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R1, G2: sens @ Maple Leafs - Apr. 22nd, 7:30pm - SN, TSN 1050

Andy007 said:
I'm not sure what happens to this team when they have the lead. Are they adhering to Berube's system, like, is that the actual plan? Or are they afraid of giving up the lead and defaulting into tortoise mode? Because they absolutely dominated Ottawa 1st period (the PP were they only actual chances OTT had) and then just stopped skating and shooting and trying. Line 1 kept dumping the puck in and not being remotely close to retrieving it...over...and over again. I can't see this style working in the long run..but....great win I guess!! :D
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The system the Leafs are running definitely gives up a lot of possession time, but, that's about it. Not much from high danger areas. Mostly clean looks for Stolarz, too. It doesn't look good, but it has been very effective. The Leafs actually come out ahead in expect goals 5-on-5.
 
bustaheims said:
The system the Leafs are running definitely gives up a lot of possession time, but, that's about it. Not much from high danger areas. Mostly clean looks for Stolarz, too. It doesn't look good, but it has been very effective. The Leafs actually come out ahead in expect goals 5-on-5.
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Yea, it definitely has been effective and I understand the philosophy (very reminiscent of Randy Carlyle hockey) but I guess it's just the complete shutting down of the offense/shots aspect and allowing the other team to essentially control the puck at their whim that I find intolerable. If it works, though, I guess I shouldn't complain..
 
It looks like very ugly hockey. I said it a few days ago, but this entire season the Leafs haven't really looked "good".

Here we have the contrast.

Keefe hockey was pretty, it was fast, it was all about dipsy doodling around. It was about hanging on to the puck. Worked pretty good in the regular season. Turned out not to be too great in the playoffs.

Berube hockey is ugly. Dump and chase hockey. Keep everything to the outside, allow nothing through the middle. Get to the front of the net, create chaos. They finished top of their division in the regular season. Playoffs TBD.
 
Not trying to be a debbie downer. We're up 2-0 in the series, the stars are producing, and the game plan obviously isn't too concerned about what the shot counters are at. But still, the top-6 are all hovering around 30% in shot attempts in both games. That just doesn't seem too sustainable to winning, especially beyond round 1 when the competition gets much, much better.

The team will still need to play much better sooner rather than later, but I mean I think they can so I'm not super concerned or anything.
 
The violins are just part of the song Pursuit of Happiness. It's just playing along with the music. Mitch and Auston have been doing it all year.
 
The Leafs didn't give up many grade A chances yesterday. Both Ottawa's goals were deflections on Leafs D (to be fair, all goals but Domi's were).

I like that Knies is unleashed and being a difference maker he is being very noticiable so far in this series.
 
Playoff Rielly has emerged. He's tied for the lead in goals and lead in +/- on the team. More games like this and his poor regular season will be forgotten.

Power Play is an execution monster. Seconds from the puck drop we have pucks hitting twine.

Game 2 Leafs did better in controlling rebounds.

Depth contributing with goals. L4 buzzin. L3 buzzin. Blue line buzzin. Who is Ottawa going to cover?
 
L K said:
The violins are just part of the song Pursuit of Happiness. It's just playing along with the music. Mitch and Auston have been doing it all year.
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I think Mo started it last year (saw it a couple of times). He's putting together a string ensemble.
 
Guru Tugginmypuddah said:
It looks like very ugly hockey. I said it a few days ago, but this entire season the Leafs haven't really looked "good".

Here we have the contrast.

Keefe hockey was pretty, it was fast, it was all about dipsy doodling around. It was about hanging on to the puck. Worked pretty good in the regular season. Turned out not to be too great in the playoffs.

Berube hockey is ugly. Dump and chase hockey. Keep everything to the outside, allow nothing through the middle. Get to the front of the net, create chaos. They finished top of their division in the regular season. Playoffs TBD.
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I don't care how ugly the hockey is - the CUP is beautiful and that's all that matters. Just win.

That said, I'm not sure how sustainable this approach is going to be against better teams - such as Florida - who have more experience and will be able to better take advantage of all the zone time the Leafs are allowing. You can keep almost all of the shots to the outside and block most of the rest, but eventually there are bad bounces or a good tip or screen and pucks will find their way in.
 
4EVRLEAFAN said:
It's the Leafs, they've been this way for 8 years, why do you think we haven't made it past the second round? At least now we have better D and goalies to compensate for it , how far will that take us? Worked pretty good for the Panthers. Lol
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They're playing a completely different brand of hockey though.
 
Chris said:
I don't care how ugly the hockey is - the CUP is beautiful and that's all that matters. Just win.

That said, I'm not sure how sustainable this approach is going to be against better teams - such as Florida - who have more experience and will be able to better take advantage of all the zone time the Leafs are allowing. You can keep almost all of the shots to the outside and block most of the rest, but eventually there are bad bounces or a good tip or screen and pucks will find their way in.
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Watching the games, I haven't felt threatened by the lopsided shot attempts. The eye test says we're good.
 
Chris said:
The eye test also says we're playing Ottawa, not Florida.
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This is a true quote.... but I think Ottawa is a good team and on par with a lot of other teams in the NHL such as the Devils and Canes and even Caps. And cannot dispute Ottawas hunger.

We all know out of the matchups..... there are one or two teams the Leafs would be best to avoid. Panthers at the top of that list...maybe add Avs. But the way Leafs have played in the past 20 games.... I think they can beat everyone else in 7.

GLG!

And also Go Lightening Go too!
 
To be fair, Keefe hockey was Dubas hockey (obviously, given their history together). And Dubas's puck-control hockey was not inherently flawed, even for the playoffs. The Wings in their glory years won plenty with that style. And, while Toronto's line-up was never going to be as good as the Wings's from those days, it was not unreasonable for Dubas to think that he had enough talent (up front anyway) to make it work.

What we never had under Keefe/Dubas was the goaltending we are getting so far. Not just in terms of actual results, but in terms of confidence-inducing playstyle. Also I think Keefe was not as flexible as he could have been.
 
ZBBM said:
To be fair, Keefe hockey was Dubas hockey (obviously, given their history together). And Dubas's puck-control hockey was not inherently flawed, even for the playoffs. The Wings in their glory years won plenty with that style. And, while Toronto's line-up was never going to be as good as the Wings's from those days, it was not unreasonable for Dubas to think that he had enough talent (up front anyway) to make it work.

What we never had under Keefe/Dubas was the goaltending we are getting so far. Not just in terms of actual results, but in terms of confidence-inducing playstyle. Also I think Keefe was not as flexible as he could have been.
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Sure, but Detroit's success with that style was from a very different era, where they could heavily obstruct the opposition on D while taking advantage of their puck possession prowess. It still worked some as the league started to crackdown on obstruction, largely because teams hadn't fully turned their rosters over into the more speed and skill focused units that we see now.
 
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