GDT: Canucks at Leafs: 7:00 p.m EST. SBA-LEAP DAY-CBC-TSN 1050

[Clark4Ever]

This is the one thing about Keefe that I haven't liked. He keeps messing with the third line making it impossible for them to develop any chemistry together and we acquired Kerfoot to be 3C and he barely uses him there

I don't mind him trying Spezza, Clifford and Kapanen together as an experiment. It could give us that jam line that we've been missing all season. If it doesn't work, he could switch back.

 

[Koolboss]

Andersen with a shutout tonight against Canucks and everyone jumps back on the wagon

 

[Kiwi]

Kerfoot back in the top 6 I see, I thought the team looked better with him in the 3C hole but what do I know?

Rosen needs to be bossing the puck on that pair with Marincin, Marincin needs to be defending strongly through the neutral zone but the less time with the puck on his stick the better

Its ******* scary

 

[Joey Hoser]

Stop putting Kerfoot on the wing please. It’s fairly obvious he’s better and best choice at 3C

Keep Spezza with Tavares and Nylander. I’m fine with Clifford and Engvall swapping, but that EKK line always works so I’m not sure why we keep playing with it

I'm loving the way Spezza is playing. He should be getting some better quality, if not quantity of minutes.

You want a veteran presence, consider the mileage we're getting out of Spezza for 700k, compared to the 13 million and first round pick we paid for Marleau.

 

[Mitch nylander]

Toronto Maple Leafs

Record : 34W, 24L, 8OTL, 76pts | Home Record: 16-9-7

Starting Lineup

Hyman - Matthews - Marner
Kerfoot - Tavares - Nylander
Clifford - Spezza - Kapanen
Engvall - Gauthier - Malgin

Dermott - Holl
Sandin - Barrie
Rosen - Marincin
Extra: Liljegren

Andersen
Campbell
​

Injuries:
Muzzin - 4 weeks - Broken Hand
Rielly - 8 weeks - Broken Foot
Mikheyev - 3 months - Wrist Laceration
Ceci - 6-8 weeks - Ankle
Johnsson - 6-8 months - Knee
Clarkson - Indefinitely - Back
Horton - Indefinitely - Back

Vancouver Canucks

Record: 34w 23L 6OTL 74PTS | Away Record: 14-16-2

Lineup

Jt Miller- Elias Pettersson - Tyler Toffoli
Tanner Pearson - Bo Horvat - Loui Eriksson
Antoine Roussel - Adam Gaudette - Jake Virtanen
Tyler Motte - Jay Beagle - Brandon Sutter
Extras: Zack Macewen

Alex Edler - Troy Stecher
Quinn Hughes - Chris Tanev
Oscar Fatenberg - Tyler Myers
Extras: Jordie Benn

Thatcher Demko
Louis Domingue​

Injuries:
Brock Boeser - 8 weeks - Rib Cartilege
Jacob Markstrom - 3-4 weeks - Lower Body Injury
Micheal Ferland - Indefinitely - Concussion like symptoms
Josh Leivo - Minimum 3 monts - Knee

Leafs Keys To The Game​

1. Vancouver's Poor Record Away
Vancouver has a below .500 record when being the visiting team. Their record is 14-16-2 while visiting.
2. Toronto's Defence Injuries

Leafs defence is missing 3 key players once again. After an excellent game against the panthers and lightning can they keep it up. This will be an interesting test for Dermott and Sandin who are receiving extra minutes against the opposing teams top lines.
3. Kasperi Kapanen

He has been excellent as of late while playing with fire under his belly. Let's see if he can continue tonight.

-----------------------------------

 

[X66]

Who the hell overates the Nucks? Certainly not our fanbase, we have idiots here that actively want the team to tank.

TBH, the media and a huge part of your fanbase is so blinded by the kool-aid it's actually comical. After every loss its the same injuries and refs on the take. I personally love to read how the league is biased because it benefits the league to increase other teams to win since leaf fans will support the team either way.

Shut up.

 

[Canucks LB]

Go back to the Canucks forum, if one of us ventured there and started posting the their GDT there would be an infraction within minutes.

That’s quite generous, usually takes seconds
If any Canucks fans come here in troll, feel free to hit the report button, I know a lot of the leafs moderators, they will take care of it quickly.

ps- Can somebody give me a quick summary on how Austin Matthews has been defensively playing this year?

One of his criticisms were his defensive play, I’m wondering if he’s playing much better on the side of the ice. cheers

 

[NastyKnies]

Don't care how they win, just win.

 

[BAM]

That’s quite generous, usually takes seconds
If any Canucks fans come here in troll, feel free to hit the report button, I know a lot of the leafs moderators, they will take care of it quickly.

ps- Can somebody give me a quick summary on how Austin Matthews has been defensively playing this year?

One of his criticisms were his defensive play, I’m wondering if he’s playing much better on the side of the ice. cheers

Don't have the stats with me but he's been amazing on both sides of the ice, if there's any player on the Leafs that you have 100% confidence with the puck on his stick as a Leaf fan, it's him. Almost always supporting the defense down low, great at stripping the puck of opposing players. He dominated Barkov in the Florida game on Thursday.

 

[kb]

That’s quite generous, usually takes seconds
If any Canucks fans come here in troll, feel free to hit the report button, I know a lot of the leafs moderators, they will take care of it quickly.

ps- Can somebody give me a quick summary on how Austin Matthews has been defensively playing this year?

One of his criticisms were his defensive play, I’m wondering if he’s playing much better on the side of the ice. cheers

Matthews seemingly has taken another step. He's realizing he will have the puck more if he goes and gets it, which is happening a lot more often. Plus he's realizing he's physically a monster.....he's thrown some big hits recently.

 

[frog]

Not sure how many games we have left until the league shuts down... So just gonna watch sit back and enjoy the game.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

That’s quite generous, usually takes seconds
If any Canucks fans come here in troll, feel free to hit the report button, I know a lot of the leafs moderators, they will take care of it quickly.

ps- Can somebody give me a quick summary on how Austin Matthews has been defensively playing this year?

One of his criticisms were his defensive play, I’m wondering if he’s playing much better on the side of the ice. cheers

It wasn't great early in the season but has been pretty drastically improved the last couple months. He is a good defensive player when he is engaged in the game. It is just consistency for him really.

 

[Torontonian]

Hopefully Am34 has the same fire in his stomach tonight like he did when playing against Florida, When hes using his body and actually into the game he can be unstoppable. Special teams will be the difference tonight as well, Vancouver PP has been solid all year long.

 

[X66]

Stamkos out 6-8 weeks, which means if the leafs make the playoffs he’s likely not in the first round.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Stamkos out 6-8 weeks, which means if the leafs make the playoffs he’s likely not in the first round.

Sucks for Tampa. Stamkos seems to have some horrible luck. And theres no chance hes back for round 1 which starts in about 5 weeks.

 

[Sittler 27]

Who's Kap fighting tonight

 

[Kamiccolo]

Stamkos out 6-8 weeks, which means if the leafs make the playoffs he’s likely not in the first round.

Doesn't really matter. They still have Point and Kucherov up front and more depth than us.

Real test would be Vasi vs Freddy and who chokes more in the first round.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

That’s quite generous, usually takes seconds
If any Canucks fans come here in troll, feel free to hit the report button, I know a lot of the leafs moderators, they will take care of it quickly.

ps- Can somebody give me a quick summary on how Austin Matthews has been defensively playing this year?

One of his criticisms were his defensive play, I’m wondering if he’s playing much better on the side of the ice. cheers

Hes 3rd in the entire league in takeaways. Hes been excellent.

 

[X66]

Doesn't really matter. They still have Point and Kucherov up front and more depth than us.

Real test would be Vasi vs Freddy and who chokes more in the first round.

No Stamkos creates a massive hole for them, Point isn’t Matthews or Tavares, he can’t fill that void.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Andersen with a shutout tonight against Canucks and everyone jumps back on the wagon

Andersen secretly getting training from a Zamboni driver?

 

[CelticDruid]

I am glad Engvall has moved down. The puck seems to die on his stick and he is in some sort of funk. I want him to get back to how he played in his first 10 games.

He has to play like Kapanen and start laying some people out.

For a big man he plays a soft game.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

This is Matthews’ last day of his month on my NHL Calendar. I expect he’ll have a big game tonight.

 

[saffronleaf]

Should be an awesome game. Go Leafs Go!!

 

[leafsfan5]

No Stamkos creates a massive hole for them, Point isn’t Matthews or Tavares, he can’t fill that void.

We'd need Matthews/Marner to match the Point/Kucherov production (which can be done). Then if it's a battle of the rest of the lineup we have an advantage with Tavares/Nylander leading the charge

Can't get too far ahead of ourselves though, we still need to make it. Florida can easily catch us

 

[stickty111]

Keefe had a ton of praise for Liljegren in the morning skate. Funny thing is though he was asked about Rosen, but he was 100% talking about Lilegren considering he mentioned 20 years old a couple times. Here is the quote and question.

Knowing Rosen, where do you think he can have the most impact?

"It remains to be seen at this level, but if you follow his progression at the AHL level, I see something similar happening here. It takes time for him to become comfortable and confident. At times he is unsure of himself, but then when it clicks as it did in the 2nd half of last season, he is a very reliable defensive player that is hard to play against because his gap control, and the way he shuts things down in the neutral zone and just his skill set. Once he gets the confidence to move with the puck and can make a play. I think he has adjusted to that quicker in this level I thought he might. He like Sandin and any young defenceman are still having times where it's a little inconsistent then you'd like because of the pressure the opposition puts on you, and it comes a little quicker. You can question yourself a little bit. It's why it's important to keep things in context with both of those 2 guys, and take things slowly, and pull back as we will do with Liljegren here tonight. I think he's just going to be an all round very good and very productive defenceman that can contribute in both special teams, and play against good players. Thats the track he was on in the American league. I have said it a lot but we forget he is only 20 years old. For a lot of cases, it would be a guy just coming into pro hockey, and just playing his 1st year in the American league. Instead, he's a guy who played in a game 7 in the Calder Cup and won it. Played in the top pairing last year and really thrived in that position all the way to the Conference finals. To me, he is ahead of the curve in a lot of ways, but he still is just 20, and Rasmus is 19.

Anyone thinking he doesn's like him may want to relax.