Post-Game Talk: Ugly win is still a win

[Daisy Jane]

It would be a complete shame to punish AJ by taking him out of the lineup. he's been real good and he makes it so we can role 4 dangerous lines

it's not a punishment. he's literally did this with everyone else. give them a great taste, pull it back, and then back up you go. everyone's benefited from it.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Nah never game to game, season's just too long. But I feel like our complete games this year have been more spaced out than teams like Boston, Nashville, and until recently I guess Tampa.

i think this is more of the youth. i think the older we get, the more locked in we will be.

 

[Sniper99]

GO LEAFS GO!!! Nice win, not the prettiest of wins but we'll take it.

 

[Ulysses31]

marner looking datsyukian on backcheck these days

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

it's not a punishment. he's literally did this with everyone else. give them a great taste, pull it back, and then back up you go. everyone's benefited from it.

it's definitely a punishment to make him sit and watch Komarov play in his spot

 

[Nithoniniel]

I wouldn't be shocked to see this at some point in the playoffs

Rielly-Dermott
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Hainsey-Polak

I'm not a big fan of that third pairing. I'd rather not have a pairing where none of them can move the puck out well. I'd honestly look at:

Gardiner - Rielly
Dermott - Hainsey
Borgman - Zaitsev

Gardiner and Rielly have been terrific together before, and Dermott gives us the possibility of using them together without gutting our puck-moving depth. Hainsey can help stabilize him, Zaitsev moves down to a role where he is not over his head, and Borgman gets in to replace some of what Polak gives us.

 

[PuckMagi]

looked pretty good with gardiner
problem is rielly-zaitsev hasnt really worked.
Dermott-Zaitsev would be solid but Polak isnt moving up.

I wouldn't be shocked to see this at some point in the playoffs

Rielly-Dermott
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Hainsey-Polak

That would be good. Dermott needs more ice time. Rielly could also play on the right on that pairing too.

With Hainsey - Polak as the bottom pair, it's easy to use Borgman in place of Polak because we can just move Hainsey back to the right.

I would still like to see Borgman, Holl, and Lilegren get a few games here before the playoffs just to see what our other options might be. I probably like Polak more than most people... but I would be open to using one of those three if they were better.

 

[Willchel Marlynder]

it's definitely a punishment to make him sit and watch Komarov play in his spot

Let's hope that won't happen. I think Babcock really wants to go deep this year and if Johnsson gives us a better chance to do that I trust he will keep him in. I didn't have faith in Babcock to sit gud pro's before, but he's won my trust after sitting Martin for Kappy and putting Leo on the 4th line.

 

[ULF_55]

See that's only if Leafs way in the future management returns to ****. If they are smart, decade after decade of good hockey while rebuilding smart. No more of this 50 year ****.

You might want to think that ... but what are the odds you ever get a 1st. overall?

 

[FlareKnight]

Wasn't a pretty game and honestly wasn't a good one. But the Leafs have such a good group and are ahead of Detroit to the degree that they can still win those sorts of games.

I'm not that worried about it since they won't be taking their playoff opponents lightly in that respect. Take the points and just try to be sharp for the next one. Still some good moments in that game, just a few uncomfortable ones too.

 

[Cap'n Flavour]

Dermott has been struggling in his own end recently. Playing with Polak doesn't really help. Not that Dermott should be scratched or anything, he's still doing okay on the whole, just not as bulletproof as he was in his first 10 games up.

 

[crump]

Give the Wings credit. They were fast, worked hard and brought it. Their goalie was good too. In the end, our high octane offence got it done. Seemed to be a lot of holding, falling into each other. Weird game.

 

[mix1home]

is anyone else worried about Florida?

How could you not? They are 3 points behind last wc spots and in real danger of missing post season.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Dermott has been struggling in his own end recently. Playing with Polak doesn't really help. Not that Dermott should be scratched or anything, he's still doing okay on the whole, just not as bulletproof as he was in his first 10 games up.

What?

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Dermott has been struggling in his own end recently. Playing with Polak doesn't really help. Not that Dermott should be scratched or anything, he's still doing okay on the whole, just not as bulletproof as he was in his first 10 games up.

no, he really hasn't

 

[Beaninfritz]

marner looking datsyukian on backcheck these days

Both he and Matthews are really good at that. I think Matthews had more than Marner last season, but I'm not going to complain. It's the second season for both of them, and they'll likely be in the top 10 by the time the regular season is over. Or at least Marner will, Auston missed a lot of games due to injury, but when controlled for takeaways per game, he'd be top 10 as well.

 

[Brobust]

Leafs are so good right now, they're even winning the trap games.

 

[Brown Dog]

 

[LeafsNation75]

Leafs are so good right now, they're even winning the trap games.

If playing Detroit was a trap game what's it going to be like playing Buffalo once again this Monday? At least this time it's being played in Toronto, although I guess every game against them is a home game.

 

[LeafsNation75]

 

[ErnieLeafs]

Our team rallied, when a team with nothing to lose put them in a difficult spot. I love our grit for not giving up. Marleau was a bit of everywhere tonight. Thought he may score an important goal. He was a part of one, though.

Good on this group. They kept fighting.

 

[LeafsNation75]

 

[stakesishigh]

Good win.

It upsets me that people are ragging on Marleau. He's giving us exactly what we expected.

 

[Peiskos]

Leafs didn't even give full effort yet won against a team that was giving it every thing they had. The mark of a good team by winning this game.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Good win.

It upsets me that people are ragging on Marleau. He's giving us exactly what we expected.

Can't win with some fans. Love having him out there. Glad we got him.