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2018-19 Toronto Maple Leafs - General Discussion

CarltonTheBear said:
Yeah this seems like the time to try new things.
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Can?t scout ahead what there?s no video of
p03wv8tb.jpg
 
I like the PP shakeup.  I think the Leafs options were to either overload the PP with Nylander/Matthews/Marner/Tavares/Rielly and have them play the entire 2 minutes or you split them up like this.
 
L K said:
I like the PP shakeup.  I think the Leafs options were to either overload the PP with Nylander/Matthews/Marner/Tavares/Rielly and have them play the entire 2 minutes or you split them up like this.
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I think the original plan (while fun for a month and a half) proved to be too many options for Skittles Marner to be effective, which is so hilarious because it was supposed to be too many options for the PK to cover.
 
Even though it's essentially meaningless at this point, I was hoping just for symbolism's sake that the Leafs would notch 50 wins this season.  Unless they come back tonight there's no chance of that (and little chance even if they do).  So, absent that, it would be nice to see them finish with at least 20 more wins than regulation losses.  Just for optics.
 
The changes are evident ? increased shot attempts, coming into the offensive zone in waves rather than on the rush, clever offensive coverage tactics  around net, etc.  However, weakness in DZ still lingers (forwards not covering for the D, etc.).

[tweet]1111134431891410945[/tweet]

Here?s a sneak peak showing the position (of the goals scored):

pofqKRKSp


At least we?re hopefully getting adjusted in time for the playoff round against the Bruins as it stands. 
 
I feel like the Bruins series is going to be all about goaltending.  If Freddie plays like he did mid season, the leafs are going to win.  If he plays like he did in March, the leafs will lose.
 
https://twitter.com/ChartingHockey/status/1112349132977553409

We should have had a significantly better March but Freddy (.890 Sv%) and Sparks (.898 Sv%) both decided to take the month off and here we are. And that's without Gardiner and Dermott in the line-up.
 
caveman said:
can they bring up Hutchinson as a 3rd?
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So he can watch from the press box instead of helping the Marlies? What's the point? If he's needed, he can be called up easily. Until then, leave him where he is.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
https://twitter.com/ChartingHockey/status/1112349132977553409

We should have had a significantly better March but Freddy (.890 Sv%) and Sparks (.898 Sv%) both decided to take the month off and here we are. And that's without Gardiner and Dermott in the line-up.
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Not to go all lc9 on your ass but the counter-argument is that this is a selective reading of the stats. The leafs competition was extremely weak recently ? teams like Ottawa and the Rangers who were bad before the deadline and then sold off their good players.  Outshooting Ottawa 2-1 tells us very little about how they will play against the Bruins.  Last time they played the ?ning, they kinda blew it.

On the injury front, across the entire year, the Bruins lost even more games from injury, including from top players (Bergeron, Pasternak, McAvoy) didn?t they? (Full disclosure:  I don?t actually know where to look for that ...).

And when it comes to goaltending, we now have a history of Freddie sagging late in the year three years in a row.  I don?t know how big a sample size we need to have in order to know if it is luck or a trend but I?m an anxious guy.

Having said that, I like being in the underdog position.  The leafs can win.  How likely is it? Who knows.  These recent scoring chance numbers dont tell us quite as much as I might hope, I don?t think.

 
princedpw said:
Not to go all lc9 on your ass but the counter-argument is that this is a selective reading of the stats.
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Who?

princedpw said:
The leafs competition was extremely weak recently ? teams like Ottawa and the Rangers who were bad before the deadline and then sold off their good players.  Outshooting Ottawa 2-1 tells us very little about how they will play against the Bruins.  Last time they played the ?ning, they kinda blew it.
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Yeah I mean this is fair and could explain some of the jump in those expected goal/scoring chance type stats in March. My point was more that we'd be looking at this team significantly differently from a fan perspective if our goaltending wasn't among the worst in the entire league in March. If our goaltending was even average we probably win 10 of the 14 games and are thrilled about how JT scored 18 points in 14 games (weird how nobody is even really talking about that).

princedpw said:
On the injury front, across the entire year, the Bruins lost even more games from injury, including from top players (Bergeron, Pasternak, McAvoy) didn?t they? (Full disclosure:  I don?t actually know where to look for that ...).
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Generally speaking the Leafs have been pretty good with injuries this year and last year as well. It just sucks how it hit them all at once right now in arguably our most vulnerable position. We only had 3 puck moving defencemen on the team and 2 of them went down at the exact same time, along side 2 puck moving defencemen on the Marlies.

princedpw said:
And when it comes to goaltending, we now have a history of Freddie sagging late in the year three years in a row.  I don?t know how big a sample size we need to have in order to know if it is luck or a trend but I?m an anxious guy.
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Andersen, like most/all goalies, goes through ups and downs throughout the season. He's very obviously at his lowest point right now. The good news is that he usually bounces back, as shown in this chart from @draglikepull:

D2wJxiqXcAAEgXF.png
 
Babcock is weaning himself off Brown.

The Leafs underlying play really picked up when Matthews was no longer dragging around Marleau and got Nylander/Johnsson, and Kadri returned to be an okay-enough 3rd line. If that Kadri line ever stops missing the net, whoa nelly.
 
Boston: 103 pts (ROW - 45)
@ CBJ
@ MIN
vs TB

Toronto: 99 pts (ROW - 46)
vs CAR
vs TB
@ MTL

Leafs go 2-0-1 to close out and Bruins go 0-2-1 both finish with 104 pts and the Leafs have home ice (better ROW). Unlikely, but if Toronto beats Carolina tonight and Boston loses to Columbus it would end fun :D
 
disco said:
Boston: 103 pts (ROW - 45)
@ CBJ
@ MIN
vs TB

Toronto: 99 pts (ROW - 46)
vs CAR
vs TB
@ MTL

Leafs go 2-0-1 to close out and Bruins go 0-2-1 both finish with 104 pts and the Leafs have home ice (better ROW). Unlikely, but if Toronto beats Carolina tonight and Boston loses to Columbus it would end fun :D
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Oh well. Get ready for game 1 in Boston. Need to come out strong.
 
herman said:
Babcock is weaning himself off Brown.

The Leafs underlying play really picked up when Matthews was no longer dragging around Marleau and got Nylander/Johnsson, and Kadri returned to be an okay-enough 3rd line. If that Kadri line ever stops missing the net, whoa nelly.
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Kadri may ramp up some nastiness and physical play in the playoffs...that would give the team more value from him than we have seen lately..
 
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