Stephen
Moderator
- Feb 28, 2002
- 77,849
- 51,516
I am not going to give credit to the Canes D. Leafs were just gutless. They could have lit this guy up if they had an ounce of will, but they did not.
The Canes forechecked as hard as they could in that game to disrupt Toronto, but if they had the inclination to drive to the net with some physicality or dump and chase with a vigorous puck retrieval the Canes wouldn't have been able to do that.
What always gets Toronto in trouble is they hold onto the puck too much which allows the other team to play red rover against them. If they had any ability to dump/chip and chase, you force a retreat and you pummel them on the end boards.
Guys like Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander need to be given specific coaching instructions to finish a hit on a forecheck once a period.