Post-Game Talk: Leafs beat Canes 4-1! Canes unable to perform post game Cirque du Soleil routine.

[taurine330]

He's played exactly 3 games so far and has 2 pts.

That's not laziness... unlike your uninformed and misguided posts.

It's purely a conditioning issue.
If you can't see how much bigger and yet still faster he is then most everyone else on the ice you are intentionally not seeing the good parts of his game.

Think of it this way. If you took 7 months off from making the comments you do... you'd be even worse then you are now lol

Great post. You guys are clearly replying to a troll because I can't see to whom you're replying. This person is on my ignore list.

 

[saffronleaf]

luckily we didn't trade Nylander for one of their defensemen. Offense is the way to win in this league

And Nylander is not in full form yet.

 

[Duffman955]

It doesn't matter how many hours you put in the gym, you are not kn game shape until you play actual games.

Nylander will be in top form in a few more games.

 

[NCoRe]

 

[Warden of the North]

Go to the Canucks board to discuss Leivo. Seriously

 

[Trapper]

The aggression level was much better so that was a plus.
We still have issues with down low play and cycle. Carolina was much better and working the boards but can’t score. We need that portion of their game added to ours. Johnsson in particular (IMO) let Carolina off the hook when a more aggressive forecheck could have kept the play in the zone or at least forced a mistake. Even Nylander went down below the circles several times.
Our first 2 goals came off Goat forecheck and keeping the puck in/Rielly driving the net. You must do these things for playoff success.

In 3 games Nylander has progressed very well. He was night and day from game 1 and should be in full flight in a couple of weeks.

 

[Swedish Gretzky]

I hope Babs keeps this experiment of giving the Big Three their own lines going for a little while longer. Much like how Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel were on their own lines in Pittsburgh, let's see what Matthews, Marner, and Nylander can continue doing on their own separate lines.

Tough decision. I think matthews + nylander together outweigh the benefits of having all 3 young stars one separate lines.

Matthews as goal scorer >> playmaker

 

[ACC1224]

oh I see.

softie uncompetitive weak Leafs now have 21 ROW, only Tampa has more at 22

If you feel the team is perfect as is in your eyes, that's your prerogative.
Last nights game didn't change anything for me. They're still an excellent team that could use a little heaviness.

 

[Loosie]

Great bounce back win on all fronts! Huge test next in Tampa. Keep the momentum going from tonight.

 

[Marshy]

How bad do they want 1st in the Atlantic and a WC opponent on Round 1?

I don't necessarily need to see a win tomorrow night but I need to see 11 on the "give a crap" meter from everyone.

 

[ToneDog]

If you feel the team is perfect as is in your eyes, that's your prerogative.
Last nights game didn't change anything for me. They're still an excellent team that could use a little heaviness.

Canes allowed Leafs to play in their comfort zone, Bruins do not and will not. Lots of smoke around acquiring Simmonds and/or Pietrangelo. Both would be huge adds. Add AP and it might be enough to add grit from the Marlies if the cost for Simmonds is too high.

 

[supermann_98]

Nylander looked like gold. Carolina still drooling to trade for him after this. Stinkeye @hamilton. Maybe we can trade Z and Brown for him.

Hamilton was dumpster juice this game. Didn’t Brian Burke say he was something special?

 

[Warden of the North]

How bad do they want 1st in the Atlantic and a WC opponent on Round 1?

I don't necessarily need to see a win tomorrow night but I need to see 11 on the "give a crap" meter from everyone.

Its concievable we get 1st in the Atlantoc and then have to play Boston as a wildcard team.

Id rather 2nd and play Buffalo/Montreal

 

[The90]

Put skilled players with skilled players, good things happen.

Kadri is the real benefactor of having willie back. Whether he’s on his line full time or not. He gets either nylander or kapanen some real skill to play with. Marleau is ok there as well, but he’s a secondary option at this point. And I think he and the leafs are fine with that. I’d expect him to level out to more of where he had been the last couple years stat wise now. Just need to get the ball rolling

 

[deletethis]

Carolina might be the least interesting team in the NHL.

 

[Warden of the North]

Carolina might be the least interesting team in the NHL.

Minnesota

 

[Nithoniniel]

Hamilton was dumpster juice this game. Didn’t Brian Burke say he was something special?

He is special. Absolutely terrific in many ways. He's also Gardiner-esque at times and one of the least disciplined d-men in the league.

 

[Zybalto]

Carolina might be the least interesting team in the NHL.

I think they are plenty interesting from an analytics standpoint.

They lead the league in practically everything including shots for, scoring chances for and high danger chances for but are dead last in shooting %. Cannot finish for the life of them. Goalie save % in middle of the pack this year so cant blame the goalies this year around.

Leafs really played them well last night though. Since that brutal first period last time out, Leafs have made the proper adjustments to counter them.

 

[Nineteen67]

I think they are plenty interesting from an analytics standpoint.

They lead the league in practically everything including shots for, scoring chances for and high danger chances for but are dead last in shooting %. Cannot finish for the life of them. Goalie save % in middle of the pack this year so cant blame the goalies this year around.

Leafs really played them well last night though. Since that brutal first period last time out, Leafs have made the proper adjustments to counter them.

Yep...Andersen stop all the shots in the first.

 

[deletethis]

I think they are plenty interesting from an analytics standpoint.

I watch hockey on a television not a spreadsheet. Goals for: 72 (30th), 30 points (23rd), Goals against 81 (5th). That's what a dull NHL team looks like on paper. They don't score, other teams don't score, they create dull hockey games. They deserve their empty seats.

I bet they come to life once there's a management change and they stop forcing their entire team to "Jason Blake" their games with useless shots at the goal.

 

[Zybalto]

I watch hockey on a television not a spreadsheet. Goals for: 72 (30th), 30 points (23rd), Goals against 81 (5th). That's what a dull NHL team looks like on paper. They don't score, other teams don't score, they create dull hockey games. They deserve their empty seats.

I bet they come to life once there's a management change and they stop forcing their entire team to "Jason Blake" their games with useless shots at the goal.

Not denying they have that mentality but they are also setting themselves up in good areas are are brutal at finishing. Nothing worse as a fan than seeing some great play end up with a shot into the keepers crest. You can see why they wanted Nylander so badly.

And on that note, got a good look at Pesce finally last night after all the speculation and wasnt too impressed.

Kadri/Marleau/Nylander were dancing around him all night. Also Analytically the worst 5v5 dman on either team. Looked decent on the PK though.

 

[VinikToWinIt]

What's crazy is even with the Leafs' "defensive woes" they're still 6th in GA; Tampa, a true contender with a superior top four, is 11th.

Wish I could take comfort in this stat but the playoffs are a hell of a drug

Bolts fan stopping by.

A lot of our GA are due in part to Vasilevskiy being out long term. I believe we're 12-2 in his absence, but a lot of that is due to our goal scoring rather than out backup goaltending. Domingue is a fine fill-in, but he's still sporting a .905 despite being 14-4 on the season.

Hoping for a great game Thursday!

 

[razkaz]

I hope Babs keeps this experiment of giving the Big Three their own lines going for a little while longer. Much like how Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel were on their own lines in Pittsburgh, let's see what Matthews, Marner, and Nylander can continue doing on their own separate lines.

I have a feeling that when Hyman gets back it will be:

Johnsson-Matthews-Kapanen
Hyman-Tavares-Marner
Marleau-Kadri-Nylander
Ennis-Lindholm-Brown

He will keep it at that until Nylander gets back to full form or the one of the lines struggle.

The really disappointing thing from that game were the late PP given to the Leafs when the game was basically over. It was 4-1 PP for Carolina until 4:20 left in the 3rd and then they were given 3 penalties in a row, 2 of them being easy to call high sticks. Gotta even up the chances so it looks good on paper.

 

[SeenSchenn2]

I wish they'd play like that all the time (minus the PIMs of course)

 

[ShaneFalco]

William Nylander and Nazem Kadri were a 68% CF tonight and outshot the opposition 11-3 at 5v5, to go along with the one goal for and none against. Against the Bruins on Saturday, they were an 83% CF (19 shot attempts for, 4 against), outshot the opposition 8-2, and weren’t on for any of the goals against.
The other point here is that it’s perhaps further evidence that Marleau is a better fit next to Kadri than Matthews, although it might be premature to conclude that given Nylander was just getting back when they all (Matthews, Nylander, Marleau) played together. Prior to, the combination of Matthews, Marleau and Kapanen made for some jerky play because Matthews isn’t dominating/carrying the puck much right now (since getting back from injury), Kapanen whacks the puck around out there a fair bit, and Marleau isn’t a natural puck carrier, either.

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