Post-Game Talk: Leafs Lose (again) 7-3 to Tampa Bay

[Mess]

The general unwritten rule among coaches is that you never change a winning lineup.. Maybe Leafs are getting too cute with this rotation and stick with what works.

Leafs had a win in game #2 vs Columbus and changed their rotation and have now lost 3 straight games and now the line-up looks like they're going back to opening night with Shore and Tima back in on the 4th playing with Freddy.

 

[RoyalCitySlicker]

Well, for starters, Binnington did not have 3 game 7 clunkers on his resume.

True. He was at that point, a barely passable backup goalie in the AHL according to the Blues.


Point is, things can change. When he's on, he's on. The problem is he hasn't yet shown to be consistent enough.

 

[Subway Schenn]

I'm so glad I was forced to miss this game due to a work event.

I watched highlights. Auston is just next level but seems like most of the rest of them didn't bother showing up. Obviously that's a big problem with all our expectations.

Three narratives running now I suppose:
- Mitch and the weight of that contract. He has the talent to live up to it but can't go through long stretches of listless play for the duration of his contract (or at least until/depending on how much the league-wide salary structure changes). Every time he goes through a rough stretch the fans sadly will get on him. But he has to man up, especially given the fact that he fought for every last dollar from his childhood team.
- Babcock - another poor showing in the playoffs and he's out.
- We're a legit contender (or at least we feel like we should be) and with the core getting paid (some more than others), the pressure's on.

 

[Duffman955]

Like I said, Barrie f***ing sucks defensively.

And for those of you who think you can just have the puck all game and never need to play defense, this game is the harsh reality.

 

[The Apologist]

Judging by their performance this year and since January 2019, are you going to sit there and tell me they're playing like every game is their last? Is Babs message really getting through?

All this talent, but we've been a more or less .500 team since January 2019.

No, they are clearly not. Are you telling me that someone being paid 11 million bucks a year not playing their best every game is a coaching problem?
Or is it a player problem?

 

[deletethis]

Hasn't Andersen always had bad starts?

That said, there were more than 2 games' worth of wide open scoring chances for Tampa last game.

 

[LeafingTheWay]

Hasn't Andersen always had bad starts?

That said, there were more than 2 games' worth of wide open scoring chances for Tampa last game.

Bang on. The difference is our offense isn't as hot as last year (Tavares, Marner, Matthews, Rielly had insane starts leading the league for October). We came crashing after their hot-start died out. IMO we're in for the opposite effect this year. Start off slow, but get better and luckier as the season goes.

Last year:
- Leafs were 1st place in the league
- SV% of 87% (brutal)
- SH% of 15% (Insanely high)

This year:
- Leafs not doing so good in the standings
- SV% of 88% (brutal, but better than last year)
- SH% of 11% (Normal, but much worse than last year)

As the season progresses, things will normalize to the average. We'll be in a strong position soon IMO.

 

[Carltons Cup]

No, they are clearly not. Are you telling me that someone being paid 11 million bucks a year not playing their best every game is a coaching problem?
Or is it a player problem?

I'm going to venture a guess and say it's a bit of both. If I knew the exact answer I'd be the teams GM...

 

[Kiwi]

Bang on. The difference is our offense isn't as hot as last year (Tavares, Marner, Matthews, Rielly had insane starts leading the league for October). We came crashing after their hot-start died out. IMO we're in for the opposite effect this year. Start off slow, but get better and luckier as the season goes.

Last year:
- Leafs were 1st place in the league
- SV% of 87% (brutal)
- SH% of 15% (Insanely high)

This year:
- Leafs not doing so good in the standings
- SV% of 88% (brutal, but better than last year)
- SH% of 11% (Normal, but much worse than last year)

As the season progresses, things will normalize to the average. We'll be in a strong position soon IMO.

Have you seen our schedule? If we get out of this stretch at .500 we will be doing well

 

[Its not your fault]

That was hot garbage next game.

 

[Lauro]

October Freddie + Leafs starting the season like a team that after three early playoffs exits knows the important games are in the spring. Not worried at all.

 

[PromisedLand]

Like I said, Barrie ****ing sucks defensively.

And for those of you who think you can just have the puck all game and never need to play defense, this game is the harsh reality.

The Dubas cult doesn’t realize that to have the puck you have to play well defensively

Defensive structure is as much coach’s responsibility as it is the players who have to commit to play well defensively to frustrate opposition and get the puck.

Be strong on body, on stick, on boards and on the puck

 

[The Apologist]

I'm going to venture a guess and say it's a bit of both. If I knew the exact answer I'd be the teams GM...

That's probably the fairest response.
Agreed

 

[GardinerTheForward]

Very compelling argument!

It’s not a discussion. The eye test, basic stats favour Point. I’d bet advanced stats favour Point too because he’s so much better than Stamkos.

 

[PromisedLand]

did shattenkirk's goal go five-hole or far side on freddy?

Over the pad

 

[MJ65]

What a disappointing loss - disgusting

 

[PromisedLand]

True. He was at that point, a barely passable backup goalie in the AHL according to the Blues.


Point is, things can change. When he's on, he's on. The problem is he hasn't yet shown to be consistent enough.

You have to also account for the much improved play of the blues defensively.

They had relentless puck pursuit. The puck carrier did not have much time and space to make plays and when he did make a pass there was another blue playing so well without the puck that the player that received the pass couldn’t do much with it.

Blues basically neutred the Bergeron line in the playoffs. In the cup finals in game 7 Bergeron line was tracked man on man and was hounded.

Team défense plays a major role in goalie statistics

 

[JawandaPuck]

What were the line combos and d-pairings in this game?

 

[Martin Skoula]

Like I said, Barrie ****ing sucks defensively.

And for those of you who think you can just have the puck all game and never need to play defense, this game is the harsh reality.

So the proof that you can't just have the puck all game is a game where Tampa dominated us because.. they had the puck most of the game and didn't have to play defense.

 

[Havoc]

And if the Bruins raised one of their key metrics 10%, they also would have won the round...am I doing this right?

To be honest you sound like a really sore loser and i personally hope no one in our organization holds a loser mentality like this be it players, coaches, or management.

Nope doing it wrong. You offered nothing worth reading to this thread. Congrats.

Don't be a sore loser about it now

 

[Duffman955]

So the proof that you can't just have the puck all game is a game where Tampa dominated us because.. they had the puck most of the game and didn't have to play defense.

Did you pass the literacy test?

 

[Martin Skoula]

Did you pass the literacy test?

Tampa did to us exactly what you said we can't do. How is that a harsh reality? They play our game, they just have better pieces for it.

 

[Smif]

Let's put all the cards on the table. Marner is an absolute liability out there. His sweep checking flybys are a waste of calories, his inability to physically engage and win a puck battle is a joke considering the kind of forechecking responsibilities you see Trevor Moore shouldering. He's a Bambi on his feet. He's coughing up the puck as casually as can be when he has it, and he's often tunnel visioning it when he has the puck, skating into coverage and getting knocked his butt. Yeah, he can be a London Knight superstar sometimes on the power play, and compiles points with ease, but he's absolutely not an $11 million player. Marner will snap out of this kind of ugly streak, but when he's off his game, he's got a very low floor.

Kapanen has had one of the worst weeks of a Toronto Maple Leaf in recent memory, the guy's been playing like he's got his head up his own butt.

Are you saying Marner's floor is above ppg??

 

[Smif]

Like I said, Barrie ****ing sucks defensively.

And for those of you who think you can just have the puck all game and never need to play defense, this game is the harsh reality.

What I saw in that game was there defense was good and ours was easy to play against.

 

[Menzinger]

You have to also account for the much improved play of the blues defensively.

They had relentless puck pursuit. The puck carrier did not have much time and space to make plays and when he did make a pass there was another blue playing so well without the puck that the player that received the pass couldn’t do much with it.

Blues basically neutred the Bergeron line in the playoffs. In the cup finals in game 7 Bergeron line was tracked man on man and was hounded.

Team défense plays a major role in goalie statistics

To be fair the Leafs neutered the Bergeron line at even strength last playoffs.

The problem was they didn't have any response to them on the PP