R1, G6: Leafs @ Lighting - May 12th, 7:30pm - CBC, Fan 590

[CarltonTheBear]

@
54-21-7, 115 points | 51-23-8, 110 points
Leafs lead 3-2

Projected Lines

Bunting-Matthews-Marner Mikheyev-Tavares-Kerfoot Nylander-Kampf-Engvall Spezza-Blackwell-Kase Rielly-Lyubushkin Muzzin-Brodie Giordano-Holl Campbell

Palat-Stamkos-Kucherov Killorn-Point-Cirelli Colton-Paul-Hagel Maroon-Bellemare-Perry Hedman-Cerrnak McDonagh-Bogosian Sergachev-Foote Vasilevskiy

Scratches

Wayne Simmonds Kyle Clifford Timothy Liljegren Rasmus Sandin

Riley Nash            Jan Rutta

Game Notes

TOR
•Campbell will start for the Leafs

TB
•Vasilevskiy will start for the Lightning

Injuries




Stream Options

Sportsurge.net
NHL66

[Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate]

Get over the hump, flip the script, quiet the haters, put yourself on a trajectory for a deep run.

Simple!

go leafs go

[Guilt Trip]

JUST WIN!!!   PAT QUINN!!!

[Arn]

Leafs are the suckiest bunch of suckers that ever sucked. Yeah.




Sorry. Just getting in before the usual crowd come out of the woodwork

[Kaberle15]

handshake night... hopefully Spezza will give his speech before the game and they will play this one like they can exorcize the demons.

it will be lovely to see Cooper, after his team is eliminated, saying that they gifted the Leafs with the series win because they were tired of winning...

Go Leafs Go!!!

[BrownRolo]

I feel strangely confident they win this game.

I was wondering if Spezzas speech was something along the lines of "I didn't want to make this a thing, but this is my last season." It wouldn't surprise me considering how his season ended.

[Bill_Berg_is_sad]

Go Leafs Go. Make Thursday great again!

[Bullfrog]

I think they should go with a 1st line of Nylander-Matthews-Marner. Just put out your absolute best.

[Kaberle15]

I think they should go with a 1st line of Nylander-Matthews-Marner. Just put out your absolute best.

Now that Tavares & Nylander are alive in this series, I woudn't do that all the time in the game, as it is better to have 2 lines that can do damage and one that control and defend (Kampf/Engvall line)

I just want them to be ready from the start and finish this tonight.

[CarltonTheBear]

I think they should go with a 1st line of Nylander-Matthews-Marner. Just put out your absolute best.

I'm not really sure we're at the load-up stage of the plan yet, but if they did do something like that I'd be really curious to see how Tavares would do on the wing with M&M. He fits more into the Hyman/Bunting role that that they've had success with in the past, but also has the scoring chops that they didn't. You'd still have Kerfoot-Nylander behind them on the 2nd line and the Kampf line for checking.

If we're heading towards another "top line getting shut down on the road by Point/Cirelli" game though I'd rather see M&M split up though for a game.

[L K]

I think they should go with a 1st line of Nylander-Matthews-Marner. Just put out your absolute best.

I'm not really sure we're at the load-up stage of the plan yet, but if they did do something like that I'd be really curious to see how Tavares would do on the wing with M&M. He fits more into the Hyman/Bunting role that that they've had success with in the past, but also has the scoring chops that they didn't. You'd still have Kerfoot-Nylander behind them on the 2nd line and the Kampf line for checking.

If we're heading towards another "top line getting shut down on the road by Point/Cirelli" game though I'd rather see M&M split up though for a game.

If the Tavares/Nylander game carries forward, I'm not sure that it will matter.  As deep as Tampa is, they don't have multiple shut down lines like they did last year.  If Tavares/Nylander stay productive they can shut Matthews/Marner down and Nylander can feast.  I'm good with that.

[herman]

I think they should go with a 1st line of Nylander-Matthews-Marner. Just put out your absolute best.

I'm not really sure we're at the load-up stage of the plan yet, but if they did do something like that I'd be really curious to see how Tavares would do on the wing with M&M. He fits more into the Hyman/Bunting role that that they've had success with in the past, but also has the scoring chops that they didn't. You'd still have Kerfoot-Nylander behind them on the 2nd line and the Kampf line for checking.

If we're heading towards another "top line getting shut down on the road by Point/Cirelli" game though I'd rather see M&M split up though for a game.

Hyman/Bunting works for Matthews-Marner because they usually played F1 to free up pucks for the money makers. Tavares, unfortunately, cannot F1; the only pucks he's been getting to first since the turn of the new year were the ones where the puck went to him off the bounce, rather than him actually going and getting it.

Starting, I agree splitting the scoring depth should help dilute Tampa's line matching
58-34-25
65-91-16
47-64-88
15-11-19

If we're chasing the score, I'd accordion down to
88-34-16
65-91-47
58-15-25/19

maybe flip 47 with 25/19 depending on the situation's requirements.

[CarltonTheBear]

Hyman/Bunting works for Matthews-Marner because they usually played F1 to free up pucks for the money makers. Tavares, unfortunately, cannot F1; the only pucks he's been getting to first since the turn of the new year were the ones where the puck went to him off the bounce, rather than him actually going and getting it.

I think you're underrating how often it's actually M&M using their speed to get to pucks first on the forecheck (when they're not just entering the zone with control that is) and just poking it along the boards to an available forward. Tavares might not get to puck first all the time but once he gets it along the boards/behind the net he does a good job keeping it and opening up room for other players (i.e. the Rielly goal).

[herman]

I think you're underrating how often it's actually M&M using their speed to get to pucks first on the forecheck (when they're not just entering the zone with control that is) and just poking it along the boards to an available forward. Tavares might not get to puck first all the time but once he gets it along the boards/behind the net he does a good job keeping it and opening up room for other players (i.e. the Rielly goal).

True.

This is a good example of that:
https://twitter.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1522016287970500609

This might sound like moving the goalposts a bit, but every line Tavares has been on also has trouble getting out of their own zone. They're basically shorthanded in the DZ with one less person who can get to the walls and break cycles. Maybe putting him on the wing helps (closer to the action) where he can leverage his stick strength and mitigate his skating weakness a little.

[herman]

https://twitter.com/jtbourne/status/1524516253498593280

Explaining the start

I didn't think the Leafs' first period was as bad as some other people (Nick Kypreos was not a fan of it on today's podcast). Still, I did have a number of negative notes about their play, and their inability to handle the puck, so it took me awhile to figure out what I was seeing.

If you're full of nervous energy, your legs work like crazy, but it's harder to use your scalpel in all its intricate detail. The Leafs were getting touches and chances but couldn't make a play, which makes sense in the context of nervous energy.

So while I had "down arrow" notes for William Nylander and Auston Matthews in the first period, over and over with the words "bobbled pucks" by their numbers, I should've seen it as a good sign they were around the puck and involved in the action over and over.

When the Leafs have failed in the past, the problem hasn't been poor offensive touches, it's been ... not getting them at all. They've just quietly disappeared into the night. Those guys were involved from the jump (as much as possible with all the penalties), and it turns out that was a positive.

Leafs have started a bit nervous the past two games, and for a finesse style team, that's rough because all your possessions are a bit bobbly. We saw it against CBJ and MTL as well, when the series was on the line. I think the first 10 minutes the Leafs need to play more lunch pail hockey to weather the initial forecheck. Chip to space instead of trying to handle too much, and use the legs as your primary possession driver, and crash the net ugly on good rebound angles instead of sifting for picture perfect seam plays.

The best chances in hockey come off broken plays in the OZ, where the defense has to shift gears rapidly (Def, Off, suddenly back to Def). Most of the goals we've given up early are of this variety. In the early game, we can generate these of our own by forechecking with speed to cut down decision making time and shooting/retrieving without as much concern for shot quality (Carolina-style). Once a lead is established, roll out the Leafs' possession puck and suffocate the game.