Post-Game Talk: ..::Leafs Win

[veedubn1]

IF we make the playoffs I want Montreal in the first round.

They had our number for way to long. The playoffs is when all that changes. When the momentum shifts to us.

lol noooo thank you.

I want nothing to do with Price in the playoffs until this team has matured.

 

[showtime8]

I didnt get to watch too much of tonights game, but what I did see is Ben Smith lose a faceoff clean on the penalty kill which caused Dallas' only goal of the night. When claimed off waivers Babcock specifically said he wanted Smith back to win draws on the the penalty kill this is 3 games in a row where he did not do that.

Back in December the Leafs played the Anaheim Ducks and the game winner for the Ducks was a PP goal that was a clean faceoff directly to Cam Fowler in the high slot. Gauthier lost that draw to Ryan Kesler (one of the leagues best faceoff men) and was crucified for it because of how clean the win was and that the puck went directly to Fowler for the shot. The EXACT same thing happened tonight but Smith a vet who is only here to win draws and play PK lost the draw just as badly to Cody Eakin (NOT one of the best faceoff men in the league) directly to Seguin for the one-timer. Yet people are resigned to it because we know Babs wont do anything about it, but Gauthier was sent down for a bit because of it.

Also, people mentioning the whole "play Smith 9 more games to be eligible for the 70/40 rule" there are 2 problems with that idea. 1) The Leafs would have to re-sign him for another year to make him eligible and 2) there is no guarantee that Vegas takes him. If we can see the guy is pretty worthless than NHL scouts can see that as well. There is a very real chance that the Leafs could sign him just to make him eligible but then Vegas could take Martin or Marincin instead and now the Leafs would be stuck with Smith for another year.

The Leafs should just play the best team possible. Gauthier may not be "ready" but he has already shown he is more capable than Smith. If Babcock wants to play the best team possible to make the playoffs he is a better choice than Smith and if they are just using this season to give the kids experience then play Gauthier, when mistakes happen I like the idea of them being growing pains for a young player than thinking that some scrub is taking up a roster spot from somebody more deserving.

This is a great post and I agree 100%!

 

[SprDaVE]

Isn't a pending UFA still eligible to be drafted by Las Vegas technically? The player will not be a UFA by the expansion draft, therefore he still is contracted by the Leafs no matter if it ends a few weeks later. This is how I interpret it. I could be wrong though?

Yes, it would be stupid for them to do so, but I'm just looking at the technicality. They could also pick up a player in order to talk to them pre-UFA if they really wanted to, especially someone like Shattenkirk or perhaps even Thornton.

Byron Froese would be a solid option for the 4th line role. I'm surprised he wasn't an option for most of the year considering he was a favourite of Babcock before he broke his hand last season. He can't possibly be any worst. Gauthier needs more time with the Marlies to be honest but should get a long look for the role next season.

 

[pylon17]

Good game. We got lucky with Spezza out. And Dallas' goalies are garbage. They looked hungover, completely different team than last week. We got EXTREMELY LUCKY with the Faksa penalty, won us the game essentially.

 

[SEER]

Dallas Stars vs Toronto Maple Leafs - Game Highlights - February 7, 2017



Babs looks and sounds like he caught that flu bug.., eh..?

Maple Leafs Post-Game: Mike Babcock - February 7, 2017



Maple Leafs Post-Game: Curtis McElhinney - February 7, 2017



More Post-Game Interviews: Gardiner; Matthews; Brown & Bozak
----> https://www.youtube.com/user/torontomapleleafs/videos​

 

[X66]

Hate to play the I told you card (I don't actually)

But I told everyone that all those goals the leafs were letting in had a lot to do with the team being on the road after a crazy trip. The d and goaltending was bad but this will be a different team at home

 

[Gary Nylund]

Hate to play the I told you card (I don't actually)

But I told everyone that all those goals the leafs were letting in had a lot to do with the team being on the road after a crazy trip. The d and goaltending was bad but this will be a different team at home

They weren't letting in goals after a "crazy trip", nothing crazy here at all. Let's review, they played 2 games on the road, then had 5 days off, then played 4 more road games during which they let in a ton of goals. They were well rested for those 4 games, no need to make excuses - compare with last night, 2nd night of a back to back, no problem. They're a good team but they are young and will have ups and downs like any other team. They weren't playing great those 4 games, but they somehow came out of it with 3 points which is great. They got on the right track again last night, let's hope they stay there for a while.

 

[StevenB]

Didn't watch the game yesterday, only wat he'd highlights. Nice to see Zaitsev showing us that nice shot on NA ice. I've known since before the season started that he had it in him. Nice to see McElhinney with 39 saves tonight, what a good waiver pickup. Morgs with the 2 point night, and Matthews with 25 goals on the season. Future is looking bright.

 

[JonnyMacAwesome]

Hate to play the I told you card (I don't actually)

But I told everyone that all those goals the leafs were letting in had a lot to do with the team being on the road after a crazy trip. The d and goaltending was bad but this will be a different team at home

They will be different at home I agree, but I don't think it's purely a correlation between home or road games.

The D were sloppy, and Andersen hasn't been steady the past few games. Last night the D played much much better in their own end(forwards playing defensively too) and McElhinney stood on his head stopping 39 of 40 shots.

It was a nice change to see, and if that D Zone play from last night continues, and improves, that will help Andersen get out of his slump a bit faster, and in turn will help the D have more confidence in their netminder again.

I'd personally give McBackup the next start, so Freddie can have a bit more rest to prepare for the next string of games he'll be in.

 

[Poignant Discussion*]

IF we make the playoffs I want Montreal in the first round.

They had our number for way to long. The playoffs is when all that changes. When the momentum shifts to us.

There is a very good chance at that, Montreal are doing their annual second half swan dive

 

[BertCorbeau]

Liked that all three goals the Leafs scored were primarily due to shots from the point getting through on net .. I hope our d-men can keep doing that.

 

[Crazy Vaclav]

I don't think I've ever seen a worse single game rating for a Leaf. That's mind numbingly bad.

Brett Lebda

https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-...e_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=stats

 

[Mess]

Goalie controversy ?

 

[BertCorbeau]

Goalie controversy ?

Doubt it.

Andy is in a funk right now and he'll just have to work his way out of it. Much like with the kids, some patience is needed with Andy as he hasn't had this sort of workload before. Need to give him some time to adapt and develop some endurance.

He'll get the next couple of starts at least. However next week the Leafs have two back to backs in a row. The Isles/Jackets on Tuesday/Wednesday and the Sens/Canes on Saturday Sunday. McBackup will likely get two of those games and help give Andy some rest.

 

[SprDaVE]

If you believe there's a goalie controversy right now...

... well I don't know actually but just stop right now.

 

[Nithoniniel]

I didnt get to watch too much of tonights game, but what I did see is Ben Smith lose a faceoff clean on the penalty kill which caused Dallas' only goal of the night. When claimed off waivers Babcock specifically said he wanted Smith back to win draws on the the penalty kill this is 3 games in a row where he did not do that.

Back in December the Leafs played the Anaheim Ducks and the game winner for the Ducks was a PP goal that was a clean faceoff directly to Cam Fowler in the high slot. Gauthier lost that draw to Ryan Kesler (one of the leagues best faceoff men) and was crucified for it because of how clean the win was and that the puck went directly to Fowler for the shot. The EXACT same thing happened tonight but Smith a vet who is only here to win draws and play PK lost the draw just as badly to Cody Eakin (NOT one of the best faceoff men in the league) directly to Seguin for the one-timer. Yet people are resigned to it because we know Babs wont do anything about it, but Gauthier was sent down for a bit because of it.

Also, people mentioning the whole "play Smith 9 more games to be eligible for the 70/40 rule" there are 2 problems with that idea. 1) The Leafs would have to re-sign him for another year to make him eligible and 2) there is no guarantee that Vegas takes him. If we can see the guy is pretty worthless than NHL scouts can see that as well. There is a very real chance that the Leafs could sign him just to make him eligible but then Vegas could take Martin or Marincin instead and now the Leafs would be stuck with Smith for another year.

The Leafs should just play the best team possible. Gauthier may not be "ready" but he has already shown he is more capable than Smith. If Babcock wants to play the best team possible to make the playoffs he is a better choice than Smith and if they are just using this season to give the kids experience then play Gauthier, when mistakes happen I like the idea of them being growing pains for a young player than thinking that some scrub is taking up a roster spot from somebody more deserving.

You teach the kids, not their parents. That's what's up with the Gauthier-Smith connection. Smith is who he is, can't do much about that, but you can mold Gauthier into a better player.

The advantage with playing Gauthier in AHL is that he can focus on his development instead of focusing on his performance, as he'd have to do here. That's why you have developmental leagues, which AHL basically is.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Goalie controversy ?

Only in the world where you can't have backups perform well in their role or something must be wrong.

 

[Sperss1997]

If you believe there's a goalie controversy right now...

... well I don't know actually but just stop right now.

Ofc there is not. Nevertheless, this is a good moment to bench Freddy for a while.

 

[Trapper]

Only in the world where you can't have backups perform well in their role or something must be wrong.

It's been a long time that we've actually been able to put players in the role they were intended for.
People don't know what to make of it.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Ofc there is not. Nevertheless, this is a good moment to bench Freddy for a while.

LOL, no. He will get the start tomorrow and Saturday.

 

[Gary Nylund]

It wouldn't surprise me if McBackup got the next start. There's no controversy, we have a starter and we have a backup. But Freddy has played a ton and it doesn't seem like a bad idea to get him some rest at some point. Or is there some rule that says that backups only play when there's back to back games?

 

[Mess]

Doubt it.

Andy is in a funk right now and he'll just have to work his way out of it. Much like with the kids, some patience is needed with Andy as he hasn't had this sort of workload before. Need to give him some time to adapt and develop some endurance.

He'll get the next couple of starts at least. However next week the Leafs have two back to backs in a row. The Isles/Jackets on Tuesday/Wednesday and the Sens/Canes on Saturday Sunday. McBackup will likely get two of those games and help give Andy some rest.

Mac was just scheduled for about 5 games mostly back to back, but he might get more if he plays this solid in relief. Good to have a backup finally that provides a solid opportunity to win.

Freddy losing 4 of his last 5 games (while giving up 5 and 6 goals) and having the lowest sv% .888 of all starters since Jan 1st is opening the door for backup starts down the stretch potentially.

 

[one77]

Matthews and Marner are really special

I know this isn't a new revelation but every game they look consistently special

 

[Grapes1]

Ofc there is not. Nevertheless, this is a good moment to bench Freddy for a while.

There is 0% chance of that happening lol.

 

[Grapes1]

There is no way that Babcock is dumb enough to start a goalie controversy at this point