Post-Game Talk: Leafs sink the Sharks

[TOGuy14]

LOL. My wife caught a glimpse last night and basically said what's the matter with these people. I can't say I disagree.

 

[Gary Nylund]

 

[Beaninfritz]

Oh, he has above average puck handling skills, we see it every game, he makes a stretch pass or helps a Dman big time by playing it off the boards or ringing it around the boards, which he can quite a bit better than a lot of goalies cause he has enough strength to get some ooomph on the puck with that big stick.

I wonder maybe if his stickhandling mistakes (these last 2) are just part of his kind of every once in a while not concentrating thingy that he has. His soft goals are just (to me at least) a loss of concentration and I wonder if his puck mishandling is a similar thing; almost a non-chalantness, but, really, a lack of focus and concentration more than an inability to play or handle the puck - is what I mean to say.

The first one, Borgman kind of left him hanging to dry. He started skating towards the puck, then faded away, leaving Andersen thinking "wtf?!". There was an option for a pass, then it vanished. Just a weird play. Borgman's still new, so some miscues will happen. Can't really fault Andy when you look at how the play shaped up.

The second one was on Andersen. He totally wiffed on the puck, but he held the fort for the rest of the game to give the team the win. Every player makes mistakes, but I don't think Andersen is solely to blame for the first one.

 

[TheProspector]

Last night was the Willie Nylander show. Again. Even the dumb broadcasters figured out that he was playing an epic keepaway game.

 

[Beaninfritz]

Well deserved victory over a great team.

My only complaint is the defensive matchups in OT. We have the horses to put other teams on their heels in a 3 on 3 situation.

What I'd like to see is Babs throwing Marner in as the D man when players like Rielly and Gardiner are too fatigued to play a shift. Although he's not physically strong, he's smart enough to be in good position in the d-zone, and fast and skilled enough to be that added offensive threat once they pass the other team's blue line.

 

[Zizzzzy]

Line matching in OT is my biggest gripe with him. That's the time for strength on strength. Not Komarov.

Heck put Marleau with Kadri instead ... At least someone with speed and skill in that place.

Yeah it's a bit strange. OT is all about possession, not defense. Being in defensive mode they gave SJS possession for most of OT. Matthews line got on the ice without possession and spent their entire shift trying to get the puck.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Through the first year and first quarter of this year, Andersen has been incredibly reliable with his puck handling. Unusually so. Then mistakes started to creep in a bit. Now they are costing us.

Also, for as much as I like Babcock as a coach, his handling of OT situations should be criticized. Komarov isn't as bad as you'd think 3-on-3, but should be far from first choice. 3-on-3 is also not the time to play defensive matchups. Read an article a while ago that went into this, how the great performing teams in OT since the 3-on-3 started tends to go strength on strength. He then put out the Matthews line, one of the deadliest duos in the league in these minutes, when the Sharks had complete control. That was bound to mean that they never got a chance. Going back to Komarov again just shows that Babcock prioritizes cutting down mistakes over pretty much everything, to the detriment of the team.

Marner deserves some criticism for the penalty as well. Stupid, stupid play.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Also, Komarov played over 24 minutes tonight? Almost 7 full minutes on the PK is admirable, and he does that really well, but I see no way he should add 17 more minutes in other situations.

 

[diceman934]

Well Hainsey's the team's best PKer ... So he'd definitely get a shift in OT to kill that Marner penalty

He was on the ice 3 on 3 that was my point.

It was a very peculiar night for 3 on 3 ice time choices.

 

[Muston Atthews]

Lmao

 

[Man Bear Pig]

I am pretty sure he is giving his team the best chance to win, this ain't house league lol, smh

You know what gives you the best chance to win? Playing your skilled players.

 

[Mr Hockey]

You know what gives you the best chance to win? Playing your skilled players.

What was wrong with the below line deployment from Babcock? Kadri and Rielly are pretty offensive players... go ahead im listening.

• The 1st shift in ot
• Thornton, burns, Pavelski
• Leo, Kadri, Rielly
• ~
• The 2nd shift in ot
• Vlasic, Couture, Donskoi
• matthews, Willie, Gardiner
• ~
• The 3rd shift in ot
• Hertl, Braun, Boedker
• marleau,marner, Gardiner
• ~
• The 4th shift in ot
• Thornton, burns, Pavelski
• Leo, Kadri, Rielly
• ~
• 5th shift
• Tierney, burns, Pavelski
• marleau,marner, Hainsey < mitch gets a penalty

 

[Man Bear Pig]

What was wrong with the below line deployment from Babcock? Kadri and Rielly are pretty offensive players... go ahead im listening.

• The 1st shift in ot
• Thornton, burns, Pavelski
• Leo, Kadri, Rielly
• ~
• The 2nd shift in ot
• Vlasic, Couture, Donskoi
• matthews, Willie, Gardiner
• ~
• The 3rd shift in ot
• Hertl, Braun, Boedker
• marleau,marner, Gardiner
• ~
• The 4th shift in ot
• Thornton, burns, Pavelski
• Leo, Kadri, Rielly
• ~
• 5th shift
• Tierney, burns, Pavelski
• marleau,marner, Hainsey < mitch gets a penalty

So you intentionally put out Komarov, a guy whos not going to retrieve the puck, vs Thornton, Pavelski and Burns. Ok. Did you watch the OT? They had the puck almost the entire time(SJ). It's like purposely giving them a 3 on 2. You're going to sit there and tell me the Leafs were better off with Komarov getting the OT start, which is only 5 minutes long, than say, Matthews,Nylander,Marner,Marleau,Hyman,Brown...need I go on? You choose the slowest,least skilled guy who has the highest likelyhood of getting exposed in a 3 on 3 situation? I cannot wrap my head around anyone justifying Komarov being out there in that scenario. They were skating circles around him.

 

[Mr Hockey]

What if the Matthews, Nylander, Gardiner line gets dominated by the Thorton, Burns, Pavelski line in OT. Would you then not criticise Babcock for not line matching and taking advantage of last change and our depth?

 

[Daisy Jane]

Lmao

 

[Captain14]

So you intentionally put out Komarov, a guy whos not going to retrieve the puck, vs Thornton, Pavelski and Burns. Ok. Did you watch the OT? They had the puck almost the entire time(SJ). It's like purposely giving them a 3 on 2. You're going to sit there and tell me the Leafs were better off with Komarov getting the OT start, which is only 5 minutes long, than say, Matthews,Nylander,Marner,Marleau,Hyman,Brown...need I go on? You choose the slowest,least skilled guy who has the highest likelyhood of getting exposed in a 3 on 3 situation? I cannot wrap my head around anyone justifying Komarov being out there in that scenario. They were skating circles around him.

I am with you. There is no excuse for having him out there in any overtime situation, not to mention on the PP. He is great at what he is, a 4th line grinder and PK specialist. Not a big fan of Gardiner being on the same PP unit and 3-3 with Matthews and Nylander either.

 

[Warden of the North]

Just in case you hadnt see enough beard videos

 

[frizzer1]

Matthews and Nylander are one of the most dangerous duos 3 on 3 in the league......and Matthews is the best defensive forward on this team...
If a coach is lucky enough to have those guys....he should start them...

 

[Nithoniniel]

Matthews and Nylander are one of the most dangerous duos 3 on 3 in the league......and Matthews is the best defensive forward on this team...
If a coach is lucky enough to have those guys....he should start them...

What stuck with me was that he got them out there when Sharks had complete control. With how OT works, that very often means that they'll not get much of a chance to do something. He should have thrown another pair out there and used Willy and Matthews when we change with control.

 

[IBeL34f]

Which lines were on the ice in the final shifts of regulation? There's no break before OT, and having well-rested players starting your extra time can be just as valuable as having skilled players, if those skilled players are gassed.

 

[Mr Hockey]

Matthews and Nylander are one of the most dangerous duos 3 on 3 in the league......and Matthews is the best defensive forward on this team...
If a coach is lucky enough to have those guys....he should start them...

And Babcock avoided the sharks top OT unit and matched them up against their secondary unit, and you consider that bad coaching?

 

[Polaris1010]

This is one of the finest threads I ever read in this forum. All due to the general discussion of the thread, that cumulating into these post:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/leafs-sink-the-sharks.2431075/page-8#post-139824733

and that Chewbacca is just a hairy a shark. Chewie better a haircut. He don't want to met Barber Kadri in a dark alley.

Beat them on the ice, beat them in the alley, beat them in the barber shop.