Pre-Game Talk: The Toronto Maple Leafs vs San Jose Sharks

[supermann_98]

I'm assuming no lineup changes tonight, other than Hutch?

This is Keefe we're talking about after all and he mostly only makes lineup changes due to an injury or after dominating a playoff game to go up 3-1.

Since we lost last game and only scored 1 goal I'll assume he's fine with status quo

 

[Twine Tickler]

I am not a huge fan of starting Hutch tonight coming off an OT Loss to NYR, we need to avoid back to back losses as best we can. On the flip side, I also understand the logic of not leaving Hutch out to dry Tmw. I remember a B2B (Boston and Pitt) a couple years back right before Babs got sacked. He played Freddy game 1 because he always loved to leave his backup tendy out to dry on the second half of the B2B. We lost to Boston in the first leg of the B2B, and then got our eyes pumped shut by a rested Pitt team. We dress Kaskisao against Pitt, and completely shattered his confidence.

We may need our goalie to steal us one Tmw, and Soupy is realistically our only hope of doing that for us. And from a confidence standpoint, I think he has proven himself the most to the fanbase, and can handle a potentially bad loss.

All that said, I'd still go with Soupy tonight if it were me. SJ is not just going to lay down for us. There are a 5 players from Ontario in their lineup that will be playing in front of family for the first time in god knows how long, and Barabanov + Reimer "revenge" game narratives. It's not that I think Hutch can't get the job done, and if we lose it likely wont be his fault, but they already have incentives to win. dressing our 3rd stringer when we can dress our 1A is just 1 other thing for them to add to the bulletin board. Not to mention they are 3-0-0. Which of course means nothing in the long term, but right now each of those players are playing like they have 10lb cocks.

Leafs will have to be ready for them. I'm generally an optimistic Leaf fan, but unfortunately I've seen these let down games far far too often with this group. I really hope they go out there and f***ing demand the ice

 

[DraftSchmaft]

Just realized the Sharks goalie is 6'6 and playing well.

Going to need some grease tonight. No traffic or not aiming for goal scorer locations of the net like Panarin will continue the trend: Bottom in the league actual GF, top of the league xGF.

 

[ACC1224]

Myself, fellow fans that I know, general unrest in the media……..yes I understand that the media is the media but generally if there is no market for their narrative it would dry up pretty quick.
Attendance is down so far for the leaf home games.
There is very widespread ridicule on social media about the Leafs success lately and the only way to stop that is for the Leafs to succeed.
Make no mistake about it social media has a profound effect on business and life……unfortunately.
Only time will tell if I’m right or not

I don't see it, sounds more like wishful thinking.

 

[stickty111]

I'm assuming no lineup changes tonight, other than Hutch?

This is Keefe we're talking about after all and he mostly only makes lineup changes due to an injury or after dominating a playoff game to go up 3-1.

Since we lost last game and only scored 1 goal I'll assume he's fine with status quo

I mean he can't really do much unless you want Amadio in.
however I have a feeling Liljegren won't play tomorrow either.

 

[justloveleafs]

wayne gretzky made a great point a few years ago, said goalies are the best athletes on a team now, not the fat boy at the bus stop who cannot skate.

 

[PROUD PAPA]

Just realized the Sharks goalie is 6'6 and playing well.

Going to need some grease tonight. No traffic or not aiming for goal scorer locations of the net like Panarin will continue the trend: Bottom in the league actual GF, top of the league xGF.

Watching the last one i was so irritated by the lack of traffic in front of the net, especially on the PP. How can the coaching staff not see how easy that makes life for the opposing goalie?
Apparently there's a crackdown on crosschecking yet we have less of a net front presence than i've ever seen.

 

[Racer88]

I don't see it, sounds more like wishful thinking.

My first choice is for success this year but if that does not happen I absolutely want Dubas gone.
My definition of success will probably evolve as the season progresses and depending on factors beyond their control such as a run of injuries to significant players

 

[Burnie97]

There's gonna be must win games closer to game 65-70, let's just try and get those points in the bag now so we're not in a difficult situation down the stretch. Hoping that's the mentality this group has. 2 points are 2 points, doesn't matter if they come in game 1, game 10 or game 82, they're all worth the same. Play with that kind of mindset from the beginning.

Yeah forsure. They're all important. Just poking fun at the Habs start.

 

[Niagara Bill]

It's called workload management. It's not a question of a player being soft or hard. You manage your starting goalie's playing time throughout the year to ensure he's not burnt out come playoff time. No team in the league is running the same goalie on the back to back nights without some sort of emergency situation.

I don't actually remember 1967 since I was not born yet. It's 2021 now, you'd do well adjust to the times there Billy boy.

Well guess what. This us an emergency situation.
We are off to a bad start, look awful, it needs to be all hands on deck. Making an excuse to play Hutch, who got cut, when not necessary is not recognizing that every point is needed, even now. This is week one, not week 35. No one is tired and that last I looked Soupy is not a flippin basketball player.
Why not manage Marner, he looks tired and could stand a night home with his girl friend.

 

[Niagara Bill]

Do you really believe this is a Leafs only situation? Why did San Jose start their backup last night?

Hutch is not a back up. He got cut. He is an AHL goalie.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Well guess what. This us an emergency situation.
We are off to a bad start, look awful, it needs to be all hands on deck. Making an excuse to play Hutch, who got cut, when not necessary is not recognizing that every point is needed, even now. This is week one, not week 35. No one is tired and that last I looked Soupy is not a flippin basketball player.
Why not manage Marner, he looks tired and could stand a night home with his girl friend.

Are you lost? This it the Toronto Maple Leafs board, not the Montreal Canadiens board. Only one regulation loss in four games while dominating play for the most part. Could be better but yeah, look at MTL if you want to see what "awful" looks like.

 

[Niagara Bill]

He is the back up for now.

Sounds like your strategy would be to ride Campbell for the entire length of Mrazek's injury. Can't say I think that is a very intelligent approach.

No you play him until he needs a rest, not in the first game after 4 days off. He can play 2 in a row. If he gets 56 shots in game 1 then think about a change, If he gets 18 shots then play him back to back. He is your goalie. Hutch is an AHL goalie....! Use only if necessary. If he is so good why did we get Mazarek.

 

[Niagara Bill]

Are you lost? This it the Toronto Maple Leafs board, not the Montreal Canadiens board. Only one regulation loss in four games while dominating play for the most part. Could be better but yeah, look at MTL if you want to see what "awful" looks like.

We have played nobody...except Rangers and lost. And lost to Ottawa....it is early and time for a coach to send a message that nights off are not acceptable....in any position. Marner has had the whole season off to-date.

 

[Zybalto]

We have played nobody...except Rangers and lost. And lost to Ottawa....it is early and time for a coach to send a message that nights off are not acceptable....in any position. Marner has had the whole season off to-date.

No better time to send a message than after dominating a team right?

Especially Marner. Who cares if he sits at the second most individual scoring chances created in the league at the moment. He must be made to pay!

 

[1specter]

We have played nobody...except Rangers and lost. And lost to Ottawa....it is early and time for a coach to send a message that nights off are not acceptable....in any position. Marner has had the whole season off to-date.

So do you think Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers will be cup finalists?

 

[zeke]

We are off to a bad start,

.625pts% (103pt pace)

look awful,

57.1xgf% all situations

 

[LaPlante94]

We haven't been awful because we've been controlling every game and averaging over 40 shots a game. It is a bit concerning our stars are struggling to score but at least they are getting chances so I won't be too concerned yet. I don't usually get concerned until after January and see us losing games the same way where the other team just shuts down the slot and we have no idea what to do. Hopefully this year is different when teams do that more that late in the season. I think we got more players who can play that greasy kind of hockey now around the net so lets pray.

 

[zeke]

We haven't been awful because we've been controlling every game and averaging over 40 shots a game. It is a bit concerning our stars are struggling to score but at least they are getting chances so I won't be too concerned yet. I don't usually get concerned until after January and see us losing games the same way where the other team just shuts down the slot and we have no idea what to do. Hopefully this year is different when teams do that more that late in the season. I think we got more players who can play that greasy kind of hockey now around the net so lets pray.

To be fair, we have had one bad game against the Sens where we were defined poor.

I was hoping that was just dead legs from playing their first back to back game in months...and based on the two games since then it looks like that may have been it.

 

[TMLife17]

We have played nobody...except Rangers and lost. And lost to Ottawa....it is early and time for a coach to send a message that nights off are not acceptable....in any position. Marner has had the whole season off to-date.

Not gonna lie when Keefe is upset he is still smiling. Lack of accountability is rising

 

[egd27]

We have played nobody...except Rangers and lost. And lost to Ottawa....it is early and time for a coach to send a message that nights off are not acceptable....in any position. Marner has had the whole season off to-date.

11 days and.....

 

[Zybalto]

To be fair, we have had one bad game against the Sens where we were defined poor.

I was hoping that was just dead legs from playing their first back to back game in months...and based on the two games since then it looks like that may have been it.

Yea, looked like tired legs against a fresh team in their first game and it ultimately devolved into sloppy back and forth hockey we don't really see from this team.....and the Leafs still won the shot and xGF% battle by the end.

 

[Joufreau]

Well guess what. This us an emergency situation.
We are off to a bad start, look awful, it needs to be all hands on deck. Making an excuse to play Hutch, who got cut, when not necessary is not recognizing that every point is needed, even now. This is week one, not week 35. No one is tired and that last I looked Soupy is not a flippin basketball player.
Why not manage Marner, he looks tired and could stand a night home with his girl friend.

Clearly we have not been watching the same games...since when is a 2-1-1 start a "bad start"??

What does basketball have anything to do with it??

Someone else mentioned it in this thread but Hutch gets a lot of hate for no reason really, his stats last year were pretty good especially considering he's our number 3.

Marner does look tired. Finally, something we agree on.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

I'm assuming no lineup changes tonight, other than Hutch?

This is Keefe we're talking about after all and he mostly only makes lineup changes due to an injury or after dominating a playoff game to go up 3-1.

Since we lost last game and only scored 1 goal I'll assume he's fine with status quo

Well put. Liljegren should be playing games as well, but if Keefe isn’t going to give him NHL games I would rather he plays in the AHL, he has missed too much game time already.

 

[Twine Tickler]

The Boys have played well enough to win every game this year. They had a sleepy 1st against Ottawa and that has been probably their only period all year where they were not the dominate team. I am concerned that the puck isn't going in. But if the play continues as it has been, we will win far more games than we lose. Even in our worst game against OTT, it took 3 bone headed plays, all of which resulting in a goal against, for the Sens to beat us. We fell asleep for the 1st, and ultimately lost the game. Because that's how things work in the NHL.

I am actually quite OK with the boy's start TBH. I'd like them to make a statement tonight and go into PITT and show why they are the powerhouse they think they are. Big game tonight IMO. You can't lose this one. Because you go into Pitt on short rest, playing a team on 3 days rest, and then go onward to play a very tough CAR team. If you lose this 1 tonight, it is not crazy to think the boys will drop the next 2 thereafter. You gotta get 2 tonight.

I may not like the Hutch start here for that reason alone, but as previous posters have said, he has been actually really solid for us the last year. No reason to think he wont be able to shut the door. I just find it ironic how in hockey the most commonly thrown around cliché is "take it 1 game at a time", yet we are clearly looking ahead to tmw by resting Jack tonight.

but c'est la vie, get the 2 tonight, and I will gladly admit I was dead ass wrong on my stance!