats why it's usually a good thing when you don't even notice a defensemen is playing. No better compliment for a guy like Holl to say "Hey, I haven't heard his name yet" in the third period of a close game.

 

[Confucius]

To me the standard is at 6th/7th D in/out of lineup type guy .. last night he played safe D .. made some good calls on blocked shots, ate a few pucks on boards, flipped puck out a few times when no options available and stayed in his lane .. for me that is best I have ever seen him play

You are correct as usual . To often we expect our 2 million dollar guys to play like 7 million dollar guys.

 

[Fogelhund]

Lmao Jordie Benn hurt? Only player who's physical and he gets hurt.

This organization is allergic to physicality

Clinging on to false narratives... Leafs, top half in hits and blocks in the NHL....

 

[ACC1224]

It seems Holl fails the eye test in spectacular ways at times. The rest of the time, his game is completely unnoticeable. ..and at the same time, he logs the most minutes on our PK, and starts in the Dzone more than any other D... and all fairly successfully. He's a guy who is easy to dislike for certain, because he doesn't really do much offensively, yet he's mostly a pretty steady guy, who we rely on a ton. 25 minutes last night, against a top team in the NHL, a top team in goals for... he logs a ton of minutes, and we give up one goal.... It's ok to criticize the guy for his gaffes, but we should recognize that he does a decent job, when he keeps his game quiet.

I often recognize when he plays ok which he had many moments of last night.
I also saw some bad plays which he tends to make under pressure.

 

[Fogelhund]

I often recognize when he plays ok which he had many moments of last night.
I also saw some bad plays which he tends to make under pressure.

We've certainly got our value out of a $2 mil man..... You'd love to upgrade if you can.

 

[Jojalu]

Let’s calm down there, Murray was amazing but it’s like everyone here has the memory of a turtle

Andersen won a 1-0 game against Jersey, having a 40 save shutout

Campbell had a 45 save effort against Pittsburgh last year

Both of these were off the top of my head, there are definitely more

Besides, who cares if we can have a goalie steal regular season games, both those guys stole so many games in the regular season in the past, but never could in the playoffs. Hopefully Murray can do what they couldnt

Calm down??,

First day on the boards. Every win and loss.. Check that... Every shift demands an instant over-reaction.

Have to love the passion!

 

[Clark4Ever]

We had no business winning that game, but every team needs a few of those at some point during the season.

Murray continues to look very impressive.

Matthews' play at even strength is starting to become worrisome.

 

[Obo]

Leafs are in a little bit of hot water, skating on thin ice

...an especially bad combination.

 

[therealkoho]

I'm definitely not the biggest Holl guy out there, but I'm pretty sure if he played on another team we'd probably see trade threads for him as he's the kind of guy this fanbase clamours for at times. For his role and cap hit I'm not sure there are many better options out there, but expectations seem to be unreasonably high at times.

He PKs really well, blocks shots with the best of them, and has enough size to get by. If we're being picky he isn't physical enough and has trouble with the puck at times. But, the guys who can PK and block shots AND handle the puck and play physical and all that are #1Ds and obviously aren't available or paid like Holl.

100 per cent

he'll never be voted onto the all-star team, but I think if the Leafs ever win it all and he's on that roster, Leafs fans in 50 years will think of him kind of like we older Leafs fans think about Larry Hillman and his place on the team.

Everyone knows the name Tim Horton, probably Allan Stanley too maybe even Bobby Baun he of the legendary broken leg. I would bet some under 40s would be able to tell you a bit about those Dmen.

After that I would say there'd be the odd person could say something about Brewer or Pronovost, but the Hillmans(brother Wayne was a Leaf)are largely forgotten except by those that saw them play. Larry played a lot more than Wayne and Larry like Holl was not a fan favorite, Punch liked him a lot and leaned on him like Keefe leans on Holl, just a plain guy no starring roles, no dash and no flash, but hes got some rings. That's how people may someday remember Justin Holl.

 

[Da Cool Rula]

Lets go

Seeing your user name makes me sad

 

[therealkoho]

...an especially bad combination.

Perhaps one of the worst

 

[saltming]

Seeing your user name makes me sad

Me too! Sad day for hockey and me too. He was a huge part of my childhood

 

[Coaches Coroner]

it looks like they banned most Leaf fans from that thread, meanwhile lunatic Devil's fans are running wild, shrieking about Leaf fans, defending throwing shit on the ice and at players, and getting insanely defensive about New Jersey the place.

I thought Buffalo fans were hyper defensive, but they don't hold a candle to Devil's fans...Devils fans are like a more hostile Sabres fan with roughly 30% more racism.

thank you to a certain Devils fan for checking on our posts over here and posting weepy cringe victim LARPing on the Devils board lmao

 

[ItalianLeaf]

godly???

I heard inflamed enough to be irate!

Almost like trying to say that Holl who played 25 solid minutes last night is the worst dog on the planet

I don't believe anybody in the modern NHL has ever had 3 goals overturned

The best line was easily JT and Mitch, Robbie was on the LW most of the night and had some OK shifts but he looked like he was trying to find his way most of the night. I think if they give him at least 9 more games there he'll be on much firmer footing and be the player they want him to be.

Not sure if it was Matty or Will creating the situation but neither one of them seemed interested at different times, the both had some good shifts, but both had some ineffective minutes. Will was actually sat for a PP1 shift, and he didn't look real happy on the bench but then why would he!

The bottom 6 played some pretty effective minutes and did the job they're supposed to do.

Gio and Holl were the 1st pair with 24:43 and 25:03 respectively, Gio was credited with 6 blks and Holl 1 but it seemed like Holl actually had 3 blks so I'd say the Jersey count was a little light.

Hollowell was paired with Benn and while nothing stood out he didn't get overwhelmed and looked ok when Sheldon called his number. Benn went off for repairs in the 2nd and again in the 3rd in what Leafs are calling an UBI, he might be gone for a bit. TJ won't be back for another 2 weeks, Leafs are in a little bit of hot water, skating on thin ice, they have their backs to the wall and are facing dire straits!

Liljegren and Sandin had a couple of hiccups but both seem like they belong in the NHL. Sandin though I think is becoming the Swedish Justin Holl, the slightest error gets him roasted by a few posters. The kid just played in his 109th NHL game and he posted just over 22mins, not many young defenders can handle that many minutes with that little experience.

Murray had a very strong games considering he had 3 GA's waived off, the one that counted was a tip from a pretty obtuse angle.

please tell me you understand that I was being sarcastic with the “godly” remark. It was to poke fun at all the people on this forum who have such high praise for Rielly when in reality he is nothing more than a number 4 at best.

 

[willmma]

We had no business winning that game, but every team needs a few of those at some point during the season.

Murray continues to look very impressive.

Matthews' play at even strength is starting to become worrisome.

Well we scored 2 nice goals and they scored fou.. I mean only 1 .

So we deserved the win.

 

[cyris]

Jamie Benn got put on IR. Likely week to week. Won’t know more till they get some imaging done. Per Keefe at todays media availability.

I think we need an injury update thread at this point.