Michael Stuart: Bernier Bests Lightning

Michael Stuart: Bernier Bests Lightning
- Michael_Stuart

Good game tonight, I look forward to the return engagement in a short while

got to give it to bernier! thats why I wanted him over lindback! but we are fine with bishop!

ya true but bishop has won many games when we have been terrible also!

got to give it to bernier! thats why I wanted him over lindback! but we are fine with bishop!
- todd1a

Yup, I think that both of our teams are in good positions with regards to goaltending

I'd like to see bernier vs bishop in the playoffs I think this would be a good match up. I always liked bernier and wanted him from the kings badly instead of lindback.

#PeskyLeafs

Shanaban should look at the hit from behind on Gleason if he's going to look at JVR's hit....just saying

What goes around comes around. Looked like the game against the Hurricanes.
Marty must have had nightmares about Bernier.

Shanaban should look at the hit from behind on Gleason if he's going to look at JVR's hit....just saying
- claude1971

You're joking right, Purcell was fighting for the puck and Gleeson was going down it was more a bad position than a bad hit. Kadri looked great last night and Bernier stole the show Bishop should of had the first one and he knew it. We have had our share of goaltending stealing one and tonight we watched the Leafs steal one. See you next Thursday.

Kadri is like are bret Connolly it took Kadri some time to find his nhl game

What goes around comes around. Looked like the game against the Hurricanes.
Marty must have had nightmares about Bernier.
- Nuts-Bolts

he was definitely pissed after that

TB definitly out played us.. Hopefuly you guys pick up and go beat the Senators now.. thanks

TB definitly out played us.. Hopefuly you guys pick up and go beat the Senators now.. thanks
- Popcorn Kid

Yes Tampa....please take out your frustrations of last nights game out on the Senators!

I'll be glad for the Olympic break. I think Bishop could use the rest!

There's only so many times someone can rationally comment on a Leafs game by saying "they deserved to lose". At some point, opposing teams have to understand that the Leafs aren't simply getting lucky. You can make that argument over a four or five game stretch, but we're two-thirds of the way through the season now, and the Leafs are 3rd in the East

It's not luck, and our goalie is not the only reason we're having success. If it makes you feel better about your own team by saying that, then go ahead and delude yourself. But the fact is that the Leafs are comfortable giving up a lot of shots against most teams. So on many nights, the Leafs will give up 40 shots, but without highly-skilled players (Tampa doesn't have many), not many of those shots are going in the net. We have guys like Kessel, JVR, Kadri, and Lupul, who don't need a lot of opportunities to score

Anyways, just sick of hearing about how the Leafs are "lucky" game in and game out. It's a lazy argument, so I feel compelled to argue it with logic

This was a typical Leaf game this year, some very sloppy defensive coverage and a real quick strike and counter strike team. That and with the goalie standing real tall in net and good for them, my team wins to stay ahead of Montreal in the fight for 3rd in the conference and now Tampa is only 5 points up on us. Pretty good.

There's only so many times someone can rationally comment on a Leafs game by saying "they deserved to lose". At some point, opposing teams have to understand that the Leafs aren't simply getting lucky. You can make that argument over a four or five game stretch, but we're two-thirds of the way through the season now, and the Leafs are 3rd in the East

It's not luck, and our goalie is not the only reason we're having success. If it makes you feel better about your own team by saying that, then go ahead and delude yourself. But the fact is that the Leafs are comfortable giving up a lot of shots against most teams. So on many nights, the Leafs will give up 40 shots, but without highly-skilled players (Tampa doesn't have many), not many of those shots are going in the net. We have guys like Kessel, JVR, Kadri, and Lupul, who don't need a lot of opportunities to score

Anyways, just sick of hearing about how the Leafs are "lucky" game in and game out. It's a lazy argument, so I feel compelled to argue it with logic
- AxlRose91

YES. this is it!
2nd bold : no need for any of that, people wonder why some of us get out of control :D

we don't have a lot of scorers that's why you only have 1 more goal than us all year right ....and that's why were 8th in Goals per game im sorry I cant stop crying. this (frank)ing sucks! and whats even worsE? that number will probably decrease when stamkos is back..(frank)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that's your opinion, heres mine :

offense wins games, defense wins championships.. and while your offense may be sitting pretty at 7th in goals for..your defense is sitting in 28th in goals against, and as per game? 26th.

its not an attack , but that style just won't hold up in playoffs, that style is inconsistent...im not saying it wont be fixed or theyre not trying to play a good possession game its just true I guess

with all that said you gotta love how bernier has been, fantastic

This was a typical Leaf game this year, some very sloppy defensive coverage and a real quick strike and counter strike team. That and with the goalie standing real tall in net and good for them, my team wins to stay ahead of Montreal in the fight for 3rd in the conference and now Tampa is only 5 points up on us. Pretty good.
- oldhockeyfan

this is true, at the end of the day you got the 2 points and solidified yourselves even further into the playoff picture, but is that play willing to be tolerated in the playoffs? that play is what caused a 6 game losing streak...you know what happens in the playoffs after losing 6 straight

this is true, at the end of the day you got the 2 points and solidified yourselves even further into the playoff picture, but is that play willing to be tolerated in the playoffs? that play is what caused a 6 game losing streak...you know what happens in the playoffs after losing 6 straight
- RileyB77

It is not so much that I am really comfortable with this kind of play, but around Leaf Nation there has been a lot of hand wringing about the Leafs giving up a lot of shot and about being lucky to be in the position that they are in. This is a bit of a fallacy because we are now nearly2/3s of the way through the season and the Leafs are very much in the playoff picture. Last year when we got to the playoffs we came within an eyelash of taking down the Big Bad Bruins. The talk is our goalies keep us in the games, where would Montreal be without Price and how many points would Tampa have without your guy leading the league in save%? As a Leaf fan I will take the 2 points last night without apologies and as long as the team stays on the track of playing a quick game I think we will be fine, it is when we start to try to play defensively that the wheels start to fall off and the weakness of this team really starts to show.

It is not so much that I am really comfortable with this kind of play, but around Leaf Nation there has been a lot of hand wringing about the Leafs giving up a lot of shot and about being lucky to be in the position that they are in. This is a bit of a fallacy because we are now nearly2/3s of the way through the season and the Leafs are very much in the playoff picture. Last year when we got to the playoffs we came within an eyelash of taking down the Big Bad Bruins. The talk is our goalies keep us in the games, where would Montreal be without Price and how many points would Tampa have without your guy leading the league in save%? As a Leaf fan I will take the 2 points last night without apologies and as long as the team stays on the track of playing a quick game I think we will be fine, it is when we start to try to play defensively that the wheels start to fall off and the weakness of this team really starts to show.
- oldhockeyfan

I don't want to know

the 2nd bolded part just sounds weird to read lol, such an opposite statement..but whatever works, I just can't wrap my head around it at all. Your guys are hot now, but what happens when the shooting percentage drops and you're not scoring on every 5-10 shots

the way I see it is that they get outshot almost every game by a wide margin, which means they don't have the puck a lot, which means they are likely to lose...but they've been winning, I guess

if you take away shootout wins/losses the record is barely over .500, but it still counts as winning I suppose

my argument is pretty redundant seeing as you are 7-2-1 in your last 10, in a playoff position...it just bugs me that tampa has relied on offense for years and couldn't make playoffs yet you sit in 3rd

that's your opinion, heres mine :

offense wins games, defense wins championships.. and while your offense may be sitting pretty at 7th in goals for..your defense is sitting in 28th in goals against, and as per game? 26th.

its not an attack , but that style just won't hold up in playoffs, that style is inconsistent...im not saying it wont be fixed or theyre not trying to play a good possession game its just true I guess

with all that said you gotta love how bernier has been, fantastic
- RileyB77

I like all of this. I think the key is that the Leafs allow a lot of shots, but they also keep teams from getting a TON of good shots. They definitely need to boost their defense if they want success in the playoffs.

And with Stamkos coming back, Tampa is going to be tough to beat. I definitely don't hope we meet you guys in the playoffs (unless it's for the East).

I like all of this. I think the key is that the Leafs allow a lot of shots, but they also keep teams from getting a TON of good shots. They definitely need to boost their defense if they want success in the playoffs.
And with Stamkos coming back, Tampa is going to be tough to beat. I definitely don't hope we meet you guys in the playoffs (unless it's for the East).
- SolidGoldBricks

I don't know, I haven't watched 1 leafs game, but we had some pretty damn good quality chances that game, palat all alone out front and marty's shot are just a few examples, plus 3 (?) posts.. yes defense must tighten up...it works now that's great but I don't see it holding up

I would like to meet anyone in the playoffs, I just want to make sure were in haha

I don't know, I haven't watched 1 leafs game, but we had some pretty damn good quality chances that game, palat all alone out front and marty's shot are just a few examples, plus 3 (?) posts.. yes defense must tighten up...it works now that's great but I don't see it holding up

I would like to meet anyone in the playoffs, I just want to make sure were in haha
- RileyB77

There are definitely some good shots, but those happen in every game, that's where you need stellar play from the goalie. But there were far from 40 good shots.

And posts are BAD shots, haha. It means the goalie didn't get in the way of the shot, and the scorer missed the goal anyway.

There's only so many times someone can rationally comment on a Leafs game by saying "they deserved to lose". At some point, opposing teams have to understand that the Leafs aren't simply getting lucky. You can make that argument over a four or five game stretch, but we're two-thirds of the way through the season now, and the Leafs are 3rd in the East

It's not luck, and our goalie is not the only reason we're having success. If it makes you feel better about your own team by saying that, then go ahead and delude yourself. But the fact is that the Leafs are comfortable giving up a lot of shots against most teams. So on many nights, the Leafs will give up 40 shots, but without highly-skilled players (Tampa doesn't have many), not many of those shots are going in the net. We have guys like Kessel, JVR, Kadri, and Lupul, who don't need a lot of opportunities to score

Anyways, just sick of hearing about how the Leafs are "lucky" game in and game out. It's a lazy argument, so I feel compelled to argue it with logic
- AxlRose91

Ummm...lets see how the blog starts and compare to your post.

"The Tampa Bay Lightning dominated the possession battle against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, but ultimately dropped a 3-2 decision at the Air Canada Centre. Against one of the league’s worst five-on-five clubs, the Lightning generated zone time, shots, and quality chances. It wasn’t enough. Toronto goaltender Jonathan Bernier was there each and every time. His stellar play led the Leafs to victory."

Where in there is anything about being "lucky"? Michael's blog pointed out that for the most part the Bolts did in fact control the possession battle. They fired more shots, not all of which were high quality but they used the possession time to fire more shots nonetheless. Newsflash, the Leafs are one of the worst 5-on-5 possession teams in the NHL. The possession metrics back this up along with the numbers for the season. The Leafs capitalized on the Bolts mistakes last night and Bishop didn't make the saves to back up our mistakes. That is the story of the game. The Leafs won. No matter how or why they won and got the 2 points. Why you feel the need to argue about the Leafs being "lucky" I have no idea?


Now for your bolded comment? That is just ludicrous and quite frankly ignorant to make that statement. I won't even compare the rosters or play that game but to say the Bolts lack in skill either means you are ignorant to any other team outside of Toronto or you know very little about hockey.

Congrats on your 2 points