Post-Game Talk: Buffalo. What else is new?

[LeafalCrusader]

Johnson and Eichel always go into God mode against us. Ugh. This would have been a good game to give Freddy the night off and let McBackup get an extra start.

 

[TorontoTrades]

meh, not overly concerned.

outplayed them and got sloppy.

Stay healthy and push through these last 6 games. The points are irrelevant we just need to tighten up before playoffs.

 

[TMLS]

McElhinney>Andersen. Idk why they dont share playing time.

 

[Tage2Tuch]

Prior to Saturdays game. Leafs had 8 games left, Boston had 9 games left, and Leafs needed 8 points more to catch Boston.

Something like this would have had to happen...
Leafs would have to go 6-2 = 12 points
Boston would have to go 2-7= 4 points

How is that even remotely realistic?

Hey, there's other reasons you play your starting goalie then trying to catch teams. A starting goalie always wants to play, especially close to the playoffs, especially with so many games left. Unless he's hurt or there's something I'm not aware of.

The way Eichel was celebrating you would've thought he was scoring game 7 Stanley Cup Playoff goals.

His first two goals since coming back from injury. (A month and a half) against a big rival, to snap a long losing streak. Was the reason.

 

[Yamazaki]

Meh. We’re pretty much in 3rd place... at least we hurt the sabers lottery chances.

This is a game that if you lose at least you have a lot of positives to build on. We dominated them and the sabers got the breaks and bounces today.

 

[Yamazaki]

I’m also getting genuinely worried about zaitSev. I was at the game and he looked tentative and his passes aren’t accurate. Once you focus on him for his shifts you see a lot of things not to like.

 

[Welsh Maple Leaf]

How didn’t matty score

 

[ToneDog]

Sabres played physically all night. At this point in the season, I am happy if nobody is injured.

 

[A1LeafNation]

In each of the posts I've quoted of yours, I'm not sure what you're asking/arguing, but I'll give it a whirl...

I don't believe Babcock has an eye on Boston as much as he has an eye on readying his club for the playoffs. Thus far, Freddie Andersen has started 62 games this season. NHL number starting goalies typically start between 60 and 70 games a season. With six or seven games left, Babcock has his starter well within the typical range of games started for a starting NHL goalie.

What Toronto can control is their on-ice play. What Toronto can't control is Boston's. What Toronto can control is how they approach each player's ice-time as the playoffs approach. What Toronto can't control is how other teams (positively or negatively) allocate ice-time for their respective teams. For example, Tampa started Louis Domingue against the Yotes and the Bolts lost. One would think, starting your backup on the Tampa Bay Lightning when playing the Arizona Coyotes should equate to an automatic win. Apparently...it doesn't. Now is that a demonstration of poor player management or good player management? Could it be, within the greater context of trying to remained focused on the playoffs an aspect of NHL clubs that the close they get to the playoffs, the lesser lights of any particular season up their game in order to redeem what's been lost? I think so. It happens all the time.

But the crux of the matter is that neither Jon Cooper nor Mike Babcock are incompetent, stupid NHL head coaches. They are mindful of their respective teams' needs as equally as they are each of their player's needs.

So the thought that Babcock started Andersen with a calculated mindset of catching Boston doesn't seem to overlay naturally if we consider a number of other necessary elements i.e. NHL competition writ large. What does seem consistent is a team, like Toronto or Tampa, focusing on working out team kinks and preserving the game shape that the season of hard work has yielded in order to be playoff tempo ready when it swings around against whatever team they have to play against.

That's what seems realistic to me.

Getting the team to play and ready for the playoffs is fine.

Overplaying your goalie against bottom feeders is not preparing anything. It doesn’t matter if every team does that. In terms of goaltending, fatigue leads to losses.

 

[Gary Nylund]

update:

Fred: .917
Reims: .914

Not sure where you got this from but according to hockey reference, Andersen is still at .918 (link below).

From a quick glance at the stats shown here, I see that among goalies with at least 40 starts this season Andersen's .918 SV% (same as he had last season) has him tied for 9th with Jones, Varlamov and Rask. Or to put it another way, he is a bona fide #1 starting NHL goalie. I'm pretty sure Boston is more than comforable heading into the playoffs with Rask and in the same way, I'm more than comfortable heading into the playoffs with Andersen. I don't expect him to win the cup for us on his own but I do think he's gonna be good for us.

2017-18 NHL Goalie Statistics | Hockey-Reference.com

 

[zeke]

Not sure where you got this from but according to hockey reference, Andersen is still at .918 (link below).

From a quick glance at the stats shown here, I see that among goalies with at least 40 starts this season Andersen's .918 SV% (same as he had last season) has him tied for 9th with Jones, Varlamov and Rask. Or to put it another way, he is a bona fide #1 starting NHL goalie. I'm pretty sure Boston is more than comforable heading into the playoffs with Rask and in the same way, I'm more than comfortable heading into the playoffs with Andersen. I don't expect him to win the cup for us on his own but I do think he's gonna be good for us.

2017-18 NHL Goalie Statistics | Hockey-Reference.com

NHL.com - Stats

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Andersen with 35 wins !

 

[Gary Nylund]

NHL.com - Stats

I believe the actual number is .9175 which most people would round to .918, not sure why nhl.com rounds it down. Then again, they think PTS >>> PTS% so whatever. Anyhow, either way you care to round it, .918 is still better than .914 and my point stands. Freddie is a bonafide #1 goalie in this league and Reimer isn't. I wish Reimer all the best but we're a better team with Freddie, that's the bottom line.

Let's get behind all our players and hope they play the best hockey of their careers in the playoffs. Go Freddie and Go Leafs Go!

 

[SprDaVE]

They played pretty well yesterday but missed a ton of chances to score and Andersen let in quite the stinker on the third goal. Either way, those kinds of games happen.

The Leafs really need Andersen to be better going into the playoffs.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

The way Eichel was celebrating you would've thought he was scoring game 7 Stanley Cup Playoff goals.

As Sabres fans we love it, he loves to play the Leafs, Eichel is a huge hockey fan, he watches and follows everything, he knew Toronto was our geographic/divisional rival, he knows when he comes to Toronto it's the biggest spotlight he'll have on him. He's buddies with Matthews so for sure that makes the rivalry bigger for him.

I can't wait until the Leafs and Sabres meet up in a playoff series, it's going to happen, just a question how long it takes the Sabres to get it together. With another high draft pick coming, Mittelstadt and hopefully Alex Nylander progressing into an NHL player it won't be that long.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

Didn't mind the game, I thought the Leafs were the better team most of the game.

What bothered me was Matthews getting outshone by Eichel. I wish he could have gotten that crossbar shot as a bar-down beauty in response to his giveaway.

 

[freewilly]

People critiquing freddy's save % seem to think that whatever % you get against a normal number of shots should hold as you face an absolute avalanche like he has. Spoiler alert: the more shots against, the harder it is to maintain a higher %.

 

[Judas Tavares]

Reimer has a shutout last night

 

[Gary Nylund]

Reimer has a shutout last night

Who cares.

 

[Nithoniniel]

People critiquing freddy's save % seem to think that whatever % you get against a normal number of shots should hold as you face an absolute avalanche like he has. Spoiler alert: the more shots against, the harder it is to maintain a higher %.

Actually, studies on this has shown that shot amount has generally no effect, but that quite a few goaltenders perform better with a bigger workload.

 

[Walshy7]

how did reamer get such a cult following? I don't get it, a very average goalie and people are pining for him instead of the elite #1 we have. I think its the fake nice guy act he put on, his aw shucks Manitoba lad persona which would fall away as soon as he was critiqued

 

[Walshy7]

The way Eichel was celebrating you would've thought he was scoring game 7 Stanley Cup Playoff goals.

scoring against a playoff team is about as close as he will come playing for that franchise

 

[Nithoniniel]

how did reamer get such a cult following?

I don't know. I don't quite like the crap he gets on here still at times, but he was at best a decent goaltender who struggled to play a starters workload. I have no idea how people still get so hung up on it. If Andersen had struggled and Reimer went on to show he's a starter, I could have understood it. That hasn't even come near being true.

 

[Walshy7]

I don't know. I don't quite like the crap he gets on here still at times, but he was at best a decent goaltender who struggled to play a starters workload. I have no idea how people still get so hung up on it. If Andersen had struggled and Reimer went on to show he's a starter, I could have understood it. That hasn't even come near being true.

Andersen has played 22 more games than Reimer this season, and Reimer has only played 40 due to luongo being injured. It boggles the mind how some still like the very soft minded reimer

 

[Gary Nylund]

It is kind of weird - we've moved on from pretty much everyone and players like Kessel, Phaneuf and whoever else you'd care to name almost never come up any more. But Reimer ... when does it end?