• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

GDT: Stretch run reset - Wings @ Leafs 7:30PM EST

number17

number17

Mod Squad
The bad news is we had a disastrous west coast trip where we only got 1 / 6 points, and as a result we got bumped out of the wild card spot. The good news is, the toughest part of the schedule is finally over, and after a rare 4 days break we'll head into the final stretch run with 18 games in 34 days.

Babs called the 4 days break a 'reset button' and prepare for the team for the final stretch run, there's no more excuses and it is do or die time for our playoff run. In a way, our playoff has begun already.

The good news is the next few games are against very winnable teams - Wings, Flyers, Canes ... we need to gain some momentum and turn the team around starting tonight.

No changes to the lineup in the morning practice, other than the switch that sees Brown back with Matthews and Nylander with Kadri.

Andersen, who has been playing better of late, will be in goal for us tonight.


Go Leafs Go!!!
 
Still kind of boggles my mind that Josh Leivo puts up 9 points in 12 games (including the primary assist on our lone goal against San Jose) and is one of the best forwards on the ice for us in a few games, and yet he's back as a regular in the press box since San Jose in favour of the likes of Nikita Soshnikov and Matt Martin. When the team's been having trouble generating offense as of late, that just seems like a self-inflicted wound.

Anyway, we still have more than enough offensive firepower that they should be able to score more than the 1-2 goals a game we've been getting in the last five games. As much as people are freaking out about our defense during this slump, it's the Leafs' inability to put the puck into the net that's sunk them against New York, Montreal, San Jose, LA and to a lesser degree, Anaheim. You have to figure we'll break back out eventually, it's just a question of whether it'll be soon enough to save their playoff hopes.
 
It's still amazing that we're 64 game into the season and one point out of the wildcard, four points away from third in the division with two games in hand, and still close to Ottawa and Montreal.
 
LeafGm said:
Still kind of boggles my mind that Josh Leivo puts up 9 points in 12 games (including the primary assist on our lone goal against San Jose) and is one of the best forwards on the ice for us in a few games, and yet he's back as a regular in the press box since San Jose in favour of the likes of Nikita Soshnikov and Matt Martin. When the team's been having trouble generating offense as of late, that just seems like a self-inflicted wound.

Anyway, we still have more than enough offensive firepower that they should be able to score more than the 1-2 goals a game we've been getting in the last five games. As much as people are freaking out about our defense during this slump, it's the Leafs' inability to put the puck into the net that's sunk them against New York, Montreal, San Jose, LA and to a lesser degree, Anaheim. You have to figure we'll break back out eventually, it's just a question of whether it'll be soon enough to save their playoff hopes.
Click to expand...
I think Leivo's gotta have impressed Babs during his 12 games cause he did play very well, especially considering he was sitting in the pressbox for so long.

In Bab's mind, the 4th line has a very specific function and he has always been reluctant to play offensive players on the 4th line. Somehow he doesn't feel Leivo fits in into that mold (which I disagree, I think Leivo plays a better forechecking game than Martin and Sosh) ... i actually think best place for Leivo is to replace Hyman on Matthews' wing, and Hyman should replace Martin (who is useless) on the 4th line.
 
the funny thing is that it might be jvr that makes the most sense for leivo to replace
 
Yeah the vets need to not disappear here. I don't expect much from Bozak but JVR and Gardiner need to be key contributors, not key reasons they blow every game.
 
xGF% = zone/score/venue-adjusted Expected Goals For percentage (from Corsica.Hockey)

Expected Goals = All Unblocked Shot Attempts adjusted for shot distance, quality, etc.

Number in brackets = xGF% Relative to Team


Line 1

C Kadri (26): 64gms, 26gls, 48pts, 16:37 (33gls/62pts), 56.5xgf% (+5.1)
C Zetterberg (36): 63gms, 14gls, 51pts, 19:31 (18gls/66pts), 53.2xgf% (+9.4)

W Nylander (20): 63gms, 17gls, 44pts, 16:11 (22gls/59pts), 55.6xgf% (+4.8)
W Nyquist (27): 57gms, 7gls, 29pts, 16:45 (10gls/42pts), 49.1xgf% (+2.6)

W Komarov (29): 64gms, 10gls, 23pts, 17:10 (13gls/30pts), 53.5xgf% (+0.9)
W Tatar (26): 63gms, 15gls, 29pts, 16:47 (20gls/38pts), 47.7xgf% (+1.2)

Line 2

C Bozak (30): 60gms, 15gls, 41pts, 16:22 (21gls/56pts), 50.4xgf% (-3.3)
C Nielsen (32): 60gms, 13gls, 30pts, 17:11 (18gls/41pts), 49.2xgf% (+3.0)

W Marner (19): 59gms, 15gls, 50pts, 16:48 (21gls/70pts), 49.5xgf% (-4.0)
W Mantha (22): 48gms, 14gls, 33pts, 16:46 (24gls/56pts), 54.3xgf% (+11.9)

W VanRyk (27): 64gms, 19gls, 48pts, 15:45 (24gls/62pts), 51.3xgf% (-2.0)
W Anathasiou (22): 48gms, 14gls, 21pts, 13:17 (24gls/36pts), 44.5xgf% (+3.4)

Line 3

C Matthews (19): 64gms, 31gls, 55pts, 17:48 (40gls/71pts), 53.6xgf% (+1.3)
C Helm (29): 35gms, 8gls, 13pts, 15:55 (19gls/31pts), 44.8xgf% (-2.2)

W Brown (22): 64gms, 15gls, 27pts, 16:03 (19gls/35pts), 50.7xgf% (-2.7)
W Larkin (20): 61gms, 13gls, 21pts, 15:50 (18gls/28pts), 42.7xgf% (-5.8)

W Hyman (24): 64gms, 9gls, 25pts, 17:02 (12gls/32pts), 53.2xgf% (+0.6)
W Abdelkader (29): 45gms, 5gls, 17pts, 16:14 (9gls/31pts), 45.9xgf% (-0.3)

Line 4

C Boyle (33): 57gms, 13gls, 23pts, 13:37 (19gls/33pts), 54.7xgf% (+3.2)
C Glendening (27): 63gms, 3gls, 13pts, 13:24 (4gls/17pts), 45.4xgf% (-1.8)

W Soshnikov (23): 49gms, 4gls, 7pts, 10:39 (7gls/12pts), 51.1xgf% (-1.9)
W Sheahan (25): 61gms, 0gls, 9pts, 13:59 (0gls/12pts), 41.8xgf% (-6.3)

W Martin (27): 64gms, 4gls, 7pts, 8:49 (5gls/9pts), 50.5xgf% (-2.6)
W Miller (32): 38gms, 5gls, 6pts, 10:24 (11gls/13pts), 45.2xgf% (-2.9)


Pair 1

D Rielly (22): 58gms, 3gls, 22pts, 22:16 (4gls/31pts), 51.8xgf% (-1.6)
D Dekeyser (26): 63gms, 3gls, 8pts, 22:23 (4gls/10pts), 46.0xgf% (-1.4)

D Zaitsev (25): 64gms, 3gls, 29pts, 22:21 (4gls/37pts), 51.4xgf% (-2.1)
D Green (31): 53gms, 10gls, 26pts, 23:48 (16gls/40pts), 47.2xgf% (+0.7)

Pair 2

D Gardiner (26): 64gms, 9gls, 32pts, 21:15 (12gls/41pts), 54.2xgf% (+2.3)
D Kronwall (35): 39gms, 0gls, 8pts, 28:50 (0gls/17pts), 48.1xgf% (+4.7)

D Marchenko (24): 35gms, 0gls, 6pts, 17:48 (0gls/14pts), 50.8xgf% (+4.2)
D Jensen (26): 30gms, 3gls, 7pts, 16:31 (8gls/19pts), 47.5xgf% (+2.6)

Pair 3

D Hunwick (31): 54gms, 1gls, 13pts, 17:49 (2gls/20pts), 53.2xgf% (-0.2)
D Ouellet (23): 47gms, 2gls, 11pts, 18:18 (4gls/19pts), 46.5xgf% (-0.5)

D Polak (30): 59gms, 3gls, 6pts, 17:35 (4gls/8pts), 52.4xgf% (-0.5)
D Russo (23): -------


Starter

G Andersen (27): 52gms, .916sv%, .920es%
G Mrazek (24): 40gms, .902sv%, .910es%

Backup

G McElhinney (33): 14gms, .927sv%, .932es%
G Coreau (25): 13gms, .893sv%, .901es%
 
Last edited:
zeke said:
the funny thing is that it might be jvr that makes the most sense for leivo to replace
Click to expand...
That was honestly part of the reason I was hoping he'd get shipped out at the deadline.

I'm ready to move on, and I'd rather see what the likes of Leivo, Kapanen or Leipsic could do with JVR's opportunities at this point.
 
Let's not forget JVR and Bozak were part of the 16 wheeler team too ... and they could very well have been the culprit.
 
number17 said:
Let's not forget JVR and Bozak were part of the 16 wheeler team too ... and they could very well have been the culprit.
Click to expand...

I think JVR is just in it for the money, he doesn't give a shit about winning or about the team he plays for IMO, you can tell by how he conducts himself, time to move on from him, take whatever you can get and call it a day. Bozak is skilled and I think he wants to win, but he has serious lengthy lapses in concentration out there, is a blackhole in his own end, and can't finish Marner's sick passes, time to move on from him too.
 
zeke said:
the funny thing is that it might be jvr that makes the most sense for leivo to replace
Click to expand...

It works on both ends. Leivo deserves it and JVR needs a huge wake up call. I'd do this in a heartbeat.

Instead, we have the dynamic duo glued to each other while Babs sits there and watches them give up no end of juicy chances because they can't find their way around (or could be bothered) the defensive zone and often spring the opposition for odd man rushes when at the other end. No idea what these two do to get the leash they are given.
 
CRL said:
Geez how tool didn't score there
Click to expand...
Yeah, that was unbelievable.

Lucky that Mrazek swiped the puck right out onto Marchenko's stick right as Abdelkader shoved JVR into Mrazek. I'm not sure why Detroit wasted their timeout/challenge on that play. Was pretty obvious that was going to count.
 
Two assists for Mitch less than seven minutes into the game.

He's now only three away from tying the Leaf rookie record of 40 assists.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top