Pre-Game Talk: Bruins @ Leafs, time to sweep those Bears!

[yubbers]

Because our offense has been anemic the last three weeks or so, minus the TB game? Even in that game, we were getting goals from unlikely sources.

Leivoooooo Josh Vegas

 

[Hurt]

Leivoooooo Josh Vegas

I hope he gets a chance to launch his career. Unlike Corrado who is a fringe NHL player, I think Leivo actually has skills and hopefully gets a chance to become a regular elsewhere in the NHL if it isn't in Toronto.

 

[Morbo]

Just noticed that smoke appears to shoot out of the bear as it flies

wtf?

 

[HEAVY DUTY]

nylander should have a good game. he's always extra motivated to one-up his bestie pastrnak.

i'm expecting a solid regulation win. GLG.

 

[Pi]

nylander should have a good game. he's always extra motivated to one-up his bestie pastrnak.

i'm expecting a solid regulation win. GLG.

We are at home. No excuses. If we play like we did against Chicago, we will win because Rask isn't as good as Crawford this season.

Andersen is ridiculous against the Bruins as well. Undefeated so far. 4 times with Anaheim; 3 with us.

 

[yubbers]

Just noticed that smoke appears to shoot out of the bear as it flies

wtf?

It's not a real bear....

Likely a little bottle rocket of sorts to propel it through the air

 

[Hurt]

It's not a real bear....

Likely a little bottle rocket of sorts to propel it through the air

You don't say, yubs!

 

[Morbo]

It's not a real bear....

Likely a little bottle rocket of sorts to propel it through the air

...

 

[Daisy Jane]

It's not a real bear....

Likely a little bottle rocket of sorts to propel it through the air

 

[yubbers]

Sarcasm can be a hard translate online

 

[senor martinez]

Damn we gon blast on these fools tomorrow night! Guarantee it. Bergeron and others will give us a cool challenge, but we are very strong in every possible way now man.

Let's see how Polak handles these fools. He is our strongest man. I'ma see to this one.

 

[TmlHockeyFan]

LOL. I remember the Kadri and Kessel gif here. Can someone edit it to make Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Kadri throwing the bear?

 

[mulefarm]

Damn we gon blast on these fools tomorrow night! Guarantee it. Bergeron and others will give us a cool challenge, but we are very strong in every possible way now man.

Let's see how Polak handles these fools. He is our strongest man. I'ma see to this one.

Polak has been a beast! Paired with Reilly they were dominate and totally shut down Kane, Toews and Hossa! Next up for th is Marchand!!!

 

[zeke]

xGF% = zone/score/venue-adjusted Expected Goals For percentage (from Corsica.Hockey)

Expected Goals = All Unblocked Shot Attempts adjusted for shot distance, quality, etc.

Number in brackets = xGF% Relative to Team


Line 1

C Bozak (30): 66gms, 16gls, 47pts, 16:17 (20gls/58pts), 50.9xgf% (-2.4)
C Bergeron (31): 68gms, 17gls, 48pts, 19:20 (21gls/58pts), 60.9xgf% (+8.3)

W Marner (19): 65gms, 17gls, 55pts, 16:41 (22gls/69pts), 50.8xgf% (-2.1)
W Marchand (28): 71gms, 37gls, 79pts, 19:29 (43gls/91pts), 60.2xgf% (+7.2)

W VanRyk (27): 70gms, 22gls, 52pts, 15:40 (26gls/61pts), 52.3xgf% (-0.5)
W Backes (32): 63gms, 15gls, 34pts, 17:15 (20gls/44pts), 56.5xgf% (+0.6)

Line 2

C Matthews (19): 70gms, 32gls, 56pts, 17:47 (38gls/66pts), 52.6xgf% (+0.0)
C Krejci (30): 71gms, 20gls, 49pts, 18:19 (23gls/57pts), 52.7xgf% (-3.8)

W Nylander (20): 69gms, 18gls, 51pts, 16:08 (21gls/61pts), 54.4xgf% (+3.3)
W Pastrnak (20): 64gms, 31gls, 63pts, 18:00 (40gls/81pts), 58.7xgf% (+5.3)

W Hyman (24): 70gms, 9gls, 26pts, 16:57 (11gls/31pts), 52.6xgf% (-0.1)
W Stafford (31): 47gms, 6gls, 18pts, 13:34 (11gls/31pts), 48.5xgf% (-1.0)

Line 3

C Kadri (26): 70gms, 28gls, 51pts, 16:37 (33gls/60pts), 55.9xgf% (+4.6)
C Spooner (24): 67gms, 11gls, 36pts, 14:21 (14gls/44pts), 54.0xgf% (+2.4)

W Brown (22): 70gms, 16gls, 29pts, 16:07 (19gls/34pts), 50.6xgf% (-2.6)
W Vatrano (22): 37gms, 10gls, 18pts, 14:03 (22gls/40pts), 53.9xgf% (+3.2)

W Komarov (29): 70gms, 11gls, 25pts, 17:06 (13gls/29pts), 53.0xgf% (+0.5)
W Hayes (27): 54gms, 2gls, 5pts, 9:32 (3gls/8pts), 50.8xgf% (-6.5)

Line 4

C Boyle (33): 63gms, 13gls, 24pts, 13:32 (17gls/31pts), 54.2xgf% (+2.8)
C Moore (36): 71gms, 10gls, 20pts, 12:35 (12gls/23pts), 50.6xgf% (-5.9)

W Soshnikov (23): 55gms, 5gls, 9pts, 10:46 (8gls/13pts), 51.4xgf% (-1.3)
W Nash (27): 70gms, 4gls, 11pts, 13:39 (5gls/13pts), 56.4xgf% (+1.1)

W Martin (27): 70gms, 5gls, 9pts, 8:55 (6gls/11pts), 50.9xgf% (-1.9)
W Beleskey (28): 40gms, 3gls, 8pts, 13:52 (6gls/16pts), 53.7xgf% (+0.1)



Pair 1

D Zaitsev (25): 70gms, 3gls, 29pts, 22:16 (4gls/34pts), 51.5xgf% (-1.7)
D Chara (39): 64gms, 7gls, 23pts, 23:12 (9gls/30pts), 55.9xgf% (+0.6)

D Gardiner (26): 70gms, 9gls, 34pts, 21:17 (11gls/40pts), 53.9xgf% (+2.2)
D Carlo (20): 71gms, 6gls, 15pts, 21:04 (7gls/17pts), 55.0xgf% (-0.4)

Pair 2

D Rielly (22): 64gms, 5gls, 26pts, 22:12 (6gls/33pts), 51.7xgf% (-1.5)
D Krug (25): 71gms, 6gls, 46pts, 21:56 (7gls/53pts), 55.6xgf% (+0.5)

D Polak (30): 65gms, 4gls, 7pts, 17:52 (5gls/9pts), 52.7xgf% (+0.1)
D McQuaid (30): 66gms, 2gls, 9pts, 17:51 (3gls/11pts), 51.7xgf% (-4.9)

Pair 3

D Hunwick (31): 60gms, 1gls, 15pts, 17:58 (1gls/21pts), 53.1xgf% (-0.0)
D Miller (29): 47gms, 2gls, 10pts, 17:30 (4gls/18pts), 54.4xgf% (-1.7)

D Marchenko (24): 39gms, 1gls, 8pts, 17:14 (2gls/16pts), 50.3xgf% (+2.9)
D Miller (24): 54gms, 5gls, 12pts, 15:58 (8gls/18pts), 60.7xgf% (+7.6)


Starter

G Andersen (27): 58gms, .918sv%, .923es%
G Rask (29): 56gms, .912sv%, .914es%

Backup

G McElhinney (33): 15gms, .922sv%, .927es%
G Khudobin (30): 13gms, .897sv%, .904es%

 

[Liminality]

Uh oh

 

[Bluelines]

Boston has been one of the best teams sonce the allstar break...its going to be a tough game. LEO HAS A BIG GAME!

 

[Bluelines]

Just noticed that smoke appears to shoot out of the bear as it flies

wtf?

If you just got thrown 100ft by a green monster, youd probably have more than just smoke coming out of your butt.

 

[Not My Tempo]

Uh oh

Dang, hope nothing serious

 

[Hurt]

Uh oh

In other news, Babcock has elected to only roll 2 forwards instead of 3 on Matthews' line in Hyman's absence. When asked why he doesn't fill the spot and insists on playing down one player on that line, Babcock walked away muttering "My son... Look what they did to my son..."

 

[TheProspector]

Babcock won't do that. If there was one thing I wish he learned from Q, that would be it. Stacking your best players for a couple of shifts when you are doing well isn't a bad thing.

He will stick to his predefined lines all game long. Only change he ever makes is switching Brown and Nylander.

If we loaded up and went:

JvR-Matthews-Nylander
Brown-Kadri-Marner

We would be much better. I'd rather have two elite lines than three good lines.

Even our third line would be above average with so many combinations available.

I don't think there was more than 20 seconds in 3v3 that one of Kane, Toews or Keith weren't on the ice for. Your grinders don't win you games, they just make sure you don't lose. Guys like Matthews, Nylander, Marner, Kadri etc win you games if you give them a chance.

Komarov and Hyman both on for most of the 3v3 is so ****ing stupid. I'm losing faith in Babcock.

 

[WilliamNylander]

In other news, Babcock has elected to only roll 2 forwards instead of 3 on Matthews' line in Hyman's absence. When asked why he doesn't fill the spot and insists on playing down one player on that line, Babcock walked away muttering "My son... Look what they did to my son..."

Makes Matthews a healthy scratch because he can't play without Hyman on his wing

 

[FlareKnight]

Just have to find a way to win. Every point matters at this stage of it.

If we want the playoffs...we've got to topple those Bears.

 

[PromisedLand]

In other news, Babcock has elected to only roll 2 forwards instead of 3 on Matthews' line in Hyman's absence. When asked why he doesn't fill the spot and insists on playing down one player on that line, Babcock walked away muttering "My son... Look what they did to my son..."

 

[Leafidelity]

Everything about that Bruins team is fools gold. Bergeron is 31 now, and they're still a bubble team at peak Marchand performance. I don't think they have the prospect talent to push them beyond that. Lots of good prospects they hope can be great, but no great prospects. So they'll continue rolling out players the fans still see as Cup Winners though its been 6 years now. Unless they start aiming at something, they'll float around the bubble for a couple more years till the eventual and unintended sink to the bottom.

In other words, **** the Bruins. Win this game.

 

[PromisedLand]

Uh oh