Pre-Game Talk: Leafs @ Habs, HNIC

[Gary Nylund]

Yeah I think Babcock is the best coach in the league at getting the most out of players. Not all of our games will be perfect but we'll never put up stinker after stinker like Buffalo or Montreal are for example. As for how good we are, we should be one of the top 10 teams this year from my standpoint

Agree 100%. The last game was a downer but it's just one game, it happens, it could have been worse and I just hope it doesn't happen again for a while. I believe we should be a top 10 team as well and in order to do that, we have to play hard all the time. We can't mail it in against anyone and expect to win.

I believe we will play great tomorrow. I hope Price plays the game of his life and we still win.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Well, I'm glad you liked my 'opera' comment. It was meant to be humorous, cool.
But what you bolded there . . . I really don't think that's melodramatic at all.

Price plays amazing, say Andersen lays an egg, and it's a 5-1 Habs scoreline . . . and yeah, exactly what is bolded there will be 100% true.

I don't think that's likely at all myself; but it's a possibility, however slight it may seem at this time.

More melodrama. It's one game in an 82 game season. Don't really know what to tell you dude, feel free to get all worked about "slight possibilities" and "troubling" losses before they happen though, that is your right.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Price has won 11 in a row against the Leafs?
eesh

Buuutttt, teh Habs can't score and Babcock will have them ready for this one after getting sh-lacked

 

[LDN]

Easy win...

 

[Budsfan]

 

[ShaneFalco]

Easy win...

Not sure if there's such a thing, but they should def beat the Habs. There will be a melt-down here if they don't

 

[Budsfan]

 

[CanadasTeam]

After that Rosen-Borgmann combo then all of a sudden Carrick is feeling better hehe

I've nothing against Moore and know he scores but I much prefer Fehr's game -- no pts to show for but see better team game performance overall, IMO.

 

[ShaneFalco]

After that Rosen-Borgmann combo then all of a sudden Carrick is feeling better hehe

I've nothing against Moore and know he scores but I much prefer Fehr's game -- no pts to show for but see better team game performance overall, IMO.

Yeah so far I would agree. Fehr has been really good on PK too

 

[MapleLeafistan]

I expect a win and a huge Leafs contingent. Leafs fans used to regularly invade Molson Centre/Bell Centre and The Forum back in the day.

 

[MJ65]

This is just the 5th games of the season and I know this is too early in the season but we haven't won against this team in a while and I hate to lost against the Habs. I am hoping for a better effort as a team to secure a "W" - we need to tighten up our own zone and keep Price under pressure all night

 

[slozo]

I expect a win and a huge Leafs contingent. Leafs fans used to regularly invade Molson Centre/Bell Centre and The Forum back in the day.

Wow, thanks for that long forgotten memory . . . I actually remembered that game, upon re-seeing the highlights there. Remembered Burns and the windmill fistpump. Rest in peace Burnsy.

Ok, I'm not thinking any negative thoughts anymore. I just remembered we have Auston Matthews.

Let's go win this, boys!

 

[gabeliscious]

After that Rosen-Borgmann combo then all of a sudden Carrick is feeling better hehe

I've nothing against Moore and know he scores but I much prefer Fehr's game -- no pts to show for but see better team game performance overall, IMO.

looks like rosen is not ready yet so i am happy that borgman-carrick will be back. i think it will be a much improved pairing. as for moore/fehr, i dont think either has played poorly or well enough to distinguish them self from the other to gain a full time position.

 

[Rude Dog]

Just listening to Victor Mete's interview on TSN. Suggested he grew up a Leafs fan. Taking a while for his family to adapt. Having watched a fair bit of Marner playing in London, I was always impressed by Mete. I was hoping the Leafs might take him with a later pick given his connection with Hunter. I know the knock on him was his size, but he can fly. Nice to see he is proving doubters wrong. Would have looked much better in blue and white though.

 

[egd27]

Funny that I wrote we need to" right after you're comment - but yeah, I will respectfully disagree. A loss could potentially be very troubling and disturbing, both psychologically for this team, and for this fanbase for sure.

Losing 2 in row is still that big a deal?

Is it a new era or not?

Nothing changed with this fanbase......for all the bravado outwardly, it's still riddled with insecurity.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Agree 100%. The last game was a downer but it's just one game, it happens, it could have been worse and I just hope it doesn't happen again for a while. I believe we should be a top 10 team as well and in order to do that, we have to play hard all the time. We can't mail it in against anyone and expect to win.

I believe we will play great tomorrow. I hope Price plays the game of his life and we still win.

Yeah I'm expecting a big win for the Leafs. This is a good chance to impose our will on a weak team and we should dominate

 

[Gary Nylund]

Yeah I'm expecting a big win for the Leafs. This is a good chance to impose our will on a weak team and we should dominate

Yeah the last time we beat them, wasn't the score 6-0 or something like that?

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Yeah the last time we beat them, wasn't the score 6-0 or something like that?

I think it was 5-3
I'm more interested in how long our winning streak over them is gonna be

 

[MJ65]

Easy win...

There is no such thing as a easy win, you need to work hard every night in order to secure a "W" and despite working hard you can still lose a game

 

[showtime8]

If Toronto decides to skate, they should dictate the play. That's how their team is built. Montreal can flip the script if they grind it out and play behind the Leafs shoddy defense.

There's 1 line on the Habs that can do damage and they'll have last change. They'll likely line the Danault line up against Matthews and have Pacioretty's line against Bozak. Key will be getting Rielly/Hainsey out against them as much as they can.

That frees up Kadri against Plekanec. That should be a mismatch and I would expect that line to score a couple goals.

4th line is almost irrelevant for either team.

 

[Savvy]

If Toronto decides to skate, they should dictate the play. That's how their team is built. Montreal can flip the script if they grind it out and play behind the Leafs shoddy defense.

There's 1 line on the Habs that can do damage and they'll have last change. They'll likely line the Danault line up against Matthews and have Pacioretty's line against Bozak. Key will be getting Rielly/Hainsey out against them as much as they can.

That frees up Kadri against Plekanec. That should be a mismatch and I would expect that line to score a couple goals.

4th line is almost irrelevant for either team.

When it comes to Montreal offensively I don’t worry so much about the grinding the defence out as much as I worry about the Toronto defence losing gap control. Montreal has effective “cheaters” like Patches and Drouin who tend to slip past or in between defencemen on good breakouts and with the style of game the leafs are structured to play it’s a real exposiple point because of how much the defence is expected to pinch. Really need good smart decision from the defence and good awareness from the forwards to pick them up on the pinch. The good news is Montreal has struggled doing that as of late because they lack good first pass defencemen

 

[MJ65]

Not only that Montreal is having problem scoring goals, this team is also not as deep defensively (even though they do have Weber) as they used to be. I believe all our forward lines are better then Montreal and as long as we keep out of penalty box and keep a consistent pressure on Carey Price we should win this game

Having said that we still need to be defensively better then our last game despite all the fire power upfront

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Nothing against Rosen but I'm glad it sounds like Carrick and Borgman will be the third pairing in Montreal.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Losing 2 in row is still that big a deal?

Is it a new era or not?

Nothing changed with this fanbase......for all the bravado outwardly, it's still riddled with insecurity.

It would be pretty troubling to me if they allow the Habs to break out on offence a little.

 

[FlareKnight]

The team just has to get skating. And it would be nice to break their regular season streak against Montreal even if it mostly isn't on this group. Just a good feeling kind of thing.

Plus just nice to bounce back from a poor performance against NJ. Montreal is a group this team can beat if they come to play. Need to use that speed advantage though.