Post-Game Talk: Not good enough Bruins win 3-2

[Mess]

Leafs played a decent game last night and put a pretty good fight.

Bruins didn't need to play overaly physical and Leafs sustain some solid Ozone pressure and cycle game at times.

The loss means however now the Bruins own the tie breaker so Leafs will need to finish ahead of them on points on the season to earn Home Ice advantage in what is shaping up to be another 1st round matchup.

 

[Nineteen67]

If they get beat bad again by Tampa will the game plan be to try and face the Caps /Pens?
Or
One of the best things for the growth these young players might be to miss the playoffs entirely.

 

[justafan22]

One of the best things for the growth these young players might be to miss the playoffs entirely.

??

If they miss the playoffs, that's a huge mark on the org. You don't sign Tavares to miss the playoffs.

 

[Pookie]

You can tear apart "moral victories", particularly when it comes to Boston, but for the most part I loved our game.

That was the "heaviest" we've played, our jam was fantastic. The Kadri line was buzzing all night, down low winning battles, great compete. AJ with eye popping tenacity, that was his best game of the season for me, that's playoff hockey. The Tavares line played well. Hutch was fine, he held firm at the beginning when we were a mess and actually made some good saves, last goal a slight odour. Dermott was fantastic, so smart in tight quarters, again playofff hockey.

We failed because we lost a man here and there and we missed scoring opportunities. Gards and Zaitsev were a nightmare, that's fair criticism. Apart from that, the way we played actually excited me, and showed we can play a tougher style. We lost the battle, but I feel better about the war.

Back to the sky is falling....

The Kadri line was indeed buzzing. Kadri himself looked engaged.

What’s troubling is that they drew the B’s 4th line. We should expect Nylander and Kadri to dominate that match up.

Kuraly had a 3 point night. Marleau was -3. Kadri and Nylander got off the ice in time to escape -2.

Kadri had a PP assist. Nylander and Marleau were shut out at EV.

We’ve invested $18 Million in cap hit in that line. They all need to play better and produce, particularly against a 4th line

 

[Nineteen67]

??

If they miss the playoffs, that's a huge mark on the org. You don't sign Tavares to miss the playoffs.

They may not have much choice in the matter......

 

[justafan22]

They may not have much choice in the matter......

If they miss the playoffs, there's a non zero chance a coaching change happens.

 

[DarkKnight]

The Kadri line was indeed buzzing. Kadri himself looked engaged.

What’s troubling is that they drew the B’s 4th line. We should expect Nylander and Kadri to dominate that match up.

Kuraly had a 3 point night. Marleau was -3. Kadri and Nylander got off the ice in time to escape -2.

Kadri had a PP assist. Nylander and Marleau were shut out at EV.

We’ve invested $18 Million in cap hit in that line. They all need to play better and produce, particularly against a 4th line

Fair point on matchups.

 

[Nineteen67]

If they miss the playoffs, there's a non zero chance a coaching change happens.

If he doesn’t get input, or there is a conflict, into the roster changes, then maybe.

But my post was more about humbling the players and making the a little hungrier.

 

[WilliamNylander]

I am in no way pinning the loss on Hutch.....but if Rask was in the Toronto net and Hutch was in the Boston net, what do people think the outcome would have been?

(read the 1st 10 words again)

You are very right about that. If Rask didn't stand on his head in the first period and a half, we could've had 3-4 goals. Lots of high danger scoring chances in the first half of the game.

 

[zeke]

we should be happy with this game, even if the result was annoying. we play like this and we beat them come playoff time.

 

[justafan22]

If he doesn’t get input, or there is a conflict, into the roster changes, then maybe.

But my post was more about humbling the players and making the a little hungrier.

Ah, fair enough. But there's been enough smoke (the matthews meeting last summer, being chief among them) to think that anything could be on the table outside of trading matthews/tavares

 

[Clark4Ever]

We outplayed them. Rask was better than Hutch, and we missed too many golden opportunities.

We really need Matthews to regain his form, and soon.

 

[Suntouchable13]

We are getting nothing from Lindholm, Goat, Brown those are 4th liners, fine. But we are also getting nothing from Marleau and Willy and that's a problem. Too many passengers. A goal here and there from a 4th liner or Willy and Marleau wouldn't be expecting too much.

 

[Suntouchable13]

If they get beat bad again by Tampa will the game plan be to try and face the Caps /Pens?
Or
One of the best things for the growth these young players might be to miss the playoffs entirely.

Yea, amazing growth to get squeezed out of a playoff spot by Montreal, Buffalo, NYI. Amazing. Missing the playoffs is not good at all. It's not like there are good teams behind us. It would be a huge step back. And then you have to hand out big contracts to Matthews and Marner anyway? It would be a disaster and don't try to spin it as "growth".

 

[Clark4Ever]

Matthews better not get paid a dime more than JT. Guy has failed to show up in big games for us since he came back from injuries last season down the stretch. Even after he talked the talk about having to be ready he was basically a total non factor all game looking mostly invisible. Can't hit ****.

These greedy ****s are going to ruin the team. Trade them all.

When Matthews is scoring at his usual pace, it compensates for his shortcomings. When he's not, he looks like a potential anchor with his anticipated salary beyond this season.

I hate to say it, but he is playing like one of the softest big centres in the league. How can he be a factor in the playoffs if he can't win any puck battles or take a hit to make the right play?

 

[Notsince67]

The Kadri line was indeed buzzing. Kadri himself looked engaged.

What’s troubling is that they drew the B’s 4th line. We should expect Nylander and Kadri to dominate that match up.

Kuraly had a 3 point night. Marleau was -3. Kadri and Nylander got off the ice in time to escape -2.

Kadri had a PP assist. Nylander and Marleau were shut out at EV.

We’ve invested $18 Million in cap hit in that line. They all need to play better and produce, particularly against a 4th line

They played well except in the dzone. I think it is trust issues. They need to be kept together to work this out

 

[Notsince67]

we should be happy with this game, even if the result was annoying. we play like this and we beat them come playoff time.

I think they can get a lot better. Would like to see the leafs stick with some stable lines for the players to work things out.

 

[Liminality]

Yea, amazing growth to get squeezed out of a playoff spot by Montreal, Buffalo, NYI. Amazing. Missing the playoffs is not good at all. It's not like there are good teams behind us. It would be a huge step back. And then you have to hand out big contracts to Matthews and Marner anyway? It would be a disaster and don't try to spin it as "growth".

Hoping to miss the playoffs to teach some kids a lesson is crazy talk.

100% of the time you want them learning in the playoffs.

 

[therealkoho]

I am going to celebrate when marleau retires

we don't want him to retire, we need him to come to an agreement for mutual termination and then he can retire!

the jake giveth and the jake taketh away

Andersen might have made the difference though, although Hutch played quite well and is in no way responsible for the L...let's move on and go forward

 

[Mess]

If he doesn’t get input, or there is a conflict, into the roster changes, then maybe.

But my post was more about humbling the players and making the a little hungrier.

The problem being that humbling them wouldn't make them bigger, stronger more physical and better defensively.

Your point would more directed at the GM as a learning experience and his team building skills by adding JT and still missing the playoffs, by not addressing the teams weaknesses that other teams exploit.

The Bruins tonight's opponent can play big, heavy, physical and defensive (clogging up the middle and disrupting the Leafs attack) or go head to head offensively.. Our Leafs can really only play 1 way and that is fast and offensively skilled hoping to outscore their flaws.

Back in November the Bruins beat the Leafs 5-1 by clogging up the middle of the ice and disrupting the Leafs rush and their top line overpowered the Leafs. In Dec an injury riddled Bruins missing key stars like Bergeron and Chara turned up the physical meter to high and chased Andersen and the Leafs out of the building 6-3. Yesterday with a healthy line-up they decided to play the Leafs at their own game and exchange scoring chances but force the Leafs defense core particularity Zaitsev and Gardiner into mistakes while their 4th line did most to the damage as top 2 lines cancelled each other out.

The Bruins are better equipped for the playoffs because they can use many different style game plans which matches up against all sorts of opposition including shutting down the Leafs offense when they want to. We all know the playoffs get tighter checking and less time and space and plays right into a team like the Bruins hands when it comes to slowing down the Leafs offense.

 

[Cap'n Flavour]

Let's just face some things, like this: there are three defensemen on this team that are weak links -- Zaitsev, Gardiner, and Hainsey. ... Ozhaganov is a pleasant surprise -- very steady. Keep him....

If Gardiner's a weak link then Ozhiganov is a stale pretzel.

 

[Nineteen67]

Ah, fair enough. But there's been enough smoke (the matthews meeting last summer, being chief among them) to think that anything could be on the table outside of trading matthews/tavares

The Matthews trade will likely happen over accepting 4 first round picks.

 

[Hurt]

If they get beat bad again by Tampa will the game plan be to try and face the Caps /Pens?
Or
One of the best things for the growth these young players might be to miss the playoffs entirely.

Please explain.

 

[Mess]

If Gardiner's a weak link then Ozhiganov is a stale pretzel.

Rielly and Dermott were the only 2 Leafs Dmen that could be trusted yesterday, the other 4 ran around like chickens with their heads cut off at times and tossing the puck away when pressured.

Dermott impressed me most yesterday as his play seemed to increase as the game went on while others struggled.

 

[Nineteen67]

Yea, amazing growth to get squeezed out of a playoff spot by Montreal, Buffalo, NYI. Amazing. Missing the playoffs is not good at all. It's not like there are good teams behind us. It would be a huge step back. And then you have to hand out big contracts to Matthews and Marner anyway? It would be a disaster and don't try to spin it as "growth".

It would not be consider good at all. But It’s not like the Leafs are light years ahead of those teams. 4 points is a bad week.