Bill Meltzer: Wrap

Just got back from the game. Good solid win. I thought the Leafs got tired in the 3rd period, as the Flyers started to win more and more of the puck battles in the corners and along the boards.


Also thought the officiating was atrocious. But then, I usually think that.

I actually think the Laughton line was more so our 3rd line and the Patrick line was our 4th. Patrick's line really didn't do much overall and Laughtons line was buzzing most of the game and creating chances.

Was Sanheim benched most of the 3rd again?

What a play by The captain. Wow. Special play. Never would have thought the position change would go over this well

The Patrick line got more ice time than the Laughton line despite being outplayed by them. First time in a while we have seen that.

Sanheim and gudas fell out of rotation in the late 3rd from my view. Gudas looked a little rusty and isn't ever the quickest d man against a team like toronto. Sanheim wasn't able to cover for gudas either as he had his own mistakes he was making.

Observations:

- Solid win to start the home stand

- Laughton line looked good.

- They need to find a fit for Patrick. He needs some wingers he can dish the puck to. Hopefully Lindblom or another winger can slide in there.

- Glad to see our 3rd line center with another goal. 15 so far. not bad for a slug who has no offensive ability.

- Nice to see them not wilt after the leaky first goal

- Need to string together some wins and this team is right back in the playoff hunt again.

Observations:

- Solid win to start the home stand

- Laughton line looked good.

- They need to find a fit for Patrick. He needs some wingers he can dish the puck to. Hopefully Lindblom or another winger can slide in there.

- Glad to see our 3rd line center with another goal. 15 so far. not bad for a slug who has no offensive ability.

- Nice to see them not wilt after the leaky first goal

- Need to string together some wins and this team is right back in the playoff hunt again.
- J35Bacher

Patrick needs to be better

I think ghost may have found his longtime partner

Patrick needs to be better

I think ghost may have found his longtime partner
- Just5

He does.

I also think he is still kind of working his way back to being fully ready. he missed a lot of time with the injuries before the draft and then the concussion.

But I also think it would help if he had some wingers.

Post

What a play by The captain. Wow. Special play. Never would have thought the position change would go over this well
- Just5

Agree completely, leave Giroux at LW.

Patrick needs to be better

I think ghost may have found his longtime partner
- Just5

Weren't we saying the same things about G and Ghost last year that we are about Patrick this year? Isn't there something similar?

Ghost and Hagg do look good together. Not sure they stay together if the full set of D makes it though.

Jury duty today

I don't need to sit through this whole song and dance...just show me the defendant's corsi

Jury duty today

I don't need to sit through this whole song and dance...just show me the defendant's corsi
- YuenglingJagr

Fun times! Remember the defendant looked like a criminal when he committed the crime but was cleaned up by his lawyers for the trial.

Weren't we saying the same things about G and Ghost last year that we are about Patrick this year? Isn't there something similar?

Ghost and Hagg do look good together. Not sure they stay together if the full set of D makes it though.
- dragonoffrost

Something similar? Not really. He’ll get better. Just not going to put his struggles on his current linemates

Observations:

- Solid win to start the home stand

- Laughton line looked good.

- They need to find a fit for Patrick. He needs some wingers he can dish the puck to. Hopefully Lindblom or another winger can slide in there.

- Glad to see our 3rd line center with another goal. 15 so far. not bad for a slug who has no offensive ability.

- Nice to see them not wilt after the leaky first goal

- Need to string together some wins and this team is right back in the playoff hunt again.
- J35Bacher

Agree with all of this. I think the most important thing for Patrick is just to get completely healthy and be 100%. Due to his surgery, there is no way that he was able to properly train in the offseason and we saw what that did last year to Giroux and Ghost. Then add an early season concussion into the mix. He's going to be fine. Lindblom is playing very well right now at LHV and he and Konecny could eventually be very good wingers for Patrick.

Re Filppula, I don't think he's a slug and I think he's done a solid job this year. I'd just be very cautious about re-signing a guy who will be 34 in March to a multi year extension. I think it's a bad risk to take. I think they will be able to fill the 3rd top 9 center spot from within by 19-20 at the latest, so I'd much rather overpay a guy on a 1 year deal to fill that role and if it's Filppula, that's fine. They should have plenty of cap room to do a deal like for next season.

Jury duty today

I don't need to sit through this whole song and dance...just show me the defendant's corsi
- YuenglingJagr

Something similar? Not really. He’ll get better. Just not going to put his struggles on his current linemates
- Just5

Yes they had the same surgery before the year they struggled.

Patrick needs to be better

I think ghost may have found his longtime partner
- Just5

At this point Patrick doesn't even look like he belongs in the NHL. Once in a while you see a flash where it looks like he belongs.

4 game winning streak, with Buffalo coming in tomorrow night. At least they have played themselves back into the mix.

Jury duty today

I don't need to sit through this whole song and dance...just show me the defendant's corsi
- YuenglingJagr

Send them to the pit of misery! Dilly dilly!

What a play by The captain. Wow. Special play. Never would have thought the position change would go over this well
- Just5

There was some vintage Giroux last night. Came through the NZ with speed, skated past a few guys, pulled up and fired a rocket for a tough save.

We don't see as much flashy stuff from him anymore, more of a N-S game, which is a shame because I still he has some of the best in-tight hands in the game.

Yes they had the same surgery before the year they struggled.
- dragonoffrost

Not just that....he had 2 of them, one on each side. Add to that the fact one went undiagnosed for several months and his body had to compensate for it and that usually leads to other break downs in adjoining areas.

Give him an offseason conditioning with Provy and he wont even look like the player we see now.

It's good to see Patrick getting back to around the 12 minute mark. His possession struggles aren't just because of linemates, but it would be nice to see him get to play with Raffl, or eventually Lindblom.

ESPN should make a documentary about Couturier's season so far.

He does.

I also think he is still kind of working his way back to being fully ready. he missed a lot of time with the injuries before the draft and then the concussion.

But I also think it would help if he had some wingers.
-J35Bacher

He had wingers. He was the 2nd lince C for a while and did nothing. He needs to be better that is it. He has played with every winger outside the top line. There is no reason to blame the wingers when guys like Fillpula and Laughton are having no trouble. Voracek is good but Raffl is still a 3rd-4th line player

Filppula was only doing OK till he got Raffl and Jake as his wingers. They are great possession players, Flip is not.