Post-Game Talk: Leafs win 5-3

[Schooner]

Honestly, 5 on 5 the Tavares Marner line was missing Hyman, missed that grit to give them that open space

 

[Schooner]

Honestly, 5 on 5 the Tavares Marner line was missing Hyman, missed that grit to give them that open space

 

[Blanche Blanche]

A+- Marner
A- Matthews, Freddy
B- Kadri, Lindholm, Kappy, Zaitsev
C- Reilly, Gardiner, Johnsson, Oz- man, Marleau, Ennis
F- Rosen
I (Invisible)- Hainsey, Leivo, Brown, Tavares, Moore

Agreed on all. Bravo sir

Oz is 6 foot 2 ... Before and after the game...... Babs def. Has him penciled in as this year's Polak. Seems to make better choises and move the puck better, thankfully. He will be Dermots partner to start the season. Although he played a shift with zietsev late in the game.

Oz with a season or two extra will be massively upgraded from "Polak". Already is better as a rookie

Johnson looks nothing like the player we saw last year

He'll be ok. Probably knew all August he'd make the team so hes still getting into shape. You can see it haha

Somehow our Leafs won the game all the while playing rather poorly!

Special teams alone won this game. 5 on 5 our team was very flat and not sharp at all!

First time all together. By midseason - it should look very very good.
Tavares first time feeling out the whole NHL leafs squad... He will be good once he knows how everyone plays. Preseason is preseason for a reason

GO LEAFS!
Sign Marner NOW!!

 

[nobody]

Mitch Marner 4 Habs 3. Rest of the Leafs sleepwalked through that game. Freddy made some beauty saves but my god man you can't get beat from the point with no traffic. Also he over-committed way too much on the second goal. First one wasn't too great either but shooters make their shots, I won't blame him for that.

Rosen and Ozhiganov pairing was an absolute tire fire and I hope Babs never does that again. Our forwards were trying to exit the zones way too quickly and provided absolutely shit support at times for the d-men to break out.

All in all, it was a pathetic showing. We're not going to win many games playing this way. Thankfully this is the preseason still and this was the "full roster's" first game together so hopefully it's just them trying to figure things out.

 

[weems]

That is fine because Analytic stats don't lie on that . but anyways we can agree to disagree you have your favourite and i have mine . We are on the same side anyways , all the best bud GO leafs GO

So show me a analytics stat that shows the how much harder it is to play the center position and the defensive responsibility that comes with it.

I don't have a favorite. Marner is a great player and so is Matthews but saying he's a better two way player might be going a little far especially when you factor in position.

 

[Guy Boucher]

I'm a Leivo fan but that Kadri line sucks. Way too slow.

 

[Boutette]

I get the whole he's a Toronto kid, who was a late draft pick who beat the odds to make the league and works hard but Brown needs to start producing.

In todays game you need to have 3 lines that provide you with good offense and pace.

Hyman plays bad you hear tons about it. Nylander plays bad you hear tons about it. Brown for whatever reasons seems to dodge criticism pretty well.

He needs to play better or he should be moved to the 4th line where he can be a great energy guy who plays a lot on the PK.

Hyman and Nylander play on the 1st line. Of course you hear about it when they underperform. Guys who play at the bottom of the lineup aren't criticized for not being first line quality.

 

[Notsince67]

No he was not the best player on the team last year. I love the guy but everyone needs to calm down a bit on the hype.

By far the best player in the last half of the year and the playoffs. Maybe you can lay off on the I hate Marner thing.

 

[56 Years No Cup]

Ennis could take Brown's place. Not at all strong enough to take Leivo's though.

Did Leivo play tonight? I must have missed it.

 

[Trapper]

I'm a Leivo fan but that Kadri line sucks. Way too slow.

IMO the Kadri line should be built to keep the opposition fighting the cycle in their own zone. Like a boxer wearing down D.

 

[Boutette]

Honestly, 5 on 5 the Tavares Marner line was missing Hyman, missed that grit to give them that open space

If Hyman takes longer than expected, they'd probably be better served with either Johnsson, Leivo or Ennis (if Nylander signs) instead of the likes of AHL level players like Moore. I agree their line looked like it only had 2 forwards.

 

[PromisedLand]

Carey Price just let in 5 goals on 26 shots and 2 shorthanded goals. Do you think he will clear waivers?

Price needs to ruin the tank for the habs he has to stay up

 

[Boutette]

Did Leivo play tonight? I must have missed it.

Didn't get much support from his linemates. An example was when he forced his way through the neutral zone on a good personal effort, only to have one of his linemates go offside.

 

[PromisedLand]

 

[weems]

Hyman and Nylander play on the 1st line. Of course you hear about it when they underperform. Guys who play at the bottom of the lineup aren't criticized for not being first line quality.

Brown isn't even playing like someone who should be a lock in our top 9 let alone some stretch where you think I'm expecting him to perform like a first liner.

He was not that good last season and you didn't hear much about it and hes followed it up with a very underwhelming camp.

He's not even close to good enough to block others from getting looks on that line. He needs to really start playing better or a move to the 4th line isn't unrealistic whatsoever.

 

[IPS]

So is this split-unit PP unit BS finally a thing of the past?

I dunno, it looks incredible now but all it takes is for it to struggle for 1-2 games and Babcock will go right back to his bullshit.

 

[Boutette]

Mitch Marner 4 Habs 3. Rest of the Leafs sleepwalked through that game. Freddy made some beauty saves but my god man you can't get beat from the point with no traffic. Also he over-committed way too much on the second goal. First one wasn't too great either but shooters make their shots, I won't blame him for that.

Rosen and Ozhiganov pairing was an absolute tire fire and I hope Babs never does that again. Our forwards were trying to exit the zones way too quickly and provided absolutely **** support at times for the d-men to break out.

All in all, it was a pathetic showing. We're not going to win many games playing this way. Thankfully this is the preseason still and this was the "full roster's" first game together so hopefully it's just them trying to figure things out.

Hey, it did not help that the leafs D were passing to Canadiens instead of their teammates half the night.

 

[MR4]

I'm a Leivo fan but that Kadri line sucks. Way too slow.

Yep, we need to have the 4th line wingers with Kadri and then see which of the remaining wingers work well with Lindholm-Brown

 

[Boutette]

Brown isn't even playing like someone who should be a lock in our top 9 let alone some stretch where you think I'm expecting him to perform like a first liner.

He was not that good last season and you didn't hear much about it and hes followed it up with a very underwhelming camp.

He's not even close to good enough to block others from getting looks on that line. He needs to really start playing better or a move to the 4th line isn't unrealistic whatsoever.

I can't argue with you. IMO, the only forward that put in a weaker performance on the ice tonight was Moore. So, yeah, not good. I'd flip him and Kapanen next game to send the message.

 

[IPS]

I get the whole he's a Toronto kid, who was a late draft pick who beat the odds to make the league and works hard but Brown needs to start producing.

In todays game you need to have 3 lines that provide you with good offense and pace.

Hyman plays bad you hear tons about it. Nylander plays bad you hear tons about it. Brown for whatever reasons seems to dodge criticism pretty well.

He needs to play better or he should be moved to the 4th line where he can be a great energy guy who plays a lot on the PK.

I don't care. Brown plays where he belongs in the lineup - the 3rd and 4th lines. He's undoubtedly a medicore player who plays where a mediocre player should play in the lineup.

Hyman on the other hand, plays too damn high in the lineup and gets fed a f***ton of minutes beside our best players.

It's not the players that get criticized, it's the usage of them.

 

[Boutette]

Yep, we need to have the 4th line wingers with Kadri and then see which of the remaining wingers work well with Lindholm-Brown

I don't think Johnsson has played himself off the 4th line as of yet.

 

[PromisedLand]

If Gardiner makes another stretch pass I want Babcock to bag skate that dumbass

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

If Gardiner makes another stretch pass I want Babcock to bag skate that dumbass

Babcock is the one telling him to make stretch passes

 

[6ix]

And you Leivo haters need to find a new sport to watch. He plays himself of the team, fine. But so far he hasn't. On the wings neither Brown, Johnsson or Hyman haven't put in better efforts this pre-season. When they do, then I'll be happy with Leivo being moved out. I didn't think Ennis had left what I've seen of him. He certainly deserves to stay, at least until he runs out of gas.

I’m not a Leivo hater im a realist. I’ve never bashed Leivo before this preseason but I’m done with him now. Doesn’t play like a guy who wants it more then anyone else.

 

[MR4]

I don't think Johnsson has played himself off the 4th line as of yet.

His past showings last season and the fact Leivo hasn't ever locked down a spot while he has means he should've been the one on 3rd line

 

[Boutette]

Did Leivo play tonight? I must have missed it.

I was watching and I so a number of decent individual efforts from him over the night. His linemates, however, weren't doing much 5 on 5.