How important is defense? Ayres let in one fewer goal than Andersen when he came in

Stephen

Moderator
Feb 28, 2002
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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.
 

egd27

Donec nunc annum
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Jul 8, 2011
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Carolina had an absolutely dominant offensive performance in a 6-4 win, which really hammers home the importance of... defense?

You know fully well that teams that can defend well generally don't give up 47 shots and 6 goals regardless of the offense they face.

You're better than that Nith.
 
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KuleminFan41

Registered User
Jan 5, 2009
5,845
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This Canes team had next to nothing offensively last year and went to the east final. That tells you how important defense is.
It depends on how you look at it.

San Jose was bottom 10 in the league for goals against and reached the western conference finals. Tampa was easily the best team in the league last year, was the best offensive and one of the best defensive teams and got swept in round 1 by a wild card team in Columbus who scored 19 goals in 4 games . The Islanders were a team that wasn't great at scoring, and while they made it to the second round, their scoring issues is what prevented them from going any further than they did. They were the best defensive team in the league but managed to lose game 3 and 4 by conceding 5 goals each against the same Carolina team you're now praising. I don't think anyone is downplaying defense, but downplaying offense is just as bad.
 

Polaris1010

Registered User
Mar 23, 2017
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Which team had the better offensive play?

Carolina won more on offense than they did on defense, which makes "defense wins games" quite a weird thing to say afterwards.
In the end, you make that determination for yourself, which is who was better, the Carolina offense or the Toronto defense. Who won that matchup?

The Leafs are near the bottom in the league in goals against. That is a real sign of something gone awry.
 
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Vaive50

Registered User
Dec 24, 2015
1,102
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Does any body have the official NHL rule of using an Emergency goalie, I think that what happened was such BS that the Canes are allowed to use somebody that is employed by the Leafs. What if he had gotten hurt, who would fill in then and who would pay him while he is missing work due to injury. It felt like I was watching WWE, I mean Ayres had a Marlies mask on, Burke is so right that this is such an insult to the NHL.

Using the Leafs employee screwed the Leafs over either way, because we didn't light him up for 8 - 10 goals, the Leafs are being laughed at by every player and fan in the league and if we did light him up, we'd be known as the team that can only win because of shooting on a 42-year old Zamboni Driver.
 

Dirty Dan

Saturday Night Lupul
May 5, 2010
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Does any body have the official NHL rule of using an Emergency goalie, I think that what happened was such BS that the Canes are allowed to use somebody that is employed by the Leafs. What if he had gotten hurt, who would fill in then and who would pay him while he is missing work due to injury. It felt like I was watching WWE, I mean Ayres had a Marlies mask on, Burke is so right that this is such an insult to the NHL.

Using the Leafs employee screwed the Leafs over either way, because we didn't light him up for 8 - 10 goals, the Leafs are being laughed at by every player and fan in the league and if we did light him up, we'd be known as the team that can only win because of shooting on a 42-year old Zamboni Driver.
It was entertaining to say the least. Yes he works for the leafs but this is a rare astrological event.

The canes at will dominated the leafs to the point, none of their stars could get a clear shot for 30 mins.

Tavares scored a shot that doesn't go in because pesce got a freak injury. Then leafs got another freebie off the zamboni driver. i expect them to score a few more and easy win.

canes defense was so strong leafs kept coughing it up and got scored on
 

Dirty Dan

Saturday Night Lupul
May 5, 2010
4,320
1,192
in ur crease
GM and real coach who have the balls to offend these soft pieces of shit by suggesting they aren't as good as they think they are.

Then they need to retool the roster and ship out everyone they can. Honestly rebuild the rebuild. This team is not winning anything and it's the most pathetic franchise in the NHL.
I mean isn't that all Babcock did? and basically he was destroyed this year, saying he bullied players. etc.

Again anyone can see this team is not built for the playoffs. Nylander has 10 hits this year. Marner was falling down because of the pressure

Tavares I don't know what happened to him. Matthews is moody . one moment he looks like the best player in the world then hes invisible
 

Rogue Leader

Registered User
Oct 12, 2019
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The Canes helped someone they didn’t even know be part of their team's success. Teamwork, character, sportsmanship. What a night to watch hockey and learn some lessons! The D formed a brick wall for that guy. A guy they didn't even KNOW!
The Leafs sadly, have none of these qualities.
It is embarrassing.
Dubas couldn't even watch it.
At one point we had 30 million on the ice and they couldn't get a goal (not even a shot) against a Zamboni driver. Let's all let that sink in.
This right here just breaks my heart. Sad truth!!! Couldnt even score 3 on the Zamboni man!!!
 

TOGuy14

Registered User
Dec 30, 2010
12,061
3,571
Toronto
Shots score goals. We were outshot 50-24 (or something similar) with I believe only 6 shots in the third period.

You would think our star players would be licking their lips for a chance to pad their stats against a zamboni driver but instead just floated around and took the night off.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't force it to drink. This Leafs team just doesn't care, even when you set them up for an easy win.
 

Vaive50

Registered User
Dec 24, 2015
1,102
741
Shots score goals. We were outshot 50-24 (or something similar) with I believe only 6 shots in the third period.

You would think our star players would be licking their lips for a chance to pad their stats against a zamboni driver but instead just floated around and took the night off.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't force it to drink. This Leafs team just doesn't care, even when you set them up for an easy win.

Well, let's see if they can make up for it by beating Tampa and Florida this week. I'm sure that if they win those 2 games, all will be alright in Leafland. But I have no idea which Leaf team will show up in either or both of those games, will it be the team that beat the Pens on Thursday or the team that played on Saturday.
 

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