Post-Game Talk: Lazy effort. Full 60 minutes required

[tom leafers]

thank god we never play buffalo in the playoffs. wed get friggen swept

 

[ACC1224]

Another game where you come away thinking goaltending is going to sink this team in the playoffs.

 

[Mess]

thank god we never play buffalo in the playoffs. wed get friggen swept

Leafs last 3 games against Buffalo all in this past month were 5-1, 5-2 and 5-2 losses.

Leafs would already be down 0-3 in the series and outscored 15-5.

It's really odd that Leafs tend to play to the level of their competition and thankfully they seem to up their game when playing stronger teams, but this poor performance against bad teams does let some doubt in and shake a little confidence nonetheless.

 

[TMLeafer]

This is Bunting's first full NHL season right? Maybe he's hitting a wall.

 

[Brobust]

I'd like to split up Kampf and Nylander. They cancel out each other's strengths. It's a joke.

The bottom six should be:

Engvall - Kampf - Blackwell
Knies - Nylander - Kase/Robertson

Spezza and Simmonds should never play another game.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

I get Keefer trying up different pairs but defending requires pairs working in unison and time on ice together is how it develops .. these game by game switch ups are not helping anyone for playoffs .. time for experimentation needs to end .. Holl skates at an AHL level and got burned last night with a fast team .. playoffs will be even faster and he flat out can't keep up .. yes Lub is slow too but he brings a physical cycle clearing and net clearing game and he enhances Rielly's game .. we need to build some more chemistry in last few games with whoever Keefer is going with in playoffs .. and our tender last night really played poorly too .. with 2 goals we should have figured out a way to get a point

 

[theTTC]

He’s a PPG winger who had an off night, like everyone else and still had an assist….
If theirs anyone who can’t find a line it’s Tavares

Willy is a cancer. He refuses to work hard for 20 minutes every few nights. Been his m.o. for years. And now the Leafs have new players and rookies coming on board, who watch this guy for clues as to how to behave, what are the expectations. You want Willy to be modelling attitude and on-ice culture for your new guys? Insane.

 

[Twine Tickler]

That was arguably one of the worst efforts we've seen all year. There was a pre-planned day off today that makes you wonder if the boys had been making plans for last night/today well before the game was even done. They just looked disengaged all night, and couldn't make a pass. The amount of panic when the puck would land on their tapes was something I hadn't seen from this group in such a long time. They just didn't want to make a play, but rather get the puck off their stick as fast as they could.

Credit to Buffalo, they looked like a Carolina-light IMO. Just outworking us from opening puck drop to the final buzzer. We played like shit, but I think a lot of that came from the hard work Buffalo was committed to playing with right out of the gate.

I'm not too worried. The boys have been playing well lately. They can have off nights. We got exactly what we deserved IMO.

Burn the tapes, move on to the next one.

 

[Mess]

This seemed more of a Leafs locked up a playoff spot last game and then simply took the pedal off and coasted through this one. IMO

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Liljegren was the best player on the ice. If he sits again in favor of Holl or Lyb, someone should lose their jobs.

Someone will. Soon.

 

[Stephen]

All the Willie defenders, let's hear it for your boy. Lazy, disinterested, they cannot find a line for him to show up on. It's unreal.

View attachment 530201

Technically, Willie was the only one of the Big 4 who scored a point last night…

 

[29Potvin]

Another game where you come away thinking goaltending is going to sink this team in the playoffs.

FLA is in the same boat. Bob has been bad as of late and has a career playoff record of 13-23 with a .899 save percentage and a 3.24 goals-against average. Knight went 1-1 in his postseason debut last year, with a .933 save percentage and a 2.06 GAA.
We have our goalie issues but so do they and possibly Boston

 

[ToneDog]

I'd like to split up Kampf and Nylander. They cancel out each other's strengths. It's a joke.

The bottom six should be:

Engvall - Kampf - Blackwell
Knies - Nylander - Kase/Robertson

Spezza and Simmonds should never play another game.

Bunkis echoed the same sentiments this morning. Suggested 88,34 and 16. Thinks if Willie cannot play with Tavares or Matthews, he is not a fit on the team. I was thinking if they refuse to flip 16 and 88, then move Bunts to Tavares' line but moving Willie up might be worth a try. They have looked good in the past as a line.

At the end of the day, Marner and Matthews are a best line drivers and as such do not understand why they don't drive their "OWN" lines.

 

[ToneDog]

Technically, Willie was the only one of the Big 4 who scored a point last night…

I tuned out after the first and back late at 4-2. Willie looked pretty lazy on the Sabres ENG.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Willy is a cancer. He refuses to work hard for 20 minutes every few nights. Been his m.o. for years. And now the Leafs have new players and rookies coming on board, who watch this guy for clues as to how to behave, what are the expectations. You want Willy to be modelling attitude and on-ice culture for your new guys? Insane.

I hate to say it but looks like you are right here .. so much talent and clearly not near enough in hard work department .. it seems like a "give a sh*t" issue to me

 

[ToneDog]

FLA is in the same boat. Bob has been bad as of late and has a career playoff record of 13-23 with a .899 save percentage and a 3.24 goals-against average. Knight went 1-1 in his postseason debut last year, with a .933 save percentage and a 2.06 GAA.
We have our goalie issues but so do they and possibly Boston

Florida is 9-1-0 in their last 10 and 8-0 since loss to the Leafs, all without their franchise dman. We can compete with Soup, but if Florida, Boston, Tampa and Leafs all lost their #1, I like their chances in net better than ours.

 

[Clark4Ever]

Not surprised with the result last night, it's been typical of this team.

At least no one got injured.

 

[ToneDog]

I hate to say it but looks like you are right here .. so much talent and clearly not near enough in hard work department .. it seems like a "give a sh*t" issue to me

Bunkis made an interesting point this morning. With Willie playing with JT, they limited the line's defensive zone starts. With Willie off the line, no more sheltering for JT line. Also Willie on the third line which is a defensive line is not a good fit. As such, suggested Willie moving to top line and failing that Willie is not a fit for this team.

 

[BertCorbeau]

All this talk about how we play against bad teams, who cares, last time I checked none of them are in the playoffs. And no, it doesnt say anything. I’ll take a TB win over a freaking Sabres win all day long thanks. Don’t extrapolate to much from these games. Also, weren’t we due for a stinker?

My favourite commentary is that the "book is out on the Leafs and how to beat them .. do X, Y, and Z".

If that were true the Leafs wouldn't be second in the division and be coming off of a 7-0-1 run.

 

[Stephen]

I tuned out after the first and back late at 4-2. Willie looked pretty lazy on the Sabres ENG.

For sure, it was annoying. But a lazy miscue at 4-2 when the game is already lost doesn’t really mean that much when the entire team no-showed for 58 minutes up till that point.

 

[ToneDog]

For sure, it was annoying. But a lazy miscue at 4-2 when the game is already lost doesn’t really mean that much when the entire team no-showed for 58 minutes up till that point.

Difference is that Willie has the rep of taking games off. Thought he managed to shake it off but here we are again talking about it.

 

[ITM]

Certain players excel in certain environments. Nick Ritchie is a very good Coyote.

Certain teams excel in certain environments and for years we were a team that could beat much better teams at times during our regular season that had zero impact on our non-existent post-season.

 

[fahad203]

This is Bunting's first full NHL season right? Maybe he's hitting a wall.

I mean he already overachieved. From being a pro for past 6 years, playing in Arizona then getting dropped by Arizona
Then to play for the Leafs topline. He couldn't have pictured a better year

But I think he's peaked. You need a bit more offense from a winger playing with Matthews and Marner

 

[Aashir Mallik]

Willy is a cancer. He refuses to work hard for 20 minutes every few nights. Been his m.o. for years. And now the Leafs have new players and rookies coming on board, who watch this guy for clues as to how to behave, what are the expectations. You want Willy to be modelling attitude and on-ice culture for your new guys? Insane.

I want the guy who scored 5 goals and 3 assists in 7 games

The guy who stepped up when his star Center went down and carried his line.

The guy who contributed every game with effort AND points

Willy being a cancer is totally ignoring how insane his work ethic is. Multiple sources have confirmed several times he’s always one of the first on the ice and one of the last off it. I don’t really care too much about effort on an empty net goal when it’s 4-2 against Buffalo on a Tuesday night. In terms of rookie development I want them to look at his ethic off the ice as well as on, and more times than not, it’s positive. This is nylanders what 8th game on the third line, and he looked just like the rest of the team. He’s had one stinker game, we have to live with that.

He’s at around a PPG and has a good work ethic. From last post season he earned the benefit of the doubt going into this post season. He has a stinker in the playoffs and all bets are off, but till then, especially with only a dozen or so games left I think we should cut him along with the rest of the team some slack

 

[DarkKnight]

My favourite commentary is that the "book is out on the Leafs and how to beat them .. do X, Y, and Z".

If that were true the Leafs wouldn't be second in the division and be coming off of a 7-0-1 run.

We defeated ourselves last night, timing off, mentally checked out. I guess you want to show up every night, but professional sport isn’t like that.