Post-Game Talk: Leafs with a perfect game

[DarkKnight]

One thing I love about Marner, even on a night where he gets no points, he is still impactful and contributing.

 

[Macallan18]

Johnsson looks really good with Matthews.
I'm hoping against hope Hyman is pushed down the lineup.

 

[DarkKnight]

Johnsson looks really good with Matthews.
I'm hoping against hope Hyman is pushed down the lineup.

I didn't mind Brown on JT's line either, he actually showed some offensive prowess a few times. One of his better efforts this year.

 

[Joedoggy]

Leafs produce well against bottom feeders due to their speed, unfortunately the more fast/soft players that are brought up are also the key ingredient on what will be the team demise in the playoffs....its called "SOFT"...Your eye test should help you out there....Babcock hockey being a euro game and all is great for regular season wins yet will likely have little to no success when the Physicality is added with speed, of coarse Mike will say he didn't have last change.

There are plenty of teams with both come P/O time....The Islander 4-0 loss should have opened more eyes than it did.
Those knocking Kadri's play...with every addition to this team that has zero physicality those that have physicality are pushed out thru TOI causing their games to diminish due to Babcock Euro Hockey. Kadri is just the latest casualty...Martin and Leo were last years..yet both on the Islanders are key for Islander success. BTW i am not suggesting Kadri is anywhere near the physical player a Martin is ..or even Leo..but he has bite and Babcocks style of game has no Bite so your out.

 

[BigGulpsEh]

I didn't hat Brown on JT's line either, he actually showed some offensive prowess a few times. One of his better efforts this year.

Brown doesn’t look completely out of place. Ge made some decent plays to keep the puck alive in the O zone.

At this point I don’t think it matters who is with JT and marner. Those two are playing unreal and dominating

 

[lifelonghockeyfan]

Yes, the Leafs were efficient. Canucks seemed to be gassed after getting down in the scoreboard, it was their last game in six game road trip.
Always strange to me, that so many think the Leafs have the worse Dman in the league, though their records doesn't show it. No love is shown getting a shut out with a minor league goalie.

 

[DarkKnight]

Brown doesn’t look completely out of place. Ge made some decent plays to keep the puck alive in the O zone.

At this point I don’t think it matters who is with JT and marner. Those two are playing unreal and dominating

Agreed. And to be honest I didn't think AJ made much of a difference either.

 

[Al14]

Yes, the Leafs were efficient. Canucks seemed to be gassed after getting down in the scoreboard, it was their last game in six game road trip.
Always strange to me, that so many think the Leafs have the worse Dman in the league, though their records doesn't show it. No love is shown getting a shut out with a minor league goalie.

Trust us, if our Leafs had at least one other #1 D we'd likely be up there competing with Tampa points wise!

 

[LeafGrief]

Awesome game! I was at a bar that didn't have the sound on, so I'm relieved to see that I was spared a classic Hughson night.

Loved the Leafs top to bottom all game. Johnsson-Matthews-Nylander is just a sick line, Johnsson is a legit top6 forward already and makes so many smart plays to maintain puck possession or set Matthews up with chances. Dat snipe too. I also really like Brown's game on the Tavares line. Obviously he's no Johnsson, but I like him there more than Hyman. Brown plays the grindy game, but he's got so much more playmaking sense than Hyman does and gets more passes through to his linemates. Big congrats to Moore for the goal (it was a great play) and Hutch on the shutout (easy ones count too!).

 

[lifelonghockeyfan]

Trust us, if our Leafs had at least one other #1 D we'd likely be up there competing with Tampa points wise!

I'm not saying it's going to happen this season, but IMO the Leafs have to trade an expensive forward for a good Dman. Leafs can't be playing two 1m Dmen as replacements for Gardiner and Hainsey next season.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Amazing game all around last night. Complete effort from every line up and down the lineup

 

[Pookie]

Leafs produce well against bottom feeders due to their speed, unfortunately the more fast/soft players that are brought up are also the key ingredient on what will be the team demise in the playoffs....its called "SOFT"...Your eye test should help you out there....Babcock hockey being a euro game and all is great for regular season wins yet will likely have little to no success when the Physicality is added with speed, of coarse Mike will say he didn't have last change.

There are plenty of teams with both come P/O time....The Islander 4-0 loss should have opened more eyes than it did.
Those knocking Kadri's play...with every addition to this team that has zero physicality those that have physicality are pushed out thru TOI causing their games to diminish due to Babcock Euro Hockey. Kadri is just the latest casualty...Martin and Leo were last years..yet both on the Islanders are key for Islander success. BTW i am not suggesting Kadri is anywhere near the physical player a Martin is ..or even Leo..but he has bite and Babcocks style of game has no Bite so your out.

1) yes on playoffs and softness. Agreed 100%.

2) no on Babcock being the reason for Kadri’s downward performance trend.

 

[Nineteen67]

Awesome game! I was at a bar that didn't have the sound on, so I'm relieved to see that I was spared a classic Hughson night.

Loved the Leafs top to bottom all game. Johnsson-Matthews-Nylander is just a sick line, Johnsson is a legit top6 forward already and makes so many smart plays to maintain puck possession or set Matthews up with chances. Dat snipe too. I also really like Brown's game on the Tavares line. Obviously he's no Johnsson, but I like him there more than Hyman. Brown plays the grindy game, but he's got so much more playmaking sense than Hyman does and gets more passes through to his linemates. Big congrats to Moore for the goal (it was a great play) and Hutch on the shutout (easy ones count too!).

When did not having sound on at the bar become a thing? ...in the day, bars always had sound for the Jays and Leafs. Even hotel bars.... last time I was in TO I had to beg to have sound.

 

[Voodoo Child]

Leafs produce well against bottom feeders due to their speed, unfortunately the more fast/soft players that are brought up are also the key ingredient on what will be the team demise in the playoffs....its called "SOFT"...Your eye test should help you out there....Babcock hockey being a euro game and all is great for regular season wins yet will likely have little to no success when the Physicality is added with speed, of coarse Mike will say he didn't have last change.

There are plenty of teams with both come P/O time....The Islander 4-0 loss should have opened more eyes than it did.
Those knocking Kadri's play...with every addition to this team that has zero physicality those that have physicality are pushed out thru TOI causing their games to diminish due to Babcock Euro Hockey. Kadri is just the latest casualty...Martin and Leo were last years..yet both on the Islanders are key for Islander success. BTW i am not suggesting Kadri is anywhere near the physical player a Martin is ..or even Leo..but he has bite and Babcocks style of game has no Bite so your out.

The Leafs have lost to Ottawa, St. Louis, Dallas, Carolina, Detroit, Florida and Minnesota (they also beat Dallas, Florida, Minnesota, Carolina and Detroit once).

Jets and Sharks done two wins each, two against Pittsburgh and one each against Washington and Vegas, and they won the season series 2-1 over Columbus.

Playing down to their opponents is more of a problem than playing up to them.

In the second half we have as follows:

One game against Boston, next Saturday, then that's it. We'll have played them 4 times.

3 vs Tampa, oof

And then

3 vs Montreal
3 vs Buffalo
2 vs Florida
3 vs Ottawa
2 vs Detroit

Also 2 vs Edmonton, another at the Canucks and Blues, and two against Arizona.

I hope we tighten up against lesser teams.

 

[LeafGrief]

When did not having sound on at the bar become a thing? ...in the day, bars always had sound for the Jays and Leafs. Even hotel bars.... last time I was in TO I had to beg to have sound.

I was a little surprised, it's a popular sports bar and they normally have sound for HNIC. But it is in Ottawa and they're probably sick of the Leafs winning haha

 

[saltming]

A pretty good game for the boys. Really like the Marlies Grads, they all seem to be gritty, with good speed and play a simple game(except for Goat).

Goat laid some good hits and one behind our net freed the puck that directly lead to Moores goal

 

[smitty10]

A pretty good game for the boys. Really like the Marlies Grads, they all seem to be gritty, with good speed and play a simple game(except for Goat).

Goat has been playing some very good hockey the last little while. He's been strong on the forecheck, using his size, playing well defensively and getting some scoring chances. Not much more you can ask from your 4th line center.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Kadri has always been a puck hog.

Is there a stat that measures puck hog ness ?
A puck hog takes shots from areas you don't score from.

 

[smitty10]

Is there a stat that measures puck hog ness ?
A puck hog takes shots from areas you don't score from.

Remember John Mitchell? Ol' Johnny Malkin was the epitome of a puck hog.

 

[Pi]

Leafs produce well against bottom feeders due to their speed, unfortunately the more fast/soft players that are brought up are also the key ingredient on what will be the team demise in the playoffs....its called "SOFT"...Your eye test should help you out there....Babcock hockey being a euro game and all is great for regular season wins yet will likely have little to no success when the Physicality is added with speed, of coarse Mike will say he didn't have last change.

There are plenty of teams with both come P/O time....The Islander 4-0 loss should have opened more eyes than it did.
Those knocking Kadri's play...with every addition to this team that has zero physicality those that have physicality are pushed out thru TOI causing their games to diminish due to Babcock Euro Hockey. Kadri is just the latest casualty...Martin and Leo were last years..yet both on the Islanders are key for Islander success. BTW i am not suggesting Kadri is anywhere near the physical player a Martin is ..or even Leo..but he has bite and Babcocks style of game has no Bite so your out.

That must explain why this team has a winning record against teams above .500

 

[Ziggdiezan]

Brown doesn’t look completely out of place. Ge made some decent plays to keep the puck alive in the O zone.

At this point I don’t think it matters who is with JT and marner. Those two are playing unreal and dominating

Ya agreed, they just need someone with speed who can help hound the puck on the forecheck and then keep the puck alive once in the zone.

I think Brown has been great on the GTA line.

 

[Nithoniniel]

I don't think I've heard a mediocre goaltender having a league average season getting blown out in a game get as much praise as Markström did last night. You'd have thought it was Gibson having a rare off night.

Anyway. Strong night. Did just what I missed about the Minnesota game, put in that little bit of extra effort to help out their third-string goaltender.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Goat has been playing some very good hockey the last little while. He's been strong on the forecheck, using his size, playing well defensively and getting some scoring chances. Not much more you can ask from your 4th line center.

I think he's shown some improvement this year compared to his previous stints. He seems to have adjusted and is developing into a decent #4C.

52% on the draw, which is good considering he's getting over 60% of his starts in the d-zone.

Hockey Reference has him at 40 hits through 32 games. His previous 30 games over the previous two seasons he had 30 hits - so he's being a bit more physical. I suspect as he matures and gets more comfortable at the NHL level that he will become more physical over time. Not a bruiser, but he will assert himself a bit more.

Also at 48.3% CF, which isn't great by any means, but that's higher than it's been in his previous NHL stints so there's some progress.

In short - I think he's still pretty mediocre but he's improving his game. Not a liability and isn't a standout either, just doing his job admirably. I think he really benefits when he has wingers like Moore, Ennis, Lindholm - guys who have some quickness and speed in their game. When he's played with slower wingers, he doesn't look as good.

 

[hoglund]

Poor Hughson. He wants it so bad.

I don't know what you guys are talking about, Hughson isn't a Canucks fan, if anything he's a Leafs fan, don't you remember for many years he was the voice of the Blue Jays. His broadcasting career has involves Toronto teams.

 

[smitty10]

I think he's shown some improvement this year compared to his previous stints. He seems to have adjusted and is developing into a decent #4C.

52% on the draw, which is good considering he's getting over 60% of his starts in the d-zone.

Hockey Reference has him at 40 hits through 32 games. His previous 30 games over the previous two seasons he had 30 hits - so he's being a bit more physical. I suspect as he matures and gets more comfortable at the NHL level that he will become more physical over time. Not a bruiser, but he will assert himself a bit more.

Also at 48.3% CF, which isn't great by any means, but that's higher than it's been in his previous NHL stints so there's some progress.

In short - I think he's still pretty mediocre but he's improving his game. Not a liability and isn't a standout either, just doing his job admirably. I think he really benefits when he has wingers like Moore, Ennis, Lindholm - guys who have some quickness and speed in their game. When he's played with slower wingers, he doesn't look as good.

I think the line of Lindholm-Gauthier-Moore has been fantastic. They all play a relatively simple game and compliment each other nicely.