Post-Game Talk: The Leafs were undefeated this season when leading after two. Until tonight. Habs win 2-1!

[dinodebino]

KK was terrible yesterday. Has been for a small while. But he was dominant at the dot yesterday. I believe he won like 60-70% of his draws.

I heard someone mention this (or did I read it?) about his .5 second slow reaction to plays when in possession of the puck this season, specially in the latter games : when you're a passer, always been a passer first, and coaches want to change your DNA by asking you to shoot more, you get mixed up. And you hesitate, because your instincts say one thing and your directives say another. You become tentative.

You remember when Jacques Demers criticized Vinny Damphousse publicly by saying : un moment donné, il doit la mettre dedans? Well, Vinny did say in later interviews that he was a passer first and that this added pressure to score played in his head. And Vinny was a cup winning veteran! Imagine a 20 year old...

KK should stick to what he knows best, which is pass. And give him a sniper. Not some 4th line players.

For now, put Tatar on his wing. And ride it for a while.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

KK was terrible yesterday. Has been for a small while. But he was dominant at the dot yesterday. I believe he won like 60-70% of his draws.

I heard someone mention this (or did I read it?) about his .5 second slow reaction to plays when in possession of the puck this season, specially in the latter games : when you're a passer, always been a passer first, and coaches want to change your DNA by asking you to shoot more, you get mixed up. And you hesitate, because your instincts say one thing and your directives say another. You become tentative.

You remember when Jacques Demers criticized Vinny Damphousse publicly by saying : un moment donné, il doit la mettre dedans? Well, Vinny did say in later interviews that he was a passer first and that this added pressure to score played in his head. And Vinny was a cup winning veteran! Imagine a 20 year old...

KK should stick to what he knows best, which is pass. And give him a sniper. Not some 4th line players.

For now, put Tatar on his wing. And ride it for a while.

He's got a wicked shot. I'd like him to use it more.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

The irony? By saying any good goalie could make those saves if they...... played well? Heres the real question, do you think we lose last night if Allen is in net?

When Price plays well people do fawn all over him. During the restart last summer you best believe I was all in everyone's ear about Carey, and I live in the GTA so if I talk shit I gotta hope he backs me up. By the same token if hes trash, I take it back equally hard. I'll admit I hate that contract but every bad game he has it reaffirms that I'm right to hate it, he needs to earn that salary or he's gonna have a tough time from a lot of fans. Do you think that's unfair?

And come on man if you're trying to say McDavid isnt a game breaker but Price is it makes every point you'll ever make no matter how correct it might be so much weaker. Why even bother saying that McDavid will probably end up as one of the best players to ever live.

His point with McDavid is that no one player can win it by himself. If McDavid can't do it, nobody can.

 

[dinodebino]

He's got a wicked shot. I'd like him to use it more.

Ok Claude.

But maybe he should regain confidence first by playing by instincts. I hate coaches who try to model a player instead of letting the player gain confidence within his main strength.
He's right now cognizant of his shooting competence. But first and foremost, he's incognizant of his passing competence. Because he masters it more. He was drafted for this trait. Let him use it. This is where a more cerebral coach could work wonders with him. Play to your strength. And hone the other skills in practice. Become incognizant of your newly found competence. Right now, I do believe he thinks too much.

 

[Ozmodiar]

Drink Vodka or no balls

lol

 

[Habs Icing]

Yeah, Gallagher, Julien, Sportsnet... all are wrong.

Competent game.

This is a post coming from someone who accused the defenders of the P.K. trade of deferring to authority when they brought up all the experts who thought the trade was great for the Habs. To quote the Simpsons the ironing is delicious.

 

[Stive Morgan]

He's got a wicked shot. I'd like him to use it more.

I'd like all our players to shoot more instead of making dumb passes that get broken up by a stick or skate

 

[Habs Icing]

He certainly kept them in it early in game. Posts helped too. As did the Leafs simply misfiring once or twice.
everyone will have different definition of ‘stole’.

What's your definition of keeping them in the game? Not soiling the bed in the first half of the game? I don't remember any stellar saves. He played well. I'll grant you that. But there was no larceny last night.

He has played so poorly since the beginning of the season that now when he plays a decent game he supposedly stole it for us.

 

[Kriss E]

What nice defensive plays?
That's the whole thing, that position is a lie advanced by people who like him but can't come to admit he sucks at all 200 feet ( he's doing a crack up job of proving that in the offensive zone).

Well I agree. He's useless if not producing.

 

[le_sean]

What's your definition of keeping them in the game? Not soiling the bed in the first half of the game? I don't remember any stellar saves. He played well. I'll grant you that. But there was no larceny last night.

He has played so poorly since the beginning of the season that now when he plays a decent game he supposedly stole it for us.

He made huge saves in the 1st. I’m all about criticizing Price for his subpar play this season but he was great last night to keep the game at 1-0. This includes a huge blocker save when Matthews had a clear shot at the top corner on a rush, a shot that gets by most goalies.

 

[River Meadow]

What's your definition of keeping them in the game? Not soiling the bed in the first half of the game? I don't remember any stellar saves. He played well. I'll grant you that. But there was no larceny last night.

He has played so poorly since the beginning of the season that now when he plays a decent game he supposedly stole it for us.

I agree with this.

It's also important to keep in mind leafs forwards literally missed the net in some point blank chances in 1st period. He faced 22 shots, and made 21 saves.

While Price deserves credit for a well played game, he didn't outright steal this game.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

This is a post coming from someone who accused the defenders of the P.K. trade of deferring to authority when they brought up all the experts who thought the trade was great for the Habs. To quote the Simpsons the ironing is delicious.

The defenders of that trade ignored empircal evidence and tried to substitute 'expert opinion' as proof of something.

In this case, I didn’t offer them as proof, it's reinforcement of the stats we had last night. There’s a difference man.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I'd like all our players to shoot more instead of making dumb passes that get broken up by a stick or skate

Yeah, fair enough. KK in particular though has a great shot and doesn’t use it enough.

 

[Kriss E]

The irony? By saying any good goalie could make those saves if they...... played well? Heres the real question, do you think we lose last night if Allen is in net?

Irony because you say you don't disparage but right after saying he played well you diminish it claiming any good goalie would have done the same.
Maybe we win with Allen, maybe not. Goalies aren't interchangeable robots. Leafs hit the posts a few times, that's usually a result of positioning, just those shots alone could have resulted differently based on size alone.
Goalies have different tendencies, reflexes, strengths, weaknesses, Price played well, especially when the team in front was sleeping at the wheel. They recovered and pulled the W out.
Would Vasilevski have won the game? Maybe, maybe not. Nobody ever claimed Price is the only goalie who keeps his team in games. That's neither here nor there, point is Price stepped up and had a great game. Kudos to him. Nothing more to add.

When Price plays well people do fawn all over him. During the restart last summer you best believe I was all in everyone's ear about Carey, and I live in the GTA so if I talk shit I gotta hope he backs me up. By the same token if hes trash, I take it back equally hard. I'll admit I hate that contract but every bad game he has it reaffirms that I'm right to hate it, he needs to earn that salary or he's gonna have a tough time from a lot of fans. Do you think that's unfair?

I'm not a fan of the contract either, wanted Price traded actually, but that's irrelevant. He will have weaker performances, as do any other top goalie. Is his contract an issue? I don't think so. There's 80M in space and he's still an excellent goalie.

And come on man if you're trying to say McDavid isnt a game breaker but Price is it makes every point you'll ever make no matter how correct it might be so much weaker. Why even bother saying that McDavid will probably end up as one of the best players to ever live.

No. My point is Price being a 20% gamebreaker means nothing. It's a % you pulled out of nowhere.
He's part of the elite goalies, his start was slow this year, as it's happened before, but yesterday he did very well. That's it.

 

[Stive Morgan]

Yeah, fair enough. KK in particular though has a great shot and doesn’t use it enough.

I agree absolutely

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Ok Claude.

But maybe he should regain confidence first by playing by instincts. I hate coaches who try to model a player instead of letting the player gain confidence within his main strength.
He's right now cognizant of his shooting competence. But first and foremost, he's incognizant of his passing competence. Because he masters it more. He was drafted for this trait. Let him use it. This is where a more cerebral coach could work wonders with him. Play to your strength. And hone the other skills in practice. Become incognizant of your newly found competence. Right now, I do believe he thinks too much.

He might be hesitant. His coach doesn't seem to have confidence in him and he knows it. I don't know...

His shooting percentage is at 3% or something ridiculous too.

 

[Habs Icing]

The defenders of that trade ignored empircal evidence and tried to substitute 'expert opinion' as proof of something.

In this case, I didn’t offer them as proof, it's reinforcement of the stats we had last night. There’s a difference man.

Stats? What stats. He faced 22 shots and saved 21 of them.

Here is a video of all the highlights for last night's game. Please point out to me the game-stealing saves he made. Unless you think the posts getting in the way of Leaf shots or Matthews missing the net on a breakaway as Price's game stealing saves.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Stats? What stats. He faced 22 shots and saved 21 of them.

Thanks for asking.

Price's Save percentage: .955
HDCF% - Leafs 1st period 67%
- Leafs 2nd period 60%
- Habs 3rd period 80%

Montreal was out of this game until they scored a goal and then decided to show up. They only win this game if Price shuts the door in the first two thirds of this game. The fact that our coach, our players, their players, Sportsnet and the Gazette all called this a steal simply reinforces what you should've already been able to see yourself.

Have a good night.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Apologies if it's already been posted:

 

[Dharvey08]

I agree that Price was stellar in the first period when the leafs were all over the habs.
It could have gotten out of hand Fast and he kept us in.
I think we still know he is a good goalie but he is severely lacking consistency and the reason for that is his age.
If Price was 30 I wouldn’t be concerned one bit but he is going on 34 now, he’s clearly in the last few years of his career wether we like it or not

 

[sandviper]

Stats? What stats. He faced 22 shots and saved 21 of them.

Here is a video of all the highlights for last night's game. Please point out to me the game-stealing saves he made. Unless you think the posts getting in the way of Leaf shots or Matthews missing the net on a breakaway as Price's game stealing saves.

I don’t think he stole the game but he kept us in it. End of the day, a win is a win. I get there were plenty of games to pick from to criticize Price this season, but Saturday night wasn’t one of them.

I just hope he and the team builds on this.

 

[Saundies]

Stats? What stats. He faced 22 shots and saved 21 of them.

Here is a video of all the highlights for last night's game. Please point out to me the game-stealing saves he made. Unless you think the posts getting in the way of Leaf shots or Matthews missing the net on a breakaway as Price's game stealing saves.

1:52 - 1:57 and 3:10 - 3:18. Those are both skilled plays by their best players.

Marner's first chance he walks in all alone, changing angles of the shot to his backhand (which is unpredictable for a goalie) and Price gets over and makes the save. If that goes in, it's all of the sudden 2-0 Leafs early, and doubt creeps in on a team that hasn't scored in over 60 minutes + that they can come back.

Matthews' chance on the PP is one that he's scored on Price multiple times, the catch-and-release top corner shot. Price knows that and was ready for it, which is why the save is routine. Doesn't mean it's any less impressive, it means Price made an adjustment and stopped it this time.

Just because he wasn't flopping around making "other worldly saves" doesn't mean he didn't keep us in this game. If either of those two goals go in, we don't win. Guaranteed.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I agree that Price was stellar in the first period when the leafs were all over the habs.
It could have gotten out of hand Fast and he kept us in.
I think we still know he is a good goalie but he is severely lacking consistency and the reason for that is his age.
If Price was 30 I wouldn’t be concerned one bit but he is going on 34 now, he’s clearly in the last few years of his career wether we like it or not

Believe it or not, Price right now has the best numbers in the league at high danger chances. He’s been really good in that regard. He’s getting killed on the penalty kill where his numbers are flat out bad. He’s also had unforced errors where he’s let in a few goals this year where he shouldn’t.

I don’t think either of those things are due to age. He needs to tighten up on the floaters. That can’t happen with the regularity it has so far in this early stage of the season. The penalty kill is another story...

 

[Lshap]

Believe it or not, Price right now has the best numbers in the league at high danger chances. He’s been really good in that regard. He’s getting killed on the penalty kill where his numbers are flat out bad. He’s also had unforced errors where he’s let in a few goals this year where he shouldn’t.

I don’t think either of those things are due to age. He needs to tighten up on the floaters. That can’t happen with the regularity it has so far in this early stage of the season. The penalty kill is another story...

Didn't know about the high danger shots. That's good news, because it's evidence that Price's weaker starts are due to his normal mental lapses, not physical decline. He's always needed a few weeks to get his head straight, which is bad news during those few weeks, but good news for the remainder of the season as he becomes stronger. Luckily, Allen's been terrific -- he's probably rescued two or three wins that would've been lost if a still-struggling Price or another backup was in nets.

 

[azcanuck]

Price was very good in this game, arguably the difference. Probably the first time this year he has done that. Not what you'd expect out of a 10 million dollar "elite" player. I put elite in paranthesis because he's not elite anymore. Just like Markstrom stood on his head and beat us a couple of weeks ago most NHL goalies can have great nights.
I hope this is a string of very good/great starts for Price. "He's a slow starter" says the worshippers. Well if you call three years of play a slow start you are correct.