sens @ Leafs - Oct. 3rd, 7:00pm - SN

[herman]

Tavares killing every chance to control it in deep :/

 

[ZBBM]

I like John Tavares but he singlehandedly killed any chance they had. No FO wins, giveaways.

 

[Arn]

6 posts, and Bob played well.

I’m cautiously optimistic.

I think it’s a bit shit they’re playing 2 extra regular season games at the cost of a bit more training camp/pre season games. It’s a disservice to paying and watching fans.

 

[ZBBM]

Maybe the worst game I can remember from 91.

 

[L K]

They re more watchable but points matter. That was not a game they should have lost and they did. I didn't care for how they played at all in the 3rd and Ottawa was playing down one of their top 2 defenseman.

Poor effort. Posts and everything but there was no urgency and they got outworked

Multiple times Ottawa dumped the puck in after the Leafs were trailing and we also the first to get back to the puck. If guys are too tired to skate...get them the fuck off the ice

 

[dappleganger]

I thought the Leafs deserved the win. 6 posts... ouch.

The Leafs 1st line is absolutely feasting on opponents.

The Leafs 2nd line is still getting caved in a lot.

 

[cw]

They re more watchable but points matter. That was not a game they should have lost and they did. I didn't care for how they played at all in the 3rd and Ottawa was playing down one of their top 2 defenseman.

Poor effort. Posts and everything but there was no urgency and they got outworked

Multiple times Ottawa dumped the puck in after the Leafs were trailing and we also the first to get back to the puck. If guys are too tired to skate...get them the fuck off the ice

Points really matter for a bubble team particularly against another bubble team.
They're not good enough to crawl out of a deep hole.
So they do not have as much time to figure something out

Had the game on the whole time but had distractions.
Pretty even 1st
Then the Leafs seemed to take over.
then the Sens took over.

The graphic after the 2nd period that bothered me was the puck battles: ~70% won by the Sens, 30% by the Leafs

Raddysh looked more effective

McKenna seems to be afflicted with deer-in-the-headlights syndrome. He's not engaging in puck battles. Better to lose 70% than concede 100%

It was a disappointing loss. Not as ugly to watch as last season but a let down.

 

[rjd]

Still waiting till 5 games to make a first judgement.

 

[cw]

Article below seems fair as an opinion he backs up
The 'outcoached' may be taken from Hiller's post game where he claimed they couldn't get out of their own zone because they were tired. Hiller criticized the Leafs taking the penalties they did in the 3rd which shifted the momentum.

Sportsnet: 'Lots of iron': Maple Leafs' loss to Senators not all puck luck

Don’t construe the fact that Leafs could have won to mean they should have won.

Through 60 minutes, the Senators proved the more organized and hungrier outfit. They earned a 5.01-3.26 edge in expected goals, spent more than two minutes longer in Toronto’s zone than the Leafs did in theirs, and won 64 per cent of the puck battles.

Puck luck played a role, but it wasn’t the sole reason. The Leafs got outworked in crunch time and outcoached in the neutral zone

Hiller’s bunch has another level to reach in terms of clean zone exits, locking down leads, and striking chemistry with four new lines and two new power-play units.

Everything’s early. Give it time. That’s the sentiment in Leafland one week into the gauntlet.

 

[cw]

Points really matter for a bubble team particularly against another bubble team.
They're not good enough to crawl out of a deep hole.
So they do not have as much time to figure something out

Had the game on the whole time but had distractions.
Pretty even 1st
Then the Leafs seemed to take over.
then the Sens took over.

The graphic after the 2nd period that bothered me was the puck battles: ~70% won by the Sens, 30% by the Leafs

Raddysh looked more effective

McKenna seems to be afflicted with deer-in-the-headlights syndrome. He's not engaging in puck battles. Better to lose 70% than concede 100%

It was a disappointing loss. Not as ugly to watch as last season but a let down.

Further to this, the next two games after Nashville in Toronto are on the road against Colorado & Vegas. If they lose to Nashville, they could be in a real hole after those two road games. Only 3 games in and we're almost into a must win ...

 

[L K]

I will concede that playing their 3rd game while Ottawa played their first may have played a role in tired legs as the game dragged on. Three games in 5 nights isn't unreasonable but with a shortened training camp it does put pressure out of game shape bodies

 

[dappleganger]

I will concede that playing their 3rd game while Ottawa played their first may have played a role in tired legs as the game dragged on. Three games in 5 nights isn't unreasonable but with a shortened training camp it does put pressure out of game shape bodies

The two penalties in the 3rd really seemed to sap their energy (momentum?) as well.

 

[ZBBM]

We rode Berube hard last year, and with good reason. Even though it's early, Hiller shouldn't be above criticism.

He kept sending JT91 out there to take draws even though he was having a terrible night in circle. I think he lost 4 in a row when they were trying to even it late in the third.

He benched Nylander when he deserved it the other night, and McKenna didn''t see the ice again after he tried to dangle his way through 3 defenders. Hiller needs to take the same measures with Tavares when they are needed.

 

[cw]

We rode Berube hard last year, and with good reason. Even though it's early, Hiller shouldn't be above criticism.

He kept sending JT91 out there to take draws even though he was having a terrible night in circle. I think he lost 4 in a row when they were trying to even it late in the third.

He benched Nylander when he deserved it the other night, and McKenna didn''t see the ice again after he tried to dangle his way through 3 defenders. Hiller needs to take the same measures with Tavares when they are needed.

Giroux and Tavares were top 5? in the league in faceoffs last year (and for a few years). Giroux only lost 2 draws all night - one was to Tavares (who Giroux beat 5 times). So I can cut Hiller some slack on that. His best faceoff man and 2nd best: Matthews (0-2) couldn't beat Giroux much.

I had the game on but didn't watch consistently. I saw a couple of bad giveaways by Tavares. One was when the Sens were lined up across their blue line and he tried to stick handle his way thru - it was a kamikaze pathetic effort. So I saw some of the bad from Tavares but not enough of the game and context to offer much opinion beyond that. That one seemed like a mental error. The other one was a clumsy fumble/execution error.

I saw some of the other comments by credible posters so, I looked up my prior gameday posts:

Sept 20: "Tavares showed some decent speed on a couple of plays - which is a relief to see at his age"

Sept 24: "An important one for the team to me is Tavares due to his age and role. He's skating very well, winning draws, engaged and looks good. "

He was NHL first star of that second preseason game against Ottawa and led the team in scoring over the 2(4) games in preseason: 1G 3A 4pts.

So, I took those observations and his performances as encouraging because my concern was that at his age, he could drop off in spite of his efforts to stay in shape. It looked to me that he had not yet when I was specifically looking for it.

He's on a line with a winger who doesn't hit, doesn't block shots, had his own terrible turnovers/defensive issues and doesn't play much over 100 feet and a rookie who is having a tough time getting acclimatized to the NHL.

Therefore, I need to see more before damning him and I can see why his coach might feel that way. Tavares' work ethic and character deserves that. Having said that, they cannot wait too long because if they lose to Nashville, they could be in a real hole by the time they've played undefeated Colorado and Cup finalist Vegas.

 

[cw]

There was an interview I saw with Wendel Clark. It was a fairly recent interview. Very loosely, he said something to effect that getting injured shortly after his first season started (after being drafted 1st overall) was a "lucky break" He realized how much stronger he needed to be to play in the NHL and while he was rehabbing, he worked very hard on improving his strength. He claimed it made all the difference when he returned.

McKenna may need something very roughly like that (not the injury) to help him transition to the NHL. Or maybe that as a part of what needs to occur to help him.

 

[cw]

Matthews appears to have got this right

https://twitter.com/x/status/2106807722024829301