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GDT #14: TOR @ PIT, HNIC Nov 3

No mentions of Kadri ... shut down the Malkin-Kessel line completely. No mean feat.

Kadri is ****ing gold.
He did.

The Kadri line absolutely shut down the Malkin line, and better, the Tavares line kicked Crosby's line's ass. Our 2nd line beat their 2nd line, and our top line dominated their top line.

And our 4th line played a heck of a 4th line game too, they managed to spend most of their ice time in the offensive zone and just killed time, no matter which PIT line they were up against. Several times in 4th vs 4th line matchups, they forced PIT's 4th line to ice the puck, which then got Babs a 1st vs 4th line matchup which really worked in our favour.

Statement game for sure, and it's a good road win for us.
 
nice nice nice.

I didn't have an eagle eye on this one but from what I saw the leafs were full marks for this win.
 
Tavares on Mitch:

Some of the uptick, no doubt, comes from playing with Mitchell Marner, and Tavares says with every passing practice, skate and game, he’s getting a better feel for his surging 21-year-old linemate.

“I think certainly now, game 14 today, and the practice time we’ve had, exhibition games — I’d like to think we think the game pretty well (together),” said Tavares, still wearing gear from his 20-minute night against the Penguins while Marner blazed by in a long baby blue dress coat. “You can make adjustments and get more of a sense of the way he plays and getting a better feel for his poise. I think you always know it, but until you kinda see it and go through it and have those opportunities to really get a feel of your timing and where to be and trying to read off him and his body language and what he likes to do — you see it on a day-to-day basis, you just get a better feel for it.

“It’ll only continue to get better,” he added. “I think when you play with guys for long periods of time, it’s just amazing when you see the chemistry (develop). I think you can see it with the team we just played, how long they’ve been together, and just so many things become automatic, you don’t even think about them. As I get more comfortable and get a feel for him, and even just the way we play, things will get better and better I think.”

Increased comfort was evident against the Penguins.



With 18 points, Marner is sitting just outside the top-5 in league scoring — even with Morgan Rielly, who matched Tomas Kaberle for the most prolific 14-game start by an NHL defenceman in the last 10 years.

Tavares has been impressed with Marner’s poise and processing of the game, but also his tenacity in working to the get the puck back when he doesn’t have it. (Mike Babcock has been raving more and more about this in recent days.) Then, when he had the puck back, Tavares explained, Marner seemed to have this innate sense for where everyone else happened to be on the ice.

“He just makes it easier because you see him hunt a guy down and you’ve just gotta find some open ice,” Tavares said. “It makes the game a lot easier for me.”

https://theathletic.com/631938/2018...-life-a-whole-lot-easier-for-the-maple-leafs/

But what about Zach?!

Look for much reduced ice time for JT on Tuesday.
 
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The amount of sure fire chances that Tavares has missed this season is like nothing I’ve ever seen. If he capitalized on even a few of those he’d be leading the league in scoring
 
I'm really hoping MLSE builds a new arena for the Raps to ensure the ice at the ACC improves. It's some of the worst ice in the league. Alternatively, there may be something to fix up technically. Between the ice and Babcock's match up lines, the talent on the team is being held back from performing at the level they should be.
 
btw it sure looks like kappy is a legit impact 1st liner.

His confidence with the puck is improving but his hands might hold him back from that level. That said, he's been damned impressive so far this season. While not the greatest puck handler, he's got a great shot.
 
I've always thought he had plus hands. Ya he bobbles once in a while at top speed but that's normal for a guy who skates that ****ing fast.
 
Also Kappy playing this well just kind of reaffirms one of my biggest gripes with Babcock. The first season he came in he was all about the guys who earned it moving up the line up, letting the young guys play, no favourites. But that's completely gone out the window.

It's pretty obvious Kappy could have been a solid contributor for some time now. But god forbid a little competition for Brownie and Hymie. Instead it took letting JVR walk, Nylander holding out, and a full preseason and opening week of watching Tyler Ennis on AM's wing before giving him any ice time.

And still, the guy can't get a powerplay shift over Zach and Tyler and their combined one ****ing goal on the season.
 
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I was bitching a lot last year about Kappy being stuck on the 4th line. It was ridiculous.
Steve Simmons (I do not like him) had a good gripe this morning about Babcock's crap about having to earn a spot, and how many guys who deserve less ice-time keep getting it. It's b.s lip service.

Imagine Kapanen with more TOI against Boston in those 7 games? He was REALLY good with very little ice-time.
 
Missed the game but not surprised JT dominated Sid. He's one of the few active nhlers that has a career 50+% corsi against him. I believe Naz is in the group as well.

JT has been great this year imo. I saw a stat that he's in the top two or three in the league in high danger chances. He's usually a slow starter and typically hits his stride in around January most years (although he has has a couple elite seasons from the beginning, that's typically when he's over PPG.. otherwise in his 70ish point seasons he's usually trash until about January, where he takes it to super elite territory).

Regardless, when Matthews comes back hopefully he can become that elite possession guy because he usually gets dominated by Crosby. That's the next step in his game and imo, when he's off that's when the team really struggles. Seriously think until Matthews is a consistent 50+% guy against the elite players in the league, I'm not sure they are real cup threats. Good news is, I'll happily bet on Auston ****ing Matthews.
 
One more thing... The team would do well to play zaitsev a lot less but I'm not sure they need to upgrade their d to be an good defensive team. They've been terrific defensivdlg of late. Like I said, if their top three centers consistently dominate possession, do they really need to upgrade their d? Not at all.

They could easily be a top ten defensive team with this current roster.
 
You can upgrade the D and still sign Willy. Our first rounder can go at the deadline this year. It might be time to dangle some futures, which does not have to be Willy at all.
 
Yeah I don't mind looking for upgrades but I'm not sure it's necessarily mandatory to become an elite team. I'd be in favor of upgrading Zaitsev but really that's about it. Dermott, rielly and Jake are already clear top four d. Hainsey has quietly been quite good but they need to replace him soon. A second pair rhd would be great if they can use their nerd wizardry and pluck an undervalued guy from another team. Outside of that, I wouldn't necessarily spend a whole lot to acquire one.
 
that was an awesome awesome game. everyone contributed top to bottom. just totally neutralized a really dangerous offensive team. really encouraging stuff all around. I thought Marner was our best player though, he's ****ing everywhere.
 
Yeah I don't mind looking for upgrades but I'm not sure it's necessarily mandatory to become an elite team. I'd be in favor of upgrading Zaitsev but really that's about it. Dermott, rielly and Jake are already clear top four d. Hainsey has quietly been quite good but they need to replace him soon. A second pair rhd would be great if they can use their nerd wizardry and pluck an undervalued guy from another team. Outside of that, I wouldn't necessarily spend a whole lot to acquire one.

I'd like to see how Ozzy could do as a shutdown top-4 type before expending assets on another D. Same with Dermott. Hell, they could be our 'shutdown pair' sooner than later.
 
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