Post-Game Talk: Matty Almost Hatty - Leafs win 7-3

[Nylander88]

It is quite interesting that whoever partners with Domi ends up playing well.
Domi might just be one of those glue guys that we kept saying we lacked.

I'd keep him at his same dollar value, and I'm sure he would stay for that price. Something along the lines of 3mil x 4 years.

 

[SprDaVE]

Because they have different expectations, not to mention different pay grades. Brodie makes 5M, Benoit makes much less. Of course Brodie would be criticized more, as he should be. It’s only logical. Why can’t we expect more from the veteran Brodie who makes more money? It is what it is.

Oh I get that and I fully understand. But to completely ignore the mistakes just because he hit is where I think it's a little much that's all.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Nice game from Woll early on when Caps pressed us .. you need that on back to back nights .. mostly our D was not noticeable which means they generally played well .. like to see Domi Matty and Bert more, especially in tougher games where time and space on puck is much reduced .. thought Benoit looked a bit rusty but he should stay in lineup as he brings that element which every pro team needs .. he needs to be ready for round 1 as we are gonna need him real bad .. overall we put our foot on their necks when we needed to which was nice to see .. but again lets see that trait against Oilers on Saturday night .. omg that is gonna be a fun night for all of us at Scotia - can't wait

 

[SprDaVE]

I thought Timmins last night was pretty good. He had a couple good plays offensively and made some good zone exit plays. I'd like to see him play more down the stretch if possible. Keep rotating and giving days off, especially in back to back situations.

 

[Nylander88]

Benoit should 100 % be playing every night. Guy is a beast. Plays hard every shift. His style will be much needed come playoffs. Originally I thought these new additions meant Liljegren sitting...but he's only stepped up his game since being given PP time and being partnered with a solid stay-at-home Dman like Edmundson. I feel as though things have ran their course with Brodie...he has struggled all year, doesn't play rough, and will undoubtedly be gone in free agency at seasons end. Id like to see:

Rielly-Lyubushkin
Benoit-McCabe
Edmundson-Liljegren

3 pairings you can roll out evenly, and hopefully worry free. You have to get into aggressive line matching.....Benoit-McCabe get the shutdown assignment.

 

[Evilhomer]

They had a nice game but I think we need to slow our roll a bit with Domi on the top line come playoff time.
He and Bertuzzi defensively against other top lines sounds like a recipe for disaster

To put it another way, if Domi ends up on he first line in the playoffs for any reason other than a poor line change, things have already gone off the rails. This was a good game against a mediocre team. It means nothing.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Just about a perfect night.. robbed of the Matty hatty but an offensive outburst of a game and easy win and Ovi pots a couple of goals to inch closer to the record (as someone who wants to see this happen)

Ovi scoring 2 made me want to puke (as someone who really, really does NOT want to see him get the record).

An impressive game for Bert, AM and Domi.

JT with 11 points in his last 8 games.

It's going to be interesting to see how Keefe arranges the lines when Marner and Jarnkrok come back. I don't know who fills the 3C role, but there seems to be enough O right now to present 3 lines with some scoring punch. I think I'd try:

Bert Matthews Domi
Knies/Robertson Tavares Marner
McMann Nylander Jarnkrok
Holmberg Kamph Dewer

Domi in particular looked great with Matthews but I predict Marner will be stapled to Matthews the minute he's back because you know, Keefe.

It is quite interesting that whoever partners with Domi ends up playing well.
Domi might just be one of those glue guys that we kept saying we lacked.

I love the way Domi has played this season. I also love that he's not a cupcake and he doesn't need to told why it's important to stick up for your teammates. Hope to see him signed to a long term deal!

I hope Domi gets a long term contract to stay here in Toronto… he absolutely loves this team and wants to be here.

Not only that, he's pretty good at playing hockey!

What a fun game that was to watch!

 

[Gary Nylund]

To put it another way, if Domi ends up on he first line in the playoffs for any reason other than a poor line change, things have already gone off the rails. This was a good game against a mediocre team. It means nothing.

It was just one game but they looked so good, why not try it for a bit longer? Domi in particular looked great with Matthews, might need to put someone who's better defensively with them but whatever, why not try this and that to see what works? If Domi can work with Matthews then we can put Marner with JT (which has always worked well IMO) and put Nylander on a 3rd line - he's shown he just keeps producing no matter who he plays with.

Remember how we keep getting "outgoalied" in game 7 no matter who the goalie is? Having 3 lines that are dangerous offensively would sure be a very nice thing to have in the playoffs!

 

[Evilhomer]

It was just one game but they looked so good, why not try it for a bit longer? Domi in particular looked great with Matthews, might need to put someone who's better defensively with them but whatever, why not try this and that to see what works? If Domi can work with Matthews then we can put Marner with JT (which has always worked well IMO) and put Nylander on a 3rd line - he's shown he just keeps producing no matter who he plays with.

Remember how we keep getting "outgoalied" in game 7 no matter who the goalie is? Having 3 lines that are dangerous offensively would sure be a very nice thing to have in the playoffs!

By all means, i have I have no issue with trying anything during the next 14 games. That's what these games are for. But I'm also not ready to resign Domi to a long-term deal after one good game against a bad team, especially when we know he is not staying on the first line if Marner is playing.

 

[Gary Nylund]

By all means, i have I have no issue with trying anything during the next 14 games. That's what these games are for. But I'm also not ready to resign Domi to a long-term deal after one good game against a bad team, especially when we know he is not staying on the first line if Marner is playing.

I wanted Domi here long term a while back, has nothing to do with last night.

I agree 100% - that's what these games are for. But ... that's what 82 games are for but unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the way our "future legend" coach thinks so expect M&M to be together again as soon as Marner is healthy.

I'll never hope we lose in the playoffs but getting destroyed in the 1st round could be a good thing if it means Keefe gets fired. I used to defend the guy but I decided a while back that he's terrible and as time goes by, I'm just more and more convinced that that is the case.

 

[thewave]

I wanted Domi here long term a while back, has nothing to do with last night.

I agree 100% - that's what these games are for. But ... that's what 82 games are for but unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the way our "future legend" coach thinks so expect M&M to be together again as soon as Marner is healthy.

I'll never hope we lose in the playoffs but getting destroyed in the 1st round could be a good thing if it means Keefe gets fired. I used to defend the guy but I decided a while back that he's terrible and as time goes by, I'm just more and more convinced that that is the case.

Keefe is awful. I am pretty sure we have a losing playoff record on home ice. I need to verify that but the guy cant even use timeouts correctly or line match. Its honestly pretty bad.

Essentially any time the opponent makes an adjustment it takes Keefe a game or two to even adapt.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Keefe is awful. I am pretty sure we have a losing playoff record on home ice. I need to verify that but the guy cant even use timeouts correctly or line match. Its honestly pretty bad.

Essentially any time the opponent makes an adjustment it takes Keefe a year or two to even adapt.

FYP.

 

[MSZ]

Keefe is awful. I am pretty sure we have a losing playoff record on home ice. I need to verify that but the guy cant even use timeouts correctly or line match. Its honestly pretty bad.

Essentially any time the opponent makes an adjustment it takes Keefe a game or two to even adapt.

Keefe just doesn't believe in line matching which is a complete opposite of what Babcock does.

Other coaches send out their best checking line within milliseconds when they see Matthews jumps out of the bench

 

[egd27]

Well if the opposing shutdown lines are players like Kampf, Riley Nash and Lars Eller. Don't think it would matter much. But if the opposing shutline are players like Bergy, Point and Stone. Thats another story.

Perhaps there are coaches on other teams that are brighter than ours and would match their top lines against against a weak defensive line even though Matthews was on it.

 

[666]

Ovi scoring 2 made me want to puke (as someone who really, really does NOT want to see him get the record).

Why on earth would anyone hate the greatest goal scorer of all time getting the record for scoring the most goals?

 

[Darcy Tucker]

Why on earth would anyone hate the greatest goal scorer of all time getting the record for scoring the most goals?

Here we go.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Why on earth would anyone hate the greatest goal scorer of all time getting the record for scoring the most goals?

Hate is your word, not mine. But Ovechkin is a long time fan and supporter of Putin, that's my reason.

As far as greatest goal scorer of all time, that's a matter of opinion. Ovi's goals per game is .59, Gretzky's is .60, Lemieux's is .75. If Lemieux's health was better, Ovi couldn't touch him. There's also a guy playing for the Maple Leafs right now who's current goals per game is .65, you might want to keep your eye on him as well.

 

[Al14]

Benoit should never sit another game. Over 17 minutes plus 1 and 9 hits

With me as GM, Keefe sitting Benoit again would be a fire-able offense !!!

 

[56 Years No Cup]

Glad Mathews came back from his vacation.

 

[666]

Hate is your word, not mine. But Ovechkin is a long time fan and supporter of Putin, that's my reason.

As far as greatest goal scorer of all time, that's a matter of opinion. Ovi's goals per game is .59, Gretzky's is .60, Lemieux's is .75. If Lemieux's health was better, Ovi couldn't touch him. There's also a guy playing for the Maple Leafs right now who's current goals per game is .65, you might want to keep your eye on him as well.

Most people hate puking. Different eras. Peak vs career. The guy with number gets the number.

 

[BraveCanadian]

Impressive game by Matthews, Nylander, Domi and a few others. Nice to see Matthews moving the puck a bit lately so he isn’t so predictable.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Just as a point of interest, Mike Bossy (a favorite of mine from way back) has a career goals per game that's even higher than Lemieux's, .76 to be precise. To be fair, he had to retire early because of health issues and had he kept playing, he would surely have declined and that number would have gone down but still, he was a natural born goal scorer, .76 is a very impressive number.

 

[ChurchOfMatthews]

He was the main reason why the Caps got 2 of the goals yesterday though. I like him a lot and didn't think he had a bad game despite the mistakes either. But if Brodie makes those same mistakes, people in here would lose their minds. I do think he should be in the lineup but "never sit another game" is a little much. He's not perfect or anything, but he does hit.

The difference being Brodie makes those mistakes on a nightly basis, isn't physical, can't shoot, can't pass, skates slowly and is a massive defensive liability. I take Benoit 10/10 times on my team.

 

[MarMarSab3]

It was just one game but they looked so good, why not try it for a bit longer? Domi in particular looked great with Matthews, might need to put someone who's better defensively with them but whatever, why not try this and that to see what works? If Domi can work with Matthews then we can put Marner with JT (which has always worked well IMO) and put Nylander on a 3rd line - he's shown he just keeps producing no matter who he plays with.

Remember how we keep getting "outgoalied" in game 7 no matter who the goalie is? Having 3 lines that are dangerous offensively would sure be a very nice thing to have in the playoffs!

So let's put our leading scorer and best playoff performer on the 3rd line?

Domi Matthews Nylander
Bertuzzi Tavares Marner

 

[Fogelhund]

The difference being Brodie makes those mistakes on a nightly basis, isn't physical, can't shoot, can't pass, skates slowly and is a massive defensive liability. I take Benoit 10/10 times on my team.

Brodie has been a very good NHL defenseman for a long time. Easy to respect a guy like that, amongst the elites at defending for much of his career. It's a real shame that he's fallen off the cliff, as his skating declined. I can understand why the loyalty, given the long career, and how well he's played for us previously. I hope that they can put that loyalty and respect aside, and do what is best for the club moving forward. It's not like Brodie is even that old, and I don't know if he can bounce back elsewhere next year... but man, has he declined. Sad to see.