Post-Game Talk: Matthews Has Historic Night.... Mostly Everyone Else? Ehhhhh

[SprDaVE]

Did Polak start, is he gonna be a regular on the Leafs 3rd pairing?

I'd bet that he'll start next game with Hunwick likely out for a bit. A shame because Corrado deserves it a lot more.

 

[LGB51]

No and no.

Thank you.

 

[BertCorbeau]

I'd bet that he'll start next game with Hunwick likely out for a bit. A shame because Corrado deserves it a lot more.

Yeah given it's Boston, Polak will probably be in.

 

[Mess]

Did Polak start, is he gonna be a regular on the Leafs 3rd pairing?

Polak was a healthy scratch and is relegated to the #7 dman battling Corrado also a healthy scratch to see who rotates into the line-up. .

Hunwick got hurt and Marinchin was bad so we might see Polak next game against the big bad Bruins mainly for this toughness not his hockey skills.

 

[janesy12]

So its his fault Marincin didn't chase down the puck and blindly sent the puck around the end wall when he discovered it wasn't icing?

Read my post, I'm not bashing Kadri. Just clearly pointing out Turris was noticeable during the game with Kadri on the ice, scoring the tying goal. However Turris is a C, Kadri is a C. That's his man in the slot.

 

[leburn98]

I am an Andersen skeptic, and think he was clearly to blame for losing this game, and was awful in preseason.

All that said, there is no reason to make any kind of judgement on him as a goalie yet.

Agreed, especially given that many goaltenders in general didn't have a great night in their openers last night. Elliott alone allowed 6 goals on 27 shots .

 

[GLG12xx12]

Hyman looked great out there. I could see him sticking in the top 6 and being our own version of Gallagher minus the pest side. He does anything and everything to get to the puck. I certainly see him getting lots of dirty goals in his career

 

[Stephen]

He is doing a very fine job in a shut down role, but the kids have much more speed and skill.

What is Kadri providing to the Leafs on a night like last night that a Dominic Moore didn't on any given night?

The bar for that guy is set so ridiculously low.

 

[SprDaVE]

What is Kadri providing to the Leafs on a night like last night that a Dominic Moore didn't on any given night?

The bar for that guy is set so ridiculously low.

Considering his line created/generated a lot more shots for compared to shots against, I'd say they played very well and to compare his current role to Dominic Moore is quite frankly being ignorant. To put it a lamant terms, the puck was rarely ever in the defensive zone while he was on the ice, which is exactly what you want from any line. This is also great considering he started a lot more times in the defensive zone when his shifts started. If their line was used differently, they might have been in a position to create more offensively.

This means the Kadri line got the most difficult match up(s) and were relied upon heavily defensively, and they succeeded.

His line played very well despite not scoring.

 

[HespelerGreenFlash]

Hab fan just in. Just have to say wow, Matthews is so
Ffriggin good. Hard not to like the kid( but I do lol ) Very impressive and its scary how good hes gonna get.

 

[Mess]

Hyman looked great out there. I could see him sticking in the top 6 and being our own version of Gallagher minus the pest side. He does anything and everything to get to the puck. I certainly see him getting lots of dirty goals in his career

Babcock loves Hyman and there is good reason because he gives 110% effort and does a lot of the ground work and heavy lifting needed to give his linemates time and space to operate.

Matthews and Nylander are going to love having Zach Attack on their line providing them the freedom to excel offensively.

 

[Nithoniniel]

What is Kadri providing to the Leafs on a night like last night that a Dominic Moore didn't on any given night?

The bar for that guy is set so ridiculously low.

Competitive hockey?

This board has a tendency to throw out names of 4th line centers who played heavy match up minutes and got absolutely murdered, as comparisons for actually effective hockey players for some reason.

 

[TLeafsFan]

Read my post, I'm not bashing Kadri. Just clearly pointing out Turris was noticeable during the game with Kadri on the ice, scoring the tying goal. However Turris is a C, Kadri is a C. That's his man in the slot.

While that's true, I see this even more.

By far the most DZFO% heavy lifting, yet over 70% possession rate, 69%FOW, trusted on both PP and PK (for the first time in the NHL and had no PP goals against).

I think we can overlook his -1.

 

[Pi]

Competitive hockey?

This board has a tendency to throw out names of 4th line centers who played heavy match up minutes and got absolutely murdered, as comparisons for actually effective hockey players for some reason.

Yeah. Kadri is a good player. He's paid adequately and is signed long term. 40-50 points, good defensively now, positive possession player, physical and draws penalties.

The Chicago Blackhawks only have one centre better than Kadri. He'd be a #2C on lots of teams.

Winning Matthews lottery helps put every piece into place. Nylander will eventually take over as centre of his own line, Kadri drops down to #2B line, Marner doesn't have to be a centre and we still have good offensive depth.

 

[zeke]

What is Kadri providing to the Leafs on a night like last night that a Dominic Moore didn't on any given night?

The bar for that guy is set so ridiculously low.

When has Dominic Moore ever been an elite possession player with tough usage, while being a 50pt pace producer as well?

 

[saltming]

Babcock saying we will get way way butter is just so awe inspiring!
Also his take on Andersen is he had a bad game but goaltending is not an issue of concern at all.
The funny is when asked about Hunwick's status 'he missed the game' hahaha!

 

[WilliamNylander]

Kadri is fine.

Like we saw last night, Babs is going to bury him with playing top lines and lots of PK time. His line dominated Turris and co. last night.

The offense will come from the kids

 

[thewave]

Kadri is fine.

Like we saw last night, Babs is going to bury him with playing top lines and lots of PK time. His line dominated Turris and co. last night.

The offense will come from the kids

Kadri played well.

 

[WilliamNylander]

If we started a decent goalie last night like Enroth I think we win easily (4-1, maybe 4-2). We outplayed the Sens pretty much the whole game.

Like coach said, sometimes the goalie bails you out. Sometimes you have to bail him out. I hope Andersen can get his game together.

 

[Gary Nylund]

the kadri hate will never, ever stop.

You could start a thread about the color of skate laces Mike Palmateer used to wear and by page 2 you'd have people bashing Kadri. It used to annoy me but now, I'm getting to the point where people showing their ignorant hatred just makes me laugh.

 

[X66]

Another thing I noticed last night was that the ice was piss poor.

So many bobbled pucks and players falling all over the place.

 

[Mess]

Scoreboard after game #1

Matthews 4

With tanking (last season) Sen 5 - Matthews 4.
&
Without tanking Sens 5 - Leafs 0

Tanking +1 & Non Tanking -1

 

[Pi]

the kadri hate will never, ever stop.

I don't get it. He didn't put up points but neither did anyone else outside of Matthews line. Thought he played well, dominated possession. Him Michalek and Komarov always seemed to be in Senators' zone, had a couple of looks but didn't strike.

 

[WilliamNylander]

I don't get it. He didn't put up points but neither did anyone else outside of Matthews line. Thought he played well, dominated possession. Him Michalek and Komarov always seemed to be in Senators' zone, had a couple of looks but didn't strike.

He was great.

It seems like Babcock has carved out a role for him this year to shut down the other team's top lines so the kids can feast on 2nd/3rd lines. Of course he won't score as much but the other team's top line will be spending the game in their own end which is better for us anyways.

 

[Stephen]

Considering his line created/generated a lot more shots for compared to shots against, I'd say they played very well and to compare his current role to Dominic Moore is quite frankly being ignorant. To put it a lamant terms, the puck was rarely ever in the defensive zone while he was on the ice, which is exactly what you want from any line. This is also great considering he started a lot more times in the defensive zone when his shifts started. If their line was used differently, they might have been in a position to create more offensively.

This means the Kadri line got the most difficult match up(s) and were relied upon heavily defensively, and they succeeded.

His line played very well despite not scoring.

Kadri's shot differentials is the only thing he has going for him and people cling to it obsessively. Other than some skewed statistic, in "lamant" terms, he's just a very average non impact player.