Series Talk: North Division Round 1: Leafs (1) vs. Canadiens (4)

[Superstar]

Depends, if Price does something insane I could understand us losing. I'd hate it but I could understand it and wouldn't want management to take a hatchet to the team

Getting goalied is one thing, it happens, underperformance is another matter entirely however

I don't think this team will have any excuses if the Habs take 4 games from them...chances are, their special teams would have sucked if that happened, which is inexcusable...and they need to find a way to beat the Habs, and it doesn't matter how Price plays...this is their year to at the very least make it beyond round 1.

 

[egd27]

Basically when Marner has the puck, which is most of the time,

Perhaps it's time for a new PP role for Mitch?

 

[Eternal Leaf]

The only one that are actually from the GTA are Tavares, Marner, Hyman, Spezza, Simmonds, and Dermott.

Contrary to what some Torontonians think, the GTA does not cover all of southwestern Ontario.

Thornton is from London, ON (~190 km from Toronto)
Brodie is from Chatham, ON (~290 km)
Muzzin is from Woodstock, ON (~140 km)

And kinda Foligno???? Sudbury is ~400 km from Toronto! He's closer to the GTA if you consider his birthplace of Buffalo (~160 km). Heck Ben Hutton's birthplace of Brockville ON (~340 km) and Jack Campbell's hometown of Port Huron, MI (296 km) are both closer than Sudbury.

I think a better point would be this is a rare time where so many of the players were Leafs fans growing up.

Tavares, Marner, Hyman, Spezza, Dermott, Thornton, Brodie, Muzzin, Rielly, and Foligno (cause of his dad) were Leafs fans as kids.

Simmonds was a Red Wings fan and Hutton was an Avalanche fan.

It doesn't really matter but definitely unique to see.

 

[Gallagbi]

Perhaps it's time for a new PP role for Mitch?

Not sure what you mean or what role you think he's in

 

[budzz]

To be fair, I luv Mitch, but he tends to be the go-to guy on his unit. Everything pretty much goes through him, and it isn't working. For whatever reason, too predictable maybe. Remember the old days Gretzky would set up behind the net? That was "Gretzky's office". You really don't see that as much now, but with his passing ability and vision? Hmmm....

 

[egd27]

Not sure what you mean or what role you think he's in

He's the defacto QB of the power play. Rielly may play the point, but Marner is the one looking to make the play more often than not.

 

[Gallagbi]

He's the defacto QB of the power play. Rielly may play the point, but Marner is the one looking to make the play more often than not.

Where else would you go? Nylander?

 

[Gardiner]

Where else would you go? Nylander?

Rasmus

 

[Gallagbi]

Rasmus

He can play on the PP, but no chance he's "QB'ing" it with Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares. You run the powerplay through them, not Sandin if he's there.

 

[egd27]

Where else would you go? Nylander?

Maybe.
Whatever they're doing now hasn't been working for some time, perhaps a radical change is required.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Keefe might be wise to beef up the bottom 6.

Folign,Hyman,Nash,Mikheyev,Kerfoot,Galchenyuk. These guys are my preferred Bottom Six. They can be a heavy presence shift after shift at both ends and the neutral zone. I really think mixing the vets in the top end could work.

Spezza,Simmonds,Thornton might bring more placed in the top 6 somehow. Putting all our older vets as a fourth line looks like a bad idea.

 

[Kiwi]

I don't think this team will have any excuses if the Habs take 4 games from them...chances are, their special teams would have sucked if that happened, which is inexcusable...and they need to find a way to beat the Habs, and it doesn't matter how Price plays...this is their year to at the very least make it beyond round 1.

Good teams get beaten by worse teams because a goaltender stood on his head, I'm not going to lose my mind because Price has a miracle left in him

 

[nuck]

Good teams get beaten by worse teams because a goaltender stood on his head, I'm not going to lose my mind because Price has a miracle left in him

Unfortunately it won't take a miracle to beat the Leafs. Campbell is south of .890 sv% in his last 4 games and 3 of those were against the Habs. He has been weak 6 of the last 12 games. If you want to pile on and blame a couple of those on the skaters fine but he doesn't inspire much confidence in me. He has been Jekyll and Hyde this year which is fine when he is replacing Andersen who is Hyde all the time but there are a whole bunch of goalies who are going into the playoffs hot rather than backing in. He needs to find another gear or it is no different than the last few playoffs where they only lose the goaltending battle but that costs them the series. I don't see any options now and this team has shown the ability to limit chances like it hasn't in years so I think they have a good shot to get by but Campbell has to pick it up.

 

[Superstar]

Good teams get beaten by worse teams because a goaltender stood on his head, I'm not going to lose my mind because Price has a miracle left in him

Good teams also find ways to win...nobody is going to be happy if they draw blanks again like they did against the Blue Jackets last year...it's going to be unacceptable if they lose to the Habs this year.

 

[PromisedLand]

Campbell won't be on a short leash this isn't Babcock. Keefe is very forward thinking. Anderson only comes out if we need to pull Campbell from a game. Campbell will be in the net the very next game. Have faith Leafs fans.

Not if Andersen coming in wins the game for the Leafs

 

[Menzinger]

Unfortunately it won't take a miracle to beat the Leafs. Campbell is south of .890 sv% in his last 4 games and 3 of those were against the Habs. He has been weak 6 of the last 12 games. If you want to pile on and blame a couple of those on the skaters fine but he doesn't inspire much confidence in me. He has been Jekyll and Hyde this year which is fine when he is replacing Andersen who is Hyde all the time but there are a whole bunch of goalies who are going into the playoffs hot rather than backing in. He needs to find another gear or it is no different than the last few playoffs where they only lose the goaltending battle but that costs them the series. I don't see any options now and this team has shown the ability to limit chances like it hasn't in years so I think they have a good shot to get by but Campbell has to pick it up.

Conversely, he's finishing the season with only three losses, and 2/3 have happened after the team clinched the playoffs and the teams skaters have stopped playing to their best while waiting for the playoffs

 

[egd27]

Good teams get beaten by worse teams because a goaltender stood on his head, I'm not going to lose my mind because Price has a miracle left in him

That's a very level headed approach.

However, if this team doesn't get past the Habs, it's time to admit this isn't the right core and start making some fairly significant changes.

 

[kevsh]

Campbell is south of .890 sv% in his last 4 games and 3 of those were against the Habs. He has been weak 6 of the last 12 games.

You're cherry-picking: He's been above .900 in 6 of his last 8, 5 of those .910 and higher. It was the 4 games prior to that he put up bad numbers. Besides, during those last ~8 games the Leafs had little to play for, yet he still did reasonably well behind an unmotivated team.

 

[Brobust]

Unfortunately it won't take a miracle to beat the Leafs. Campbell is south of .890 sv% in his last 4 games and 3 of those were against the Habs. He has been weak 6 of the last 12 games. If you want to pile on and blame a couple of those on the skaters fine but he doesn't inspire much confidence in me. He has been Jekyll and Hyde this year which is fine when he is replacing Andersen who is Hyde all the time but there are a whole bunch of goalies who are going into the playoffs hot rather than backing in. He needs to find another gear or it is no different than the last few playoffs where they only lose the goaltending battle but that costs them the series. I don't see any options now and this team has shown the ability to limit chances like it hasn't in years so I think they have a good shot to get by but Campbell has to pick it up.

I'm pretty pessimistic about the leafs and this is definitely not how they lose.

Cambell is, at a minimum, league average.

If the leafs lose this series it would be based on the other team's goaltending and their own shooting talent. Which is entirely possible, it happened just last season.

 

[Willchel Marlynder]

Good teams get beaten by worse teams because a goaltender stood on his head, I'm not going to lose my mind because Price has a miracle left in him

Nope not for this team. Price standing on his head will not be a legitimate excuse. You don't pay guys like JT, Matthews, and Marner ~11M+ to be blanked by goalies and continue the trend of not getting out of the first round. Especially when this will be our weakest first round opponent yet.

Good on you if you'll be able to stay cool. If we lose to the Habs for any reason but *knock on wood* tough injury luck I will not and I'd want to see some big changes from Dubas. If this team can't even make it out of the first round in this scenario the team is deeply flawed and just isn't built for playoff hockey.

 

[Stonehands1990]

He can play on the PP, but no chance he's "QB'ing" it with Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares. You run the powerplay through them, not Sandin if he's there.

Rielly is zero shooting threat. Whenever the puck heads his way the other team already knows to just cover the other four guys and pressure them when the pass from Rielly shows up

 

[Brobust]

Rielly is zero shooting threat. Whenever the puck heads his way the other team already knows to just cover the other four guys and pressure them when the pass from Rielly shows up

There may be 4-5 point shot threats in the NHL total.

That's just not part of his job.

 

[IPS]

There may be 4-5 point shot threats in the NHL total.

That's just not part of his job.

What exactly is your standard for a point shot threat? There's way more than 4-5.

Werenski
Makar
Petry
Theodore
Krug
Burns
Hamilton

And that's just off the top of my head. Leafs sincerely lack this element to their offense.

 

[Brobust]

What exactly is your standard for a point shot threat? There's way more than 4-5.

Werenski
Makar
Petry
Theodore
Krug
Burns
Hamilton

And that's just off the top of my head. Leafs sincerely lack this element to their offense.

Outside of Makar and Hamilton, who is part of an effective PP?

I should have been clearer. My point was that guys shooting from the point aren't effective. Peak Leafs PP was Marner throwing the puck to the front of the net and having JVR/Kadri/Bozak whack away.

The leafs currently use Nylander and Tavares. Nylander doesn't touch the puck unless it goes behind the net. Tavares doesn't touch the puck at all.

 

[Brown Dog]

Has anyone confirmed that Andersen will be the backup for Game 1?