Hard to follow the rules when the linesmen don't drop the puck properly.

Even the incredibly anti leaf announcers couldn't understand the Penalty
- burn

I know, i facking hate the announcers.
Hate them.
Garbage

They cannot play into the other teams system like that. They have to impose their game on others, use their speed to break down the other team and try to make them make mistakes and draw penalties.

Last night they looked lost, didn't know what to do
- burn

Agreed

LEAFS

Agreed.with lefty .I mentioned in the Sens thread. Didn't want to get roasted here !lol😂..that the leafs could be in for a long night.if they didn't skate and tighten up that defense! And the sens presure the leafs in their end. .and yes the sens are a good team!
- MR.Hunter

"team" with 1 superstar and some random journeymen

Hey that kind of sounds like the Leafs too,except their "superstar " has not yet proven to be a superstar

I am sure the whole NHL saw the blueprint last night...best wishes for the season

This is my most favourite part of this site.

The expert NHL Hockey analyst

Agreed.with lefty .I mentioned in the Sens thread. Didn't want to get roasted here !lol😂..that the leafs could be in for a long night.if they didn't skate and tighten up that defense! And the sens presure the leafs in their end. .and yes the sens are a good team!
- MR.Hunter

"team" with 1 superstar and some random journeymen

Hey that kind of sounds like the Leafs too,except their "superstar " has not yet proven to be a superstar

I am sure the whole NHL saw the blueprint last night...best wishes for the season
- spazzbot

Pretty sure he’s “proven”, but think what you wish.

(Masters) Matthews on #Sens system: "They bore you to death almost. They’re really good at what they do. You get really anxious. We got to make sure that we learn from this one & get ready for the next one, because tonight wasn’t acceptable"
https://twitter.com/markh...status/921927290853974016

Agreed.with lefty .I mentioned in the Sens thread. Didn't want to get roasted here !lol😂..that the leafs could be in for a long night.if they didn't skate and tighten up that defense! And the sens presure the leafs in their end. .and yes the sens are a good team!
- MR.Hunter

"team" with 1 superstar and some random journeymen

Hey that kind of sounds like the Leafs too,except their "superstar " has not yet proven to be a superstar

I am sure the whole NHL saw the blueprint last night...best wishes for the season
- spazzbot

He's not proven?

They cannot play into the other teams system like that. They have to impose their game on others, use their speed to break down the other team and try to make them make mistakes and draw penalties.

Last night they looked lost, didn't know what to do
- burn

They were totally lost and the effort was not there throughout the team. Only Matthews and Nylander worked all night.

Even after all that, it boiled down to a single play, each way. The Sens capitalized on Zaitsev's giveaway, which was fortuante to start with and the rebound going right back on to Stone's stick was also fortunate.

Marner rushed, and did nothing with the Sens giveaway.

Those chances go the other way and we are tied.

So the takeaway is the Leafs looking more lost, confused and lethargic than they have all year. We get out-goaltended, again, the refs were a (frank)ing joke all night, again...

and still the difference is one play on each side.


Oh and get Hyman the F off of Matthews' line. He has done virtually nothing all year.

They were totally lost and the effort was not there throughout the team. Only Matthews and Nylander worked all night.

Even after all that, it boiled down to a single play, each way. The Sens capitalized on Zaitsev's giveaway, which was fortuante to start with and the rebound going right back on to Stone's stick was also fortunate.

Marner rushed, and did nothing with the Sens giveaway.

Those chances go the other way and we are tied.

So the takeaway is the Leafs looking more lost, confused and lethargic than they have all year. We get out-goaltended, again, the refs were a (frank)ing joke all night, again...

and still the difference is one play on each side.


Oh and get Hyman the F off of Matthews' line. He has done virtually nothing all year.
- Aetherial

Totally agree on all this.

I'd also point to brown as having worked hard last night, jvr and bozak couldn't have looked less enthused/less interested.

Gardiner was absolutely terrible last night.

Zaitsev was absolutely terrible last night.

Rielly was absolutely terrible last night.

(Masters) Matthews on #Sens system: "They bore you to death almost. They’re really good at what they do. You get really anxious. We got to make sure that we learn from this one & get ready for the next one, because tonight wasn’t acceptable"
https://twitter.com/markh...status/921927290853974016
- nbboy

They will have to use that as a lesson. Babs will teach them.

Can't win them all. Have to keep playing their game and move onto LA.

I agree with what Babs did with putting Marner on the 4th line, however I think it's time to put him with Kadri and Marleau. He got the message. But he can't make a damn play right now and playing with Moore and Martin in a defensive role isn't going to get him going.

Have him play with Kadri and Marleau. Two vets who work very hard and play well defensively. Komarov dosnt need to play 19 mins a night. Put him on the 4th line where he will play 15.

After watching last nights game it got me to look into the numbers. Im not a numbers guy, i'm a watch and see guy. But alas i was bored. So what i wanted to know is who is the most to blame. Since it was a giveaway fest last night, lets look and see lol. In order from worst to best at giveaways leading to a goal...Gardiner,Zaitzev,Hainsey,JvR,Carrick,Kadri,Borgman,Rielly,Komorov,Marleau,Mathews,Brown,Bozak,Nylander,Marner,Fehr,Martin,Rosen,Hyman,Moore..... I know all you guys hate when someone throws numbers on here, but its just a tidbit and i'm sorry. Conclusion is..... Our Defence facking sucks. We can wine all day about the forwards but Gardiner,Zaitzev,Rielly,Hainsey are in the bottom per minutes played for all Dmen in the League. Andersen hasnt been good but i'm giving him the Botd untill somethin happens with the D.

I agree with what Babs did with putting Marner on the 4th line, however I think it's time to put him with Kadri and Marleau. He got the message. But he can't make a damn play right now and playing with Moore and Martin in a defensive role isn't going to get him going.

Have him play with Kadri and Marleau. Two vets who work very hard and play well defensively. Komarov dosnt need to play 19 mins a night. Put him on the 4th line where he will play 15.
- Santo_44

with how he's playing right now marner being on the shut down line would probably destroy that line defensively though

After watching last nights game it got me to look into the numbers. Im not a numbers guy, i'm a watch and see guy. But alas i was bored. So what i wanted to know is who is the most to blame. Since it was a giveaway fest last night, lets look and see lol. In order from worst to best at giveaways leading to a goal...Gardiner,Zaitzev,Hainsey,JvR,Carrick,Kadri,Borgman,Rielly,Komorov,Marleau,Mathews,Brown,Bozak,Nylander,Marner,Fehr,Martin,Rosen,Hyman,Moore..... I know all you guys hate when someone throws numbers on here, but its just a tidbit and i'm sorry. Conclusion is..... Our Defence facking sucks. We can wine all day about the forwards but Gardiner,Zaitzev,Rielly,Hainsey are in the bottom per minutes played for all Dmen in the League. Andersen hasnt been good but i'm giving him the Botd untill somethin happens with the D.
- fansince72

Giveaways aren't a very interesting stat though. Typically the leaders in giveaways are mobile dmen. We're talking Burns, Doughty, Karlsson, Hedman. Guys like that are always near at the top. Toronto's D isn't particularly good but I wouldn't look at the giveaway stat to support that.

with how he's playing right now marner being on the shut down line would probably destroy that line defensively though
- daeth

Kadri and Marleau are pretty great defensively. Marner was actually pretty decent defensively last year, I think being on that line will help him bring that part of his game out of him.

At the end of the day Marner is a big part of this team when he's firing on all cylinders, especially on the PP. The Leafs have to find a way to get him going.

They cannot play into the other teams system like that. They have to impose their game on others, use their speed to break down the other team and try to make them make mistakes and draw penalties.

Last night they looked lost, didn't know what to do
- burn

Agreed.

And they gave the puck away like 450 times.

Giveaways aren't a very interesting stat though. Typically the leaders in giveaways are mobile dmen. We're talking Burns, Doughty, Karlsson, Hedman. Guys like that are always near at the top. Toronto's D isn't particularly good but I wouldn't look at the giveaway stat to support that.
- daeth

Last night the giveaway eye test certainly made sense.

The giveaways by Zaitsev and Gardiner (both mobile D-men) were not passes that were intercepted on a rush or Karlsson style saucer passes across two lines, or trying to feed a breakaway puck to a floater.

The giveaways last night were miscues in the defensive zone, errant breakout passes, carrying the puck directly into a forechecker behind the net when trying to find some open ice. Gardiner and Zaitsev were simply incapable of playing with the puck in their own zone, they handled it like a live grenade.

Last night the giveaway eye test certainly made sense.

The giveaways by Zaitsev and Gardiner (both mobile D-men) were not passes that were intercepted on a rush or Karlsson style saucer passes across two lines, or trying to feed a breakaway puck to a floater.

The giveaways last night were miscues in the defensive zone, errant breakout passes, carrying the puck directly into a forechecker behind the net when trying to find some open ice. Gardiner and Zaitsev were simply incapable of playing with the puck in their own zone, they handled it like a live grenade.
- TheMussel

Z has been having a pretty good start so far, I'll give him a pass last night.

As for Gardiner he has to step his game up. Hasn't been good enough and last night was just a continuation of it.

Last night the giveaway eye test certainly made sense.

The giveaways by Zaitsev and Gardiner (both mobile D-men) were not passes that were intercepted on a rush or Karlsson style saucer passes across two lines, or trying to feed a breakaway puck to a floater.

The giveaways last night were miscues in the defensive zone, errant breakout passes, carrying the puck directly into a forechecker behind the net when trying to find some open ice. Gardiner and Zaitsev were simply incapable of playing with the puck in their own zone, they handled it like a live grenade.
- TheMussel

the leafs have the speed to dump and chase against the trap (in theory) but they tried to skate or pass through it instead. didn't work

That was actually painful to watch. I thought they could pull it off after the Matthews goal, smart time out by Boucher. Boucher is a top echelon coach in this league last nights game showed it.

Giveaways were brutal. To get through that kind of neutral zone trap (they're still pretty aggresive) you either need the real high end skill plays that apparantly only Matthews-Nylander can pull off. Or you force it through with some blue collar play. Bulldog your way to the red line and dump and chase hard.

I'm slowly starting to turn on Bozak. Yes I don't think he deserves he the flak he receives and he can produce, but with him and JVR paired there's just not enough backpressure. I can live with JVR because at least he's big, good around the net and he's a winger. Only problem is UFA centers are pretty slim pickings. Nylander probably could make the jump to center next year but does anyone want to break up that combo?

Brown has made that line look better because finally they have someone to grind in the corners. Sadly the 4th line looks worse with Brown gone. Martin naturally just wants to get Marner the puck instead of his usually get it deep hold and bang around. Then Marner is always looking to dish so who do you dish to on that line?

I figured that was the plan anyways what we started to see last night. Marner with Marleau and Kadri. Komarov has played well and Kadri-Komarov pair has been Babcock's by far most trusted defensively so I see the hesitation to break them up.

Still I think the only way Marner gets some confidence back is by not only playing with players who can bury their chances but to stick with them so some of his fancy passing plays will actually work.

I think the key to that working is by the Matthews line taking on more of the defensive matchups and top lines head to head, which is what we've seen so far this year anyways. Marner even with two solid defensive players, should not match up against stars.

Borgman looked pretty good last night.

Last night the giveaway eye test certainly made sense.

The giveaways by Zaitsev and Gardiner (both mobile D-men) were not passes that were intercepted on a rush or Karlsson style saucer passes across two lines, or trying to feed a breakaway puck to a floater.

The giveaways last night were miscues in the defensive zone, errant breakout passes, carrying the puck directly into a forechecker behind the net when trying to find some open ice. Gardiner and Zaitsev were simply incapable of playing with the puck in their own zone, they handled it like a live grenade.
- TheMussel

Yep. On I think the 2nd goal, Borgman decides to pass it to Marner right when he gets to the blueline, right where the Sens player is standing. Marner does a fly by, puck is kept in, and then its in the net. Puck should have been off the glass and out.