Pre-Game Talk: Leafs vs Lightning. Game 5

[SprDaVE]

You can't start a game like that with such a brutal turn over, on the road, against a team like Tampa. Down 1-0 at that point, this series every team that has scored first has gone on to win

It wasn't even that brutal? He just flicked the puck at the winger at the boards and the winger didn't retrieve it. Gio made the same mistake the other way.

This was a 5 man unite problem and Campbell should have probably made that save.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

So you want the team to get even softer?

Brayden Point is punching guys in the face because he lost a race for the puck in a 7-3 hockey game.

That guy has two cups.

Toronto wanted nothing to do with the Lightning.

The irony about that is that I am fairly sure Lyubushkin was on the ice for that punch and did literally nothing to stop Point from punching guys in the face. Where is this so-called toughness?

The only "tough" thing he does is throw hits.

 

[Mugzy97]

We need Matthews to take over the game. Tilt the ice. That’s what superstars do just like Sidney Crosby has done this week.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

It wasn't even that brutal? He just flicked the puck the boards and the winger didn't retrieve it. Gio made the same mistake the other way.

This was a 5 man unite problem and Campbell should have probably made that save.

At this point, they are gaslighting and grasping at straws to blame Holl for everything. Silence about the countless mistakes Lyubushkin makes because "we need his toughness".

You would think that after 5 years of playoff failures, Leafs fans would realize that "toughness" and "physicality" are not the reasons we lost, and having major liabilities like Lyubushkin in the lineup are.

 

[DarkKnight]

Wonder if Holl starts?

 

[OVO16]

Team is buttercup soft.

Imma pray we win this series because if not.....Dubas and Keefe need to go.

Every year its the same soft shit

 

[Gabriel426]

They won a few shifts here and there across both games 3 and 4 .. what you should really watch is JT getting caved virtually every shift he is on da ice in all 4 games so far .. line 3 has been good across every game and is da reason team is competing .. Mitch was great in games 1-3 but got boxed out of game 4 .. line 4 really should not even play much at all

JT been bad the whole season despite getting his points. He had his moments here and there but he has been bad. Line 3 is really good and I think Line 4 needs a better identity like are they physical or speed or whatever, right now, it seems like they are out there for the sake of having 3 skaters in the game. AM's line been quiet ever since the first game where they dominated.

 

[REALTALK81]

Sounds like Matthews/Marner are pretty damn easy to shut down. Every team seems to find a way to do it.

These are two of the most dangerous offensive players in the league. There shouldn't be a line in the NHL which can shut them down like they have been.

Both Bergeron and Danault are Selke caliber players. Regardless, if something is not working, why continue to do the same thing?

 

[DarkKnight]

Sportsnet is a joke, 590 hockey show at noon, they wait 20 minutes to even mentione Leaf’s and then it’s a 4 minute convo. Farcical.

 

[Leafsfan74]

I hope Keefe is right in keeping Clifford and Simmonds out. He can't let a silly hit in the first game and an over eager reffing in the second game to take away from the Leafs game plan coming in. These guys help bring confidence, they hit and provide a forecheck. They are particularly useful at home when the often dead, corporate crowd can only be woken up by a goal, a fight or a big hit while reminding others to play hard.

T.B had eight PPs last game and neither played. I know it would be tough to pull two guys out, but I think it's worth it.

Also, as an aside, the question from Steve Simmons was in poor taste. Is he getting old and angry and confused the Q & A with a WWE press conference? He can be direct without being rude in the way he phrases a question. Furthermore it's a lazy question posed like a child would, define "worst".

 

[SprDaVE]

Both Bergeron and Danault are Selke caliber players. Regardless, if something is not working, why continue to do the same thing?

You can't chose that on the road. It's up to the players to elevate their game. It's not like they are just shut down in terms of chances, they are getting dominated in chances against. That's a big problem.

 

[IPS]

Where was all this Lyubushkin bashing in the GDT while game 4 was actually going on?

 

[zeke]

Sounds like Matthews/Marner are pretty damn easy to shut down. Every team seems to find a way to do it.

Matthews and Marner are leading the series in scoring. And in shots.

 

[OVO16]

We need Matthews to take over the game. Tilt the ice. That’s what superstars do just like Sidney Crosby has done this week.

Crosby and Malkin aren't afraid to mix it up
Point, Stamkos, and Kucherov aren't afraid to mix it up
McDavid and Draisatle aren't afraid to mix it up
Ovechkin and Oshie aren't afraid to mix it up
Marchand and Pasternak aren't afraid to mix up
Aho and Svechnikov aren't afraid to mix it up

Mathews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares? They gearing up to go for a sunday stroll every game.

Thank god for Special Teams....or who knows where we would be

 

[DarkKnight]

Where was all this Lyubushkin bashing in the GDT while game 4 was actually going on?

The critics don’t watch hockey, they’re in Excel files.

 

[IPS]

Team is buttercup soft.

Imma pray we win this series because if not.....Dubas and Keefe need to go.

Every year its the same soft shit

I'm reading again that Clifford and Simmonds are probably out again?

They just can't get enough of this soft, emotionless, sterile hockey can they?

 

[REALTALK81]

You can't chose that on the road. It's up to the players to elevate their game. It's not like they are just shut down in terms of chances, they are getting dominated in chances against. That's a big problem.

True, A coach on the road doesn't get last change but he absolutely can split them up and put them on different lines. Once the opposition figures the Leafs out, they just simply rinse and repeat. Every coach (regardless of sport) has to make adjustments if somethings not working, change it. Otherwise you will continue to fail.

 

[Sypher04]

Where was all this Lyubushkin bashing in the GDT while game 4 was actually going on?

Personally I spend very little time in the GDTs these days. I wouldn’t call myself a basher either though. I see it as just a fact that Rielly and Lyubushkin had a rough game in 4. I like Boosh generally speaking though and I’d keep him in. I’m betting that pair bounces back

 

[2 Slick]

Wonder if Holl starts?

Yes, the defensive line pairings are the exact same in game five as they were in game four. The fourth line is unchanged as well, the differences are moving William Nylander back onto the third line and Michael Bunting goes back on the first line.

Not sure I’m really happy to hear about much of that, guess we’ll see if it matters tonight. Justin Holl though, he’s good for at least a bad penalty or two against, a couple of bad giveaways, a bad pinch and maybe even a cause for a goal against.

 

[OVO16]

I'm reading again that Clifford and Simmonds are probably out again?

They just can't get enough of this soft, emotionless, sterile hockey can they?

Yup. Honestly, Simmonds and Clifford aren't even the issue.

Just look at that top 9 of ours. Mixed in with a COaching staff that just either refuses or doesn't have a single clue as to how to implement physicality into our game.

Softest group of forwards I've ever seen. Its hilarious.

 

[Maplebeasts]

The critics don’t watch hockey, they’re in Excel files.

Lyubushkin. Is. Trash.

 

[Sypher04]

I'm reading again that Clifford and Simmonds are probably out again?

They just can't get enough of this soft, emotionless, sterile hockey can they?

They both made poor decisions that you cannot afford to have 4th liners making. They did it to themselves

 

[DarkKnight]

Yes, the defensive line pairings are the exact same in game five as they were in game four. The fourth line is unchanged as well, the differences are moving William Nylander back onto the third line and Michael Bunting goes back on the first line.

Not sure I’m really happy to hear about much of that, guess we’ll see if it matters tonight. Justin Holl though, he’s good for at least a bad penalty or two against, a couple of bad giveaways, a bad pinch and maybe even a cause for a goal against.

I was joking, he can’t possibly start him again can he? Also will the first line finally start a game?

It’s a real bold look to not change who’s in after that farce. Lines I don’t mind though.

 

[IPS]

Personally I spend very little time in the GDTs these days. I wouldn’t call myself a basher either though. I see it as just a fact that Rielly and Lyubushkin had a rough game in 4. I like Boosh generally speaking though and I’d keep him in. I’m betting that pair bounces back

Well the GA they were on for were actually Rielly's mistakes - that's another hilarious part of it.

 

[ANDI P IS CUTE]

Keefe said holl in tonight