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Clearly the problem is that they've lost their heart and soul, Jake Gardiner. I'm not really sure whether or not I'm kidding.

So I guess the Bruins will never lose another game in regulation again.

Nylander's bread and butter is playing with the puck. He happens to playing with borderline NHLers with poor puck control, which is obviously a bad fit. I don't see Nylander making a lot of bad plays. I see him trying to make good plays with linemates who are unable to execute.

The common denominator with good Leafs' defencemen looking bad and out of rhythm seems to be playing with Zaitsev and his CF% of 43.8% and relative Corsi of -11.1%. He is a giveaway machine who can't carry or pass the puck and has poor defensive instincts. Things were going really well with...

Andersen didn?t play well but neither did Matthews or Tavares. Our top players - especially Matthews - have to find a way to drive possession. His advanced stats have been pretty ugly for about a dozen games. The obvious thing to do would be to play Matthews with Nylander when Kadri is...

I don't know how they can take either Ennis or Moore out of the line-up when Kadri is back. The odd man out would seem to be Brown, who isn't terrible but isn't as good as the other options. I can't see Babcock sitting Brown though. Nice problem to have, really.

More gorgeous offence from Zaitsev. Muzzin has to be injured, right?

Uh oh I agree with Cherry re Zaitsev/Muzzin.

The Leafs are skating in mud.

There?s that Zaitsev gap control.

Pretty impressive ovation. I haven't heard it that loud in the ACC for a long time.

Embarrassing call on a complete dive. Especially after the bullshit the Leafs have had to put up with all period.

Hughson is insufferable. I listen to Coltrane whenever he?s doing the broadcast. I don?t even like jazz.

We deserved one of those after getting mauled all period without a call.

Babcock?s chronic misuse of his players is catching up on the score sheet. More often than not the Leafs play the game in disarray and have to rely on their raw skill to keep them in it. But that won?t work if Babcock keeps playing his worst players as much as or more than his good ones. Right...

I can get on board with this. There's no way Hyman ever drops to the third line (or Marleau ever drops out of the top 9) during Babcock's tenure though.

You sure like to attribute a lot of Babcock's crazy line-up decisions to some kind of grand design. To me it appears less like rational design and more like Babcock playing favourites with veteran gud pros rather than holding players accountable for their actual performance.

Are you sure you aren't rationalizing Babcock's bad decisions? is there any actual evidence that playing your 20 year old stars 15 minutes per game, rather than at a pace similar to that of other young stars, will make a material difference come playoff time? Wouldn't it make more sense to...

Fixed. It?s not the most popular take, but I think there is a significant amount of evidence (possession stats, etc) that Babcock has systemically failed to optimize the lineup over the past few years. Old school veteran favouritism has been a persistent thorn in the team?s side.

Yep. Took out his legs. Just a horribly officiated game.