Post-Game Talk: Leafs lose 4-3 in Washington

[PromisedLand]

tampa boston tonight; hope its not a 3 pt game

 

[Mess]

not all hits are created equal, in the first period the caps were being badly out possessed and outplayed and the hits were reactionary. in the second it was more off the forecheck and the leafs on occasion clearly have issues with a heavy forecheck. so for me its impossible to just look at hits on a stats page and get an accurate view of what actually happened.

A heavy forecheck is more effective after you set the stage after dishing out some physical hits as it has players now looking over their shoulders and playing softer on the puck as they look to avoid contact.

Team that play a big heavy game will be a problem for the Leafs and that is even more prevalent in the playoffs when all things tighten up.

Leafs are really built for the regular season and best when teams want to play the Leafs style of skating and exchanging scoring chances.

 

[stuart5035]

Jesus

I'd love to get into the room and give this team an absolute serve, they have the talent and when they turn it on they look like absolute world beaters

The problem is that for vast amounts of time they skate around in a daze looking like they would rather be doing anything other than playing hockey

It's unbelievably frustrating, trying hard and losing because the other team is better than you I can accept but this certainly isn't that

Babcock has got to get the boys together and start sorting this out, this team has enough experience and talent to expect better than this and I do and if he can't his head should be on the block

My tolerance levels are pretty low right now

Well said

I agree, they really have been a mediocre .500 team since December of 2018, it is getting to be a broken record. I am hopefully a passionate observer of a 50+ year love affair of the Leafs: What I see:
1-Their transition game appears to be better this year, top notch, some of it is Tyson Barrie of course. Still turn it over but it doesn’t seem so bad this year.
2-Our speedy talented team can often come in waves at the opponent, controlling the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if our overall CORSI stands at almost 60% (if that’s the right tool to measure control of play)
3-The above doesn’t translate to the win column though (as we are seeing). I think Washington’s coaching staff said simply to be patient, defense first, stand at the blue line together on any power plays, especially get back and clog the front of the net area, let their talented soft players make pretty passes, but no slot entries, and maximize our power play opportunities.
4-So few hits on our part
5-our precocious Nylander appears to be sliding lately. This is very worrisome as he appeared to be worth his 6.9million until recently-this is too valuable an asset to let slip, his self confidence cannot go down the drain again. Criticism of him abounds, but he is what he is, a talented playmaker and shooter that every team needs
6-Which leads to my final point (others more aware than me have pointed this out), a need for “crashing forwards willing to muck it up, with size”, otherwise known as better balance up front (so Nylander can do better what he’s paid to do). Are we beginning to realize the value of a Zach Hyman.

is our real need a trade such as Kapanen, Moore and Bracco to the Blue Jackets for Josh Anderson and Boone Jenner (two crashing forwards with sandpaper)?

 

[Duffman955]

Different season, same issues.

No defense no grit

Cant win with a butter soft team

 

[djdev]

A heavy forecheck is more effective after you set the stage after dishing out some physical hits as it has players now looking over their shoulders and playing softer on the puck as they look to avoid contact.

Team that play a big heavy game will be a problem for the Leafs and that is even more prevalent in the playoffs when all things tighten up.

Leafs are really built for the regular season and best when teams want to play the Leafs style of skating and exchanging scoring chances.

that game turned because the leafs let in a soft goal late in the 1st period in my opinion, they were handling the hits just fine and would argue making the caps pay up until that point. this team is its own worst enemy usually, regardless of the style of team we are playing.

 

[PromisedLand]

Tyson Barrie is no better than Jake Gardiner. So far he's not even as good offensively

Nice trade Dubass

he overpaid his RFAs and had no cap left. note Barrie is here after Avs retained salary for one year. Also Barrie is a pending UFA;

I think Dubas gambles in hopes of things will work out. If they don't he will blame Babcock

 

[napoleon in rags]

Nope, Andersen has played the 1st game in back to back games.

Andersen played Columbus and then Hutch got Montreal on Sat on HNIC and now Freddy played Minnesota and Hutch played Washington.

This upcoming week will be a good test as Leafs play Boston on Saturday and then Columbus on Monday and Boston again Tuesday.

Boston being a Div rival and the team that Leafs compete most for playoff seating, you would think Freddy should play both Boston games and Hutch play Columbus this time.. However if Leafs lose on Saturday will Leafs again play Freddy against Columbus to secure those points and then risk losing again to Bruins with Hutch in net this time?

0.893 vs 0.886.

Neither has been impressive, so I doubt that the choice of which sub-900 goalie gets the front-end or back-end makes a hill-of-beans difference.

 

[djdev]

0.893 vs 0.886.

Neither has been impressive, so I doubt that the choice of which sub-900 goalie gets the front-end or back-end makes a hill-of-beans difference.

ye they are clearly the same lvl of goalie and having andersen in net wont make much of a difference. lol, get real man.

 

[ShaneFalco]

The players, the coaches are always the scapegoats, but face it, it's the players.

So let's keep switching out the players! Why do we have the highest paid coach in the league again?

 

[Heisen]

Maybe not swapping the ice out for floor every day would allow a historically bad power lay to practice and perform on much better ice. Sell the useless basketball team and book less concerts, PP will go up a couple % and that can translate to something.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Should they be? At what point is the "paper" team just that. Building a team on paper and a spreadsheet might not be the best method.

Building a team by judging their performance across many years of play in the NHL would be. If you gather a group with very high combined performance as NHLers, you should expect results.

 

[napoleon in rags]

ye they are clearly the same lvl of goalie and having andersen in net wont make much of a difference. lol, get real man.

Excellent! I look forward to Andersen pulling his head out of his ass and showing--with results and numbers; not reputation, not salary--that he is several cuts above Hutchinson.

 

[hoglund]

So let's keep switching out the players! Why do we have the highest paid coach in the league again?

I don't know, I didn't hire him, but to think that a coach is just as or more important than the players, then sorry to break it to you, you're mistaken.

 

[rumman]

The players, the coaches are always the scapegoats, but face it, it's the players.

I'm not convinced Babcock is the right coach for this team, but I know the players not living up to expectations isn't on the coach, having said that IF a change is in order the sooner the better.

I don't see Keefe (or anyone else for that matter) being the solution for what's lacking on this team, but It'd certainly make for good fodder on this board going forward.

 

[djdev]

Excellent! I look forward to Andersen pulling his head out of his ass and showing--with results and numbers; not reputation, not salary--that he is several cuts above Hutchinson.

heres a number to compare. 4-1-1 and 0-2.
the only numbers that count at this point, especially considering freddy has always been a slowish starter, and its 8 GAMES INTO THE SEASON.

 

[Joey Hoser]

I don't know, I didn't hire him, but to think that a coach is just as or more important than the players, then sorry to break it to you, you're mistaken.

That should be the case, but when the coach plays 40 year old Marleau and one-legged Hyman instead of Tavares or Matthews when trailing in a game 7, then the coach has made themselves more important.

 

[rumman]

he overpaid his RFAs and had no cap left. note Barrie is here after Avs retained salary for one year. Also Barrie is a pending UFA;

I think Dubas gambles in hopes of things will work out. If they don't he will blame Babcock

pretty much this, by the time Dubas is held accountable the window to win with this core will be very short indeed.

 

[Buds17]

0.893 vs 0.886.

Neither has been impressive, so I doubt that the choice of which sub-900 goalie gets the front-end or back-end makes a hill-of-beans difference.

Andersen's SV% is also quite affected at this point by allowing seven of his 18 GA in the one game vs Tampa. His next highest total is three, IIRC. Allowing three goals against in a game at least provides a chance of enabling the Leafs to get at least one - and sometimes two - point(s) in those games.

As the season goes on, Andersen's numbers will be less prone to wildly fluctuate in comparison to Hutchinson's due to expected differences in workload. A great game won't help his numbers as easily. A poor game won't sink them as easily.

 

[napoleon in rags]

heres a number to compare. 4-1-1 and 0-2.
the only numbers that count at this point, especially considering freddy has always been a slowish starter, and its 8 GAMES INTO THE SEASON.

0.893 vs 0.886... with numbers this bad, does it matter who's who?

 

[Duffman955]

Maybe not swapping the ice out for floor every day would allow a historically bad power lay to practice and perform on much better ice. Sell the useless basketball team and book less concerts, PP will go up a couple % and that can translate to something.

The Raptors are perennial contenders and defending champs.

Much much better than the leafs

 

[djdev]

pretty much this, by the time Dubas is held accountable the window to win with this core will be very short indeed.

accountable for what? signing all our important FA's when everyone said he couldnt and shedding our roster of the dead weight contracts that people also believed wasnt possible to do? the contracts werent perfect, but i can argue only the marner contract was any sort of big overpay and thats just my opinion, some wouldnt agree. if you have to overpay players its better that its your top players and not your lower level ones.

 

[rumman]

good luck asking that of this fanbase haha.

back to back games in October shouldn't be a excuse, this arguement might hold weight in March/April, but certainly not October.

 

[napoleon in rags]

Andersen's SV% is also quite affected at this point by allowing seven of his 18 GA in the one game vs Tampa. His next highest total is three, IIRC. Allowing three goals against in a game at least provides a chance of enabling the Leafs to get at least one - and sometimes two - point(s) in those games.

As the season goes on, Andersen's numbers will be less prone to wildly fluctuate in comparison to Hutchinson's due to expected differences in workload. A great game won't help his numbers as easily. A poor game won't sink them as easily.

Yes, that's how averages work.

 

[djdev]

back to back games in October shouldn't be a excuse, this arguement might hold weight in March/April, but certainly not October.

lol sorry but i dont hear the team making excuses. and neither am i. but its 8 games into a season and people are acting like its over and we already lost. we dont even have a losing record for effs sake.

 

[rumman]

accountable for what? signing all our important FA's when everyone said he couldnt and shedding our roster of the dead weight contracts that people also believed wasnt possible to do? the contracts werent perfect, but i can argue only the marner contract was any sort of big overpay and thats just my opinion, some wouldnt agree. if you have to overpay players its better that its your top players and not your lower level ones.

for spending too much money on 4 players; for trading away 1st rounders for what might very well turn out to be 1 and 2 season rentals; for icing a less than balanced team.