R2, G5: Panthers @ Maple Leafs - May 12th, 7:00pm - SN, Fan 590

[Dappleganger]

It'll be interesting to see if Matthews has been playing hurt all year.

Watch for the wrist surgery announcement.

[4EVRLEAFAN]

I can't believe so few are talking about goaltending, "IF" Bobrovsky can keep it up the Panthers will win the Cup just like Roy in 93, this is what a good goalie does for a team, guys the Panthers are not an outstanding team without Bob they don't don't beat Boston, it really is that simple, good goalies lift average teams to high levels of play,  we need a goalie, period, and to do that one of the big contracts has to go.

[cw]

I'm certainly disappointed. I hoped for more.
Did they underachieve? I'm not sure. Certainly did not overachieve.
I say that bearing in mind that good goaltending can scuttle any NHL team. Bobrovsky was a factor.
There is a lot of parity in the league - not as much separating the best from the playoff qualifiers as there used to be. Florida barely making the playoffs and taking out the Bruins and Leafs underscores that.

Matthews scoring 1.0 ppg in these playoffs. His career playoff ppg is .88. That is down from 1.12 ppg regular season but the vast majority see their scoring drop in the playoffs because all the lousy teams are golfing - it is harder to score. I'm having trouble accepting that as a total choke. Ditto for Marner. Still sort of collecting my thoughts. A credit to the forwards generally: they were playing defense - including Matthews & Marner. To me, the defensive record of this club is more of a credit to the forwards than the dmen or goalie. The dmen are above average - not great. The goalie - above average - not great. To me, it is the forwards commitment to defense who elevated them to be in the upper echelon of the league defensively. They have the skill to score but opted for a 200 foot game. When a forward does that, they don't light the lamp as much. I will not ignore that when assessing these playoffs. If Dallas and Edmonton get knocked out, nearly all the top ppg players in the playoffs will be golfing - a heck of a lot of them.

Is Keefe to blame? Not entirely - that's for sure. I'm not a gigantic fan of him but credit where credit is due: Keefe got these talented forwards to buy in to playing defensively hockey. As such, they're probably the best defensive Leafs team since Pat Burns - maybe better. There's no way Keefe is terrible.

Like I say, I'm still collecting my thoughts.

Two very good positives came out of it:
Knies - did amazingly well under the circumstances and he's going to get better
Woll - been impressed with him all season
Because of them, their cap situation for next season isn't as bad.

[cabber24]

It'll be interesting to see if Matthews has been playing hurt all year.

Watch for the wrist surgery announcement.

That whip rarely made an appearance this year. The way the puck seemed to stay on his stick a little longer through his shooting motion was visibly different. That lacrosse like shot was not there this year.

[L K]

The more I watch the overtime goal the more I get pissed off.  Gudas grabs Jarnkrok's stick and turns him around because of it.  It completely took away his ability to make a play.

But of course a puck over the glass is the only really penalty in the playoffs.  Not elbows to the head.  (Or a stick to the head in the Leads favour in Game 6).

The NHL sucks.  I hate that the team lost on a garbage play because Gudas and Bennett can get away with blatant charging all series.   Full marks to the Panthers for the play outside of the dirty stuff though.   They did enough to score timely goals and deserve to advance but I don't know how you fight through nonsense like this.  I'm watching the other series and this is the only one where a team is getting away with murder. 

Last night Vegas had 7 powerplays against Edmonton.  But hey Brodie deflected a puck already in the air so we have to call that. 

[Peter D.]

It'll be interesting to see if Matthews has been playing hurt all year.

Watch for the wrist surgery announcement.

I'm wondering if there is more to it than just his wrist.  He's skating looked slow, he looked disengaged, and he seemed unwilling to go full throttle into the corners and use that big body like he usually does.  Dare I say it, but he was pretty much damn near invisible yesterday.

[Rob]

Is it too late to Petard for Bedard^TM?

[Significantly Insignificant]

Defense and goaltending didn't seem to be the main problem to me. We needed more scoring and leadership.

It sucks losing. Ill be 50 this year. In the 40 something years I've been watching we made it to the final 4 twice.

They've made it to the final 4 four times.  Twice with Gilmour, twice with Sundin.

Not sure if that makes you feel better though.

[Significantly Insignificant]

In my mind, the reason they get goalied in the playoffs is because they don't have players that can consistently get to the front of the net and take that pressure from the defense. 

To be clear, I don't think this is a toughness thing, I think it's a play style thing.  Last night their best chance in overtime was when Jarnkrok drove to the net and created some havoc.  They just need some more of that to compliment Marner, Matthews and Nylander.

I think Knies is a guy who can do that.  I think they need one or two more players that can do that, and then they will make it difficult on teams over a 7 game series.

[Guilt Trip]

It'll be interesting to see if Matthews has been playing hurt all year.

Watch for the wrist surgery announcement.

I'm wondering if there is more to it than just his wrist.  He's skating looked slow, he looked disengaged, and he seemed unwilling to go full throttle into the corners and use that big body like he usually does.  Dare I say it, but he was pretty much damn near invisible yesterday.

Totally disagree. 8 shots, 5 blocks, 9 hits but he was disengaged? He's looked slower since he took that slapshot off the side/back of his knee in the TBay series. I have zero issue with his effort these playoffs.

[Highlander]

It'll be interesting to see if Matthews has been playing hurt all year.

Watch for the wrist surgery announcement.

I'm wondering if there is more to it than just his wrist.  He's skating looked slow, he looked disengaged, and he seemed unwilling to go full throttle into the corners and use that big body like he usually does.  Dare I say it, but he was pretty much damn near invisible yesterday.

Totally disagree. 8 shots, 5 blocks, 9 hits but he was disengaged? He's looked slower since he took that slapshot off the side/back of his knee in the TBay series. I have zero issue with his effort these playoffs.

He was injured in Game 2 or 3 when he was skating thru the neutral zone and put a slight hold on a Panther. He immediately went to the bench and was holding his wrist area with visible discomfort. All will be revealed.

[Highlander]

Overall this team is just too GD soft

Said it a thousand times but funny thing is some don't think so. But each year we are always back in the same position and questioning the teams toughness. That and lack of scoring again.

How can you possibly question their toughness in this series?  They went toe to toe.  They stuffed Tkachuk pretty much.  They had all kinds of big hits.  Toughness wasn't the problem.  Scoring, or lack thereof, absolutely.

When I say toughness I mean making it difficult hitting people getting in their face at the end of plays whatever. Teams do it against us and we just take it. I'm not knocking the effort tonight but the team is easy to play against because opponents know there's nothing coming back at them. As much as I hate guys like Gudas Bennett those are the types of players you need in the playoffs. I didn't see them getting hit. Bennett still running around hitting people and hard both of them for that matter. Bennett should have been targeted after taking out Knies. That's what I'm getting at.

I know, I'd like someone to have socked Bennett.  But retribution is not a winning strategy.  I give Dubas credit, all his deadline adds were positive. 

The silver lining, I have to hope, is Woll.  He plays the kind of style the Leafs need.  They have to get a goalie who can give them that kind of play.  Samsonov, we should remember, was doing all right in the series until he got hurt.  My hope is that Woll is the real deal and Samsonov can back him up.

Woll reminds me of a younger Quick, same sort of style and well....quickness

[Highlander]

Bye Shanahan
Bye Dubas
Bye Keefe

NOPE!

[Guilt Trip]

Bye Shanahan
Bye Dubas
Bye Keefe

NOPE!

Maybe Keefe can go and I like him as a coach but it might be time for a new voice. I think it will come down to the player's exit interviews. 

[TheMightyOdin]

Defense and goaltending didn't seem to be the main problem to me. We needed more scoring and leadership.

It sucks losing. Ill be 50 this year. In the 40 something years I've been watching we made it to the final 4 twice.

They've made it to the final 4 four times.  Twice with Gilmour, twice with Sundin.

Not sure if that makes you feel better though.

Man I'm getting old.  I honestly have no recollection of Vancouver.