Post-Game Talk: Auston Matthews. Leafs win 6-4!

[Jmo89]

I was going to post in the Holl thread that he's looking like a middle pairing dman again. But then I seen the pissing contest in there so quickly backed away.

He's far from perfect, but this version of him is much better than the first half of the season.

 

[The Podium]

I feel a bit of a run brewing.

The boys make up for the loss in Arizona, then follow it up with a redemption against Buffalo at the heritage classic. Then a string of playoff teams that the boys generally show up against.

 

[sparxx87]

For all that’s wrong with this team, Matthews still worth the price of admission every night.

That touch pass from Bunting to Marner to Matthews after he stripped the D was a GOY candidate if he finished.

You hear “will it into existence” in sport but with Matthews, the way he completely tilts the ice at times is pretty incredible to watch. He wanted that tying goal and nobody was going to stop him.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Rebounds is where it helps the most to have those kinds of guys, and while Campbell's rebound control has somewhat gone to crap in 2022, he still faces among the fewest rebound chances against in the league in 2022:

1st - Sorokin; 2.32
2nd - Vasilevsky; 2.55
3rd - Campbell; 2.63
4th - Ullmark; 2.65
5th - Markstrom; 3.01
28th - Mrazek; 3.8 (ahead of Shestyerkin, Andersen, both COL goalies, Lehner, and Bobrovsky).

On the year, Campbell has 2.68 against, which is 5th among goalies who are top 60 in playing time.

I think most people would say Tampa, Islanders, Boston, and Calgary have among the most "physical" defenses in the league and should be among the best at preventing rebound chances. We seem to be right up there with Campbell in net.

This is better than I would have guessed for sure.

I have been pretty hard on Campbell lately...deservedly so but outside the 1st goal against and despite giving up 4 I did think there were some glimpses of the Campbell of earlier in the season. He did get hung out to dry a couple times as well.

I thought so too. He has been terrible lately but our team D hasn't been great either. I don't usually watch post game but I caught some of his interview last night and I liked the way he sounded. I still have hope for Jack, goalies are voodo, there's still a chance IMO that we get decent goaltending in the playoffs

MVP.

If I had to vote today, I vote Matthews.

This team will end up with like 110pts with some of the worst goaltending since the 80s

It might surprise you to know that our team SV% is .903 which has us tied for 18th, just behind TB who is 17th with .904.

For all that’s wrong with this team, Matthews still worth the price of admission every night.

That touch pass from Bunting to Marner to Matthews after he stripped the D was a GOY candidate if he finished.

You hear “will it into existence” in sport but with Matthews, the way he completely tilts the ice at times is pretty incredible to watch. He wanted that tying goal and nobody was going to stop him.

Yup, him and Marner too. Being a Leaf fan is a schizophrenic existence for me at this point. Watching these two play is a joy most nights but then when the game is over, I wake up the next morning to the reality of 5 consecutive 1st round playoff exits and the knowledge that there's an excellent chance that the 6th one is only a couple of months away. I want to win the cup so bad but after all those failures, I have to say that even winning one round would be oh so nice!

 

[Hoglund4MvP]

leaf need sandin back quick. it only temporary problem but team only need little chance to score lots on leaf with the pairs now. no good. this nhl not road hockey. if defence and goalie play like that combined it doesnt matter where ranks for scoring chance. all that matters is if you give up any amount puck will go in. no more sandin trade offers. leafs need to bring in smartness not send out. why you heff to be mad its only game, take truthful criticism or team can't get better only worse.

 

[Judas Tavares]

It feels like everything is going in for the opposition right now. Whether it is bad goaltending, poor defensive lapses or perfectly executed plays by the other team, they are just all going in. All the tips, all the odd man rushes. While the goaltending and defence need to improve big time, I think eventually just the law of (normalcy?) will also average itself out. Like not every tip or odd man rush goes in. The tip may miss the net or get blocked. The pass on the 2on1 may get missed or get flubbed. While it is our side to blame mostly, it does feel like our opposition is executing on their end perfectly as well. Hopefully it all gets corrected.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

It feels like everything is going in for the opposition right now. Whether it is bad goaltending, poor defensive lapses or perfectly executed plays by the other team, they are just all going in. All the tips, all the odd man rushes. While the goaltending and defence need to improve big time, I think eventually just the law of (normalcy?) will also average itself out. Like not every tip or odd man rush goes in. The tip may miss the net or get blocked. The pass on the 2on1 may get missed or get flubbed. While it is our side to blame mostly, it does feel like our opposition is executing on their end perfectly as well. Hopefully it all gets corrected.

It's all going according to plan! Let guys like Tage Thompson, Skinner, Wennberg, Roslovic, and Schwartz make the perfect plays and then have Kucherov, Point, Barkov, etc flub their chances come playoff time!

 

[Mess]

Matthews to the rescue.

It shouldn't be this hard against an expansion team.

 

[Pholus]

I was going to post in the Holl thread that he's looking like a middle pairing dman again. But then I seen the pissing contest in there so quickly backed away.

He's far from perfect, but this version of him is much better than the first half of the season.

Holl has looked much more capable when he isn't being asked to be the better half of the second pair.

 

[hoglund]

I feel a bit of a run brewing.

The boys make up for the loss in Arizona, then follow it up with a redemption against Buffalo at the heritage classic. Then a string of playoff teams that the boys generally show up against.

Arizona is hot right now and on a 3 game winning streak, they're not the crappy team that they were a couple of weeks ago.

 

[The Podium]

Arizona is hot right now and on a 3 game winning streak, they're not the crappy team that they were a couple of weeks ago.

Exactly why the Leafs will win

 

[kb]

Matthews to the rescue.

It shouldn't be this hard against an expansion team.

You are right.

Seattle 5 - Florida 3
Seattle 4 - Florida 1
Seattle 4 - Minnesota 1
Seattle 2 - Carolina 1
Seattle 2 - Pittsburgh 1

Leafs 6 - Seattle 2
Leafs 6 - Seattle 4

 

[Zybalto]

Matthews to the rescue.

It shouldn't be this hard against an expansion team.

Since Feb. 1st:

The Leafs beat the Kraken twice by a combined score of 12-6

the Kraken beat the Panthers 5-3.
The Flames beat the Kraken 2-1
The Bruins beat the Kraken 3-2 and 2-1 in OT
The Kraken beat the Pens 2-1 in OT
The Rangers beat the Kraken 3-2
The Canes beat the Kraken 3-2

Looking at our fellow competitors in the east, I'd say we looked the best against them.

 

[Zybalto]

You are right.

Seattle 5 - Florida 3
Seattle 4 - Florida 1
Seattle 4 - Minnesota 1
Seattle 2 - Carolina 1
Seattle 2 - Pittsburgh 1

Leafs 6 - Seattle 4

I gave him just the recent results heh.

 

[ACC1224]

Matthews to the rescue.

It shouldn't be this hard against an expansion team.

It can be hard against any team on any night but with the way they've been playing lately this was a game where they should have just put their foot on their necks and kept it there for 60 minutes.

It's never easy with this team.

 

[GhettoHockey]

HIT EM WITH THE 4 LIKE AUSTON MATTHEWS LOL!!!

 

[BertCorbeau]

I found it funny that the pundits were (rightfully) criticizing Nylander on that short handed goal last night but nobody mentioned how awful Rielly played that defensively.

Applied no pressure to the shooter and didn’t even try to block the pass. That was terrible.

 

[Mess]

It can be hard against any team on any night but with the way they've been playing lately this was a game where they should have just put their foot on their necks and kept it there for 60 minutes.

It's never easy with this team.

Could have said that similarly against CBJ the other day.

As long as Leafs goalies continue to surrender 4 goals against and .867 sv%, forcing the Leafs to score 5 goals to mask it, every game will appear like these. IMO

The Leafs continuing to win despite having the 32nd and last ranked sv% in 2022 is quite remarkable. Leafs forwards will need to stay hot !!!

 

[HamiltonNHL]

You are right.

Seattle 5 - Florida 3
Seattle 4 - Florida 1
Seattle 4 - Minnesota 1
Seattle 2 - Carolina 1
Seattle 2 - Pittsburgh 1

Leafs 6 - Seattle 4

Hockey is a crazy game.

NHL hockey is draft luck plus puck luck plus or minus your city is warm and sunny with low taxes.

 

[sparxx87]

Yup, him and Marner too. Being a Leaf fan is a schizophrenic existence for me at this point. Watching these two play is a joy most nights but then when the game is over, I wake up the next morning to the reality of 5 consecutive 1st round playoff exits and the knowledge that there's an excellent chance that the 6th one is only a couple of months away. I want to win the cup so bad but after all those failures, I have to say that even winning one round would be oh so nice!

It's tough, but just remember how impossible it seemed before Matthews-Marner. The Kessel-Phaneuf teams had no chance so it was easy not to care. Now they have the top tier talent and it's the secondary core that needs work.

I'm still hopeful a new administration can come in this offseason and aggressively pursue trades. Reshape the secondary core and blueline to better compliment the top players and help offset some of their weaknesses. Pittsburgh found success with this and won back to back cups. As frustrating as it is, actually winning has never been more attainable since the early 90's but I think a different and more conventional approach is needed.

 

[sparxx87]

I found it funny that the pundits were (rightfully) criticizing Nylander on that short handed goal last night but nobody mentioned how awful Rielly played that defensively.

Applied no pressure to the shooter and didn’t even try to block the pass. That was terrible.

True, but in Rielly's defense you could visibly see he was low on gas when he turned to dig in. My criticism is that if he's tired, get off the ice. Even if you're on the PP.

 

[Clark4Ever]

It was good to see the second line contribute offensively but once again, we needed 5 goals to win. That's not going to cut it in the playoffs.

 

[Marmoset]

That was fun! It was great to be at the game for the first time in eons. I know the fact it was a close game with an expansion team probably drove a lot of you nuts but it was entertaining if you were there. Much more enjoyable than a tidy 3-1 win would have been.

Of course, Auston Matthews!!!

I liked the Rielly/Liljegren pairing, which surprised me because I didn't think I was going to like it. I thought Liljegren had a good game other than one very noticeable occasion being out of position. Of course, it was Seattle they were playing. I thought Holl looked better than he has been. Brodie always impresses me.

Campbell was "fine". For the most part the goals were ones nobody was stopping unless it was a spectacular save. This wasn't like some of his other 4=goal games.

Nylander was extremely sloppy/careless at times in this one. I thought most forwards were fairly good but he really stood out with some glaring issues. I didn't check the ice times but I feel like the fourth line barely played. If they played, they were invisible. Of course, with the fourth line that's not always a bad thing.

One thing I missed was part of the Bunting incident at the end. I saw him get clobbered but didn't have a good view of what set that off and so was surprised by the coincident minors. I'm assuming he did something that drew the initial penalty and the reaction.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

What a HATTY MATTY .. another dominant game and 2 pts banked .. well done .. and nice effort from both his line-mates too

OMG our defense SUCKS bad .. Brodie is getting exposed covering up for Holl (a pattern developing here like with Muzzzy) and Rielly looking poor playing with Lily (too much to ask from a rook) .. another solid effort from Lub/Dermy though (was not a Lub issue on 2nd period goal - it was centre missing his assignment creating an odd man rush) .. a 2nd pair needs to be brought in before playoffs or this team is toast again.. use Muzzy on 3rd pair with Lub .. Brodie with Rielly .. insert 2nd pair with trades .. Dermy 1st sub in with injury .. try again to trade Holl please

Outside of 1st goal, which was a problem with Freddy too, going into butterfly and making themselves small solid game from tender .. maybe this is a coaching error as Freddy had same issue making himself small on butterfly move around net in all situations to cover base of goal line .. snipers in league can now go top self over shoulder and it is happening more regularly .. there is a situation where stats might help a coach in assessing how many times Leafs tending technique is failing in close to net shots over shoulder .. Freddy was huge and it was happennign a lot for him too

 

[Twine Tickler]

I was going to post in the Holl thread that he's looking like a middle pairing dman again. But then I seen the pissing contest in there so quickly backed away.

He's far from perfect, but this version of him is much better than the first half of the season.

He has looked exponentially better since his last HS.

I remain confident in Holl. I think people underestimate the amount of pressure this guy must have felt knowing that for his entire career he was an AHL/NHL tweener and then all of a sudden, almost over night, he became a top 4 D-man who was later protected by his team in an expansion draft. There is inherently going to be some added pressure to perform after that. It certainly doesn't help that he started the season out poorly.

I also think he and Muzz starting the year in equally poor slumps. Which compounded the issue.

I think the mental reset was exactly what he needed. It did wonders for him earlier in the year and he started to play better, then the COVID pause came and he regressed thereafter. He was then HS'd a second time and has been very solid since returning to the lineup.

Happy to see. Even if he does get moved, I am happy to see him look like the Holl of last year again