Pre-Game Talk: Tuesday - Leafs @ Penguins - 7:00pm

[MSZ]

The guy that should be sitting is Dermott

Agreed. Dermott is this year's Nylander. He has been totally off without a full training camp.

 

[Cor]

Wouldn't it have made more sense to rest him in the last game then?

I don’t think it matters either way. Tima and Gauthier played Saturday as well. Korshkov’s adrenaline of his first game could give things a boost, and he did score.

As long as he plays Thursday it’s not the end of the world.

The concerning thing to me is Gauthier on Line 3 lmao

 

[SnizzNasty88]

I’m expecting nothing less than an absolute beat down tonight, but hopefully I’m wrong. The clock is ticking on pencil neck Dubas and his stat geeks to get a real defenseman.

 

[TheDoldrums]

Their fans are flocking back to the main boards to be smug once again, after seeing almost none of them all of Oct-Dec.

It pains me that there is a pretty good possibility Boston and Tampa will meet in the 2nd round, guaranteeing one in the ECF.

I've never met a Tampa fan IRL so I really don't care what they do.

I just don't want Boston or another Canadian team to win.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I like the lineup choices. I think it is worth a shot. Marincin is not much, but what he brings is more of what the Leafs need to bring: Simple efficient plays from the back end and shot suppression. Hopefully that inspires Dermott a little bit. Liljegren has been fine, but he's still adjusting and it's not going to be a fun time against PIT right now. Could explain why Korshkov and Marchment are not in as well.

I like Gauthier on the 3rd line. He's not an offensive player, but similar to Marincin, he makes simple, efficient plays and is strong defensively. That 3rd line has three very good defensive players, three players who can work well in tight areas, and then two of our fastest wingers who can really shoot the puck. They do not need to worry about distributing it or making fancy passes. Use your speed, get the puck on net, and then crash for it. Gauthier is a smart player and he will know what he needs to do at both ends for those two to be successful. Worst case, swap him and Spezza.

Meanwhile, the 4th line has two energy wingers with a smart vet in Spezza up the middle. Not as good defensively, but I think the focus just has to be working hard for their opportunities, wearing the other team down, and generating opportunities any way they can. And it doesn't only need to be dirty goals, since Spezza and Timashov can make some passes and shoot the puck off the rush and the cycle, but leverage that skill to open up space without having to make complicated passes.

I am not saying that we shouldn't be passing, or should just take a bunch of crappy shots from terrible areas, but make their goalie work. We haven't been doing that in the past few weeks, and what should be to no one's surprise, our offense has not been nearly as good.

 

[ToneDog]

Watching TB now go 11-0, after already getting red hot, just makes our uneven malaise all the more disconcerting. The only reason it isn’t worse, Florida has been one of the worst teams in the league the last 10.

Just win.

Pierre McGwire made an interesting comment on the Lightning. Said the coach won his players the day he benched Kutcherov in December. Since then they have lost 4 games. I remember that because Keefe benched Nylander and Kapanen around the same time and we discussed how the players would respond. The players responded but the Leafs as a team did not respond as well as the Lightning.

 

[Bomber0104]

On the one hand, it's good to see the coach recognize that his D is soft AF and needs some size and corner/net clearing ability.

On the other hand, Marincin is not the dman to do it.

 

[ULF_55]

I could go with:

Hyman-Matthews-marner
Timashov-Tavares-Nylander
Engvall-Kerfoot-Kapanen
Clifford-Spezza-marner

Muzzin - Holl
Sandin - Barrie
Dermott - Marincin
Liljegren

 

[dubplatepressure]

I could go with:

Hyman-Matthews-marner
Timashov-Tavares-Nylander
Engvall-Kerfoot-Kapanen
Clifford-Spezza-marner

Muzzin - Holl
Sandin - Barrie
Dermott - Marincin
Liljegren

why lilly on #7?

 

[ShaneFalco]

 

[MattySnipes]

I'll be missing all the Leafs games from Monday-Friday for the next two weeks which sucks. But who knows? Maybe they go on a winning streak without me watching. Parents have gone to India for vacation, I gotta take over my Dad's work while he's gone. Probably listen over radio, and then watch the game when I get home at 1ish AM.

Hopefully they win tonight.

 

[Nineteen67]

Their fans are flocking back to the main boards to be smug once again, after seeing almost none of them all of Oct-Dec.

It pains me that there is a pretty good possibility Boston and Tampa will meet in the 2nd round, guaranteeing one in the ECF.

There would have to be a significant upset if they didn’t meet in the 2nd round.

 

[Nineteen67]

I'll be missing all the Leafs games from Monday-Friday for the next two weeks which sucks. But who knows? Maybe they go on a winning streak without me watching. Parents have gone to India for vacation, I gotta take over my Dad's work while he's gone. Probably listen over radio, and then watch the game when I get home at 1ish AM.

Hopefully they win tonight.

Why not unplug during work and DVR and watch when you get home?

 

[SeaOfBlue]

He wasn't that great again so that's fine.

 

[stickty111]

I'm still not seeing it.

Liljegren may not be as big and strong in corners as Marincin but you better hope to god that the Penguins don't get many rush chances because Marincin is abysmal at defending the rush.

I agree. It's why I said in another point it doesn't make up the difference. He should play Thursday.

 

[Green Snow Storm]

I’m expecting nothing less than an absolute beat down tonight, but hopefully I’m wrong. The clock is ticking on pencil neck Dubas and his stat geeks to get a real defenseman.

Well he got Jake Muzzin who is by all standards a very good defenceman, and plays a style that should satisfy someone that's calling Dubas a pencil neck. He also drafted Sandin late in the 1st who is almost a lock to become a top 2-3 defenceman, maybe even a #1.

I get it you hate Dubas, but be better.

 

[Mess]

Watching TB now go 11-0, after already getting red hot, just makes our uneven malaise all the more disconcerting. The only reason it isn’t worse, Florida has been one of the worst teams in the league the last 10.

Just win.

TB went 10-0-0 from Dec 23 - Jan 11 (all wins in regulation) then went 2-2-1 in their next 5 before rattling off a 11-0-0 stretch.

Only 3 team in NHL history to have 2 X 10 game winning streaks in the same season and TB did essentially 5 games apart.

Pens are 23-5-2 in last 30 games which isn't much different than 24-4-2 of the Lightning during their last 30 games.

Essentially 3 of our next 4 games against the hottest teams in the NHL.

Be interesting if Leafs rise to the level of their competition or if they get blown away playing the way they currently are. These might the worst possible opponents for the Leafs to face right now having lost 10 of their last 20 games.

This being Leafs defense tasked to stop that..

Muzzin-Holl
Sandin-Barrie
Marincin-Dermott

 

[stickty111]

If the Leafs are smart, he doesn't get called up again.
Korshkov still here. Maybe they are planning on playing him on Thursday.

 

[MattySnipes]

HBD Marincin!

 

[Advanced stats]

These might the worst possible opponents for the Leafs to face right now having lost 10 of their last 20 games.

These might be the best possible opponents to face to tell the boys to get their heads out of their asses and play a hard 60 minutes.

 

[ShaneFalco]

If the Leafs are smart, he doesn't get called up again.
Korshkov still here. Maybe they are planning on playing him on Thursday.

Yeah I can't see it and would like to see Agostino get the next call

 

[Green Snow Storm]

Yeah I can't see it and would like to see Agostino get the next call

Yeah I'm really surprised he hasn't been given a shot yet.

 

[ToneDog]

Expecting Boy Wonder's team to get schooled tonight by the Dinosaur's team. Hopefully we can get at least a split.

 

[MattySnipes]

TB went 10-0-0 from Dec 23 - Jan 11 (all wins in regulation) then went 2-2-1 in their next 5 before rattling off a 11-0-0 stretch.

Only 3 team in NHL history to have 2 X 10 game winning streaks in the same season and TB did essentially 5 games apart.

Pens are 23-5-2 in last 30 games which isn't much different than 24-4-2 of the Lightning during their last 30 games.

Essentially 3 of our next 4 games against the hottest teams in the NHL.

Be interesting if Leafs rise to the level of their competition or if they get blown away playing the way they currently are. These might the worst possible opponents for the Leafs to face right now having lost 10 of their last 20 games.

This being Leafs defense tasked to stop that..

Muzzin-Holl
Sandin-Barrie
Marincin-Dermott

That's great for them but really who was surprised Tampa would turn it on? They always do. They love the regular season. They'll beat the wildcard team this year but will be out in the second round.

Every year we see people going all gaga over Tampa. I'm over them. When they do it in playoffs I'll give them their respect.

Key to their success has been Vasi which comes as no surprise. When your goalie can give you chances to win you games then the team looks that much better.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

Agreed. Dermott is this year's Nylander. He has been totally off without a full training camp.

The silver lining is it happened on his final elc year. If he was spectacular this year, the leafs probably couldn’t even afford him. Now we’ll get him at a bargain and hope this year was an anomaly.