Post-Game Talk: YA BLEW IT | Leafs lose 3-2 in OT

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MyBudJT

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Mar 5, 2018
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Can you define what you mean by "flip the switch" please?

Just start focusing less on development and more on the upcoming playoffs. Signs like giving Andersen more rest points towards that.
 

Bluelines

Python FTW!
Nov 17, 2013
12,349
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This is what I mean about agendas around here. I too will be disappointed obviously if we can't beat Boston, but to try to frame it like a loss means complete failure, simply isn't reality.

That team is a juggernaut, no doubt about it.

It will be amazing series, that's for sure.

Cheers, well said.

Sometimes peoples opinions take time to catch up to reality. 3 of the top 4 teams in the NHL are in the Atlantic, sucks for us but if we ever get past TB and Boston, it will mean we earned it.

I don't believe we have the PK that we will need to beat those two teams. Both of those teams are especially good at drawing penalties and exceptionally good at making an infraction look like an accident. 5 on 5 I think we match up really well with both TB and Boston. IMO it comes down to if we can stay out of the box or not.
 
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56 Years No Cup

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What about getting Hainsey off the first pair? Love the guy, but he can't take the workload. I know our defensive options are limited right now, but Babcock/Dubas have to try something.
 

ottomaddox

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Oct 31, 2017
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Longest Post-game talk ever.

So many key players missed this game. Travel can sometimes be a factor.

Is there more talk about?
 

JT AM da real deal

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Oct 4, 2018
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TB took out Boston fairly easily last year

There's no excuses for this team this year
Tampa has a HUGE defense. They withstood the forecheck and Boston could not get the puck. Game over. It is really is that simple. I watched every game. Then they tried to bring centre down low to help on a 3 man forecheck and they started giving up many odd man rushes and Tampa's skill just killed them.
 

ShaneFalco

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Jul 15, 2012
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Tampa has a HUGE defense. They withstood the forecheck and Boston could not get the puck. Game over. It is really is that simple. I watched every game. Then they tried to bring centre down low to help on a 3 man forecheck and they started giving up many odd man rushes and Tampa's skill just killed them.

But some are saying are D is really good - that physicality doesn't matter when you're skilled.
 

therealkoho

Him/Leaf/fan
Jul 10, 2009
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Willie is married to the "pull up just inside the blueline then stop and curl" move a little too much. Opponents have it perfectly defended now.
i've pointed this out before and it usually gets met with Corsi numbers or " that didn't happen," LeaFlanders are a truly unique tribe
 

therealkoho

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Jul 10, 2009
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Don't get me wrong, I'm so done with this Willie on the third line stuff. He needs to go back with Matthews when Kadri comes back.

And you know what....I'm going to get flamed for this but here's my proposal. Matthews on left wing, Willie at C, and Kappy on RW.

One playmaker, two shooters. The only hitch in that giddy up. as others have pointed out, is that Matthews has to take some contact on the boards to make plays.
let's not forget that he would need to distribute the puck and get away from being the lone ranger
 

IPS

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Sep 28, 2017
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TB took out Boston fairly easily last year

There's no excuses for this team this year

Boston has won 1 playoff series in the last 3 years, we've won zero.

They're largely in the same boat as us - haven't proven jack shit in the playoffs.
 

therealkoho

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Jul 10, 2009
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What's the narrative?

Zaitsev is not good.


it's not at all subtle how can you miss it?

small example: Dave Poulin refers to a giveaway by Zaitsev, but no give away occured, Poulin styed on this even after the replay showed what really occured

Zaitsev won a puck battle in the corner and put a hard pass up to Marner inside the blueline, Marner got a step and a half before the puck came off his stick and the result was a turnover, which Mitch got back, never the less, this became a topic in the PGT, that gathered up increasing negativity in regard to Zaitsev and based entirely on a poor observation and even worse interpretation of events
 

IPS

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Sep 28, 2017
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What if I told you we lost Andersen for a month, lost our back up through waivers, lost our 3rd string goalie in Sparks at the same time as we lost Andersen, lost our 4th string goalie in Pickard through waivers, lost Matthews for a month, didn't have Nylander in the lineup for 2 months, we lost a 36 goal scorer from the previous season (JVR), we have the fewest PP opportunities, Kadri and Marleau are slumping (relative to their usual performance) and we were still top 5 in the league, would you still be disappointed?

Muzzin is not that great of a defender, he is a good defender but not a guy that would make a dramatic change in performance for this team, like a Slavin or a Parayko.

Wow this is a ton of nonsense to sift through but I'll give it my best try.

"
What if I told you we lost Andersen for a month, lost our back up through waivers, lost our 3rd string goalie in Sparks at the same time as we lost Andersen, lost our 4th string goalie in Pickard through waivers, lost Matthews for a month,"

Injuries excuses? Every year Boston deals with more injuries than we do yet they win more games. EVERY good team deals with injuries. I can point out a thousand examples of elite teams losing their best players to injuries and they keep trucking on. Does this mean anything to you? We've actually been one of the luckier teams in the league in the last 3 years injury-wise.

"we lost a 36 goal scorer from the previous season (JVR), we have the fewest PP opportunities, Kadri and Marleau are slumping (relative to their usual performance) and we were still top 5 in the league, would you still be disappointed?"

Oh no we lost one-dimensional defensive liability JVR?! Don't look now, but Johnsson is actually tied with JVR in goals. And then we brought in this little guy named John Tavares who might do a bit to not only offset the loss, but vastly upgrade the team. Kadri is producing less because he's on a lesser role (duh), and Marleau slumping? No, he's just 39 years old and he doesn't have much left to give.


What is with this book of excuses? The Leafs upgraded BIG TIME in the offseason, improvement should be expected, yet here we are not even better than last year's team. That's a problem, no matter how many useless excuses you want to make.

So all the more reason we should beat them, no?

Absolutely, I'm not really a fan of the whole "OH it's ok we lost again guys, Boston is so good! No shame in losing to them".
 
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X66

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Aug 18, 2008
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it's not at all subtle how can you miss it?

small example: Dave Poulin refers to a giveaway by Zaitsev, but no give away occured, Poulin styed on this even after the replay showed what really occured

Zaitsev won a puck battle in the corner and put a hard pass up to Marner inside the blueline, Marner got a step and a half before the puck came off his stick and the result was a turnover, which Mitch got back, never the less, this became a topic in the PGT, that gathered up increasing negativity in regard to Zaitsev and based entirely on a poor observation and even worse interpretation of events

I don't need the media to tell me Zaitsev isn't good, I can see it with my own eyes.

He cracks under any type of forcheck pressure, he is the second worst passing Dman on the team(after Hainsey) and his decision making skills aren't good.

And that sucks because he does have the tools to be a very good dman.

Maybe it's Babcock that turned him into this, but whatever it is, he isn't a good dman.
 

JT AM da real deal

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Oct 4, 2018
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But some are saying are D is really good - that physicality doesn't matter when you're skilled.
As a former D man myself all i can say is it matters a lot when you have a guy that wants to run you through the boards on the forecheck. You have to be man enough and strong enough to withstand the check and keep control of the puck. There are many skilled guys who don't have that skill. Hedman he does. McDonaugh he does, Coburn he does. It helps when you are 6 ft 5 and above too.
 
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ShaneFalco

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Jul 15, 2012
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As a former D man myself all i can say is it matters a lot when you have a guy that wants to run you through the boards on the forecheck. You have to be man enough and strong enough to withstand the check and keep control of the puck. There are many skilled guys who don't have that skill. Hedman he does. McDonaugh he does, Coburn he does. It helps when you are 6 ft 5 and above too.

I agree. Which is why I'd at least to see the Leafs being aggressive. They don't have to crush players, but be on them quickly and make them make mistakes. Far too passive they are
 
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JT AM da real deal

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Oct 4, 2018
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Those guys are beasts. If bruins can't get it done do you honestly think the Leafs can do it? I still think we have to play an up and down speed game against Tampa and let the goalies decide the winner. So far we are 1-1 in 2 games played exactly that way. I think we should have been 2-0 excpet Vasi stole 1 game entirely on his own.
 
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therealkoho

Him/Leaf/fan
Jul 10, 2009
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Well he was not happy to go there. I watched his reaction and it is the first time he has been asked to serve the bench Minor. Add that with his needless comments about how Mathews will have to play harder if he was playing with Marner and there is a lot going on here. Then the game against Calgary and his line just got on the ice and Calgary has iced the puck and he sends JT line over the boards. The look on Mathews faces was not good. Then Babs came to talk to him about it and Mathews was not having anything to do with it.

I hope I am wrong but do not think so.
not to sure about that....but what I do know is that Kypreos just needs to keep his idiotic mouth shut and keep his loony conspiracy theories to himself
 

56 Years No Cup

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Nov 12, 2007
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I agree. Which is why I'd at least to see the Leafs being aggressive. They don't have to crush players, but be on them quickly and make them make mistakes. Far too passive they are
"Far too passive they are. More aggressive they must be." - Master Yoda
 
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therealkoho

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Jul 10, 2009
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Yes he has put Nylander in the box to serve penalties but never Mathews before and he was totally shocked and not happy. The list you just posted above all played on the PK most of their carrers. I can not go back and check but unless they played for Scotty Bowman then not very likely they served bench Minors.
do you think Matthews was bent about the possibility of a further drop in his PKTOI per game, which sits right now at 0.02:naughty:
 
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