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2020-2021 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion

I want to believe that the Tavares goal gets the PP going again, but that shot seemed to be a byproduct of a broken play where the Leafs were doing a lot of the same Rielly holds the puck up at the blueline and slow passes back and forth with Matthews or Marner.

 
L K said:
I want to believe that the Tavares goal gets the PP going again, but that shot seemed to be a byproduct of a broken play where the Leafs were doing a lot of the same Rielly holds the puck up at the blueline and slow passes back and forth with Matthews or Marner.
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Yeah, though, sometimes those broken plays being successful is enough to rebuild the confidence of the group and get them out of their own heads a little. Fingers cross on this one.
 
Marner and Rielly are trying too hard on the PP. Just pass it to William, gosh. His head is blissfully empty.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
herman said:
Marner and Rielly are trying too hard on the PP. Just pass it to William, gosh. His head is blissfully empty.
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Willy shoot Willy score
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Holtby couldn't help but be mesmerized when Willy's booty smoothly glided into view.
 
I'm still impressed that Willy is doing double duty starring in that Mighty Ducks reboot series all the kids are watching.
 
I've seen a bunch of comments about Reilly not being a threat with his shot and "Marner shouldn't be the one shooting", but I disagree. They all have NHL shots. They need to start unleashing them. You've got Tavares and Nylander down low. Get the puck on the net and let them go to work.

I was watching the Vancouver PP carefully. It seemed to be so much more dynamic but they also shot it more.

Basically what I'm saying is: need more Nylander.
 
Bullfrog said:
I've seen a bunch of comments about Reilly not being a threat with his shot and "Marner shouldn't be the one shooting", but I disagree. They all have NHL shots. They need to start unleashing them. You've got Tavares and Nylander down low. Get the puck on the net and let them go to work.

I was watching the Vancouver PP carefully. It seemed to be so much more dynamic but they also shot it more.

Basically what I'm saying is: need more Nylander.
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There was one play that Vancouver ran that I'd like to see the Leafs try more. It was a quick/short pass from the side to a guy in the middle slot (might have been Boeser, not sure) for a quick, almost one-timer (though more of a wrist shot I believe). Didn't result in a goal but that is the kind of play Matthews could probably thrive on.

But...on the PP in that game, Matthews spend most of his time too far from the net, often looping out near or even past the blueline. He really looked like he wanted nothing to do with the puck. Very strange.

One thing about Nylander, he's one of the few Leafs who seems willing to attempt to penetrate into the central area. I noticed this a lot at 5v5. The M&M line would maintain possession for a long time but with mostly perimeter play. They'd often wind up with 3 players near the blue line and the other 2 deep along the boards somewhere and nothing happened. Nylander though would circle around and penetrate into the center, testing, looking for an opening. Marner and Matthews should be doing more of that.
 
Chris said:
But...on the PP in that game, Matthews spend most of his time too far from the net, often looping out near or even past the blueline. He really looked like he wanted nothing to do with the puck. Very strange.
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This is a thing Keefe asks his centres to do; Matthews specifically on the PP would use this to get 'lost' in the defensive re-assignments and let him attack with a speed differential.

We're too static in the OZ; you're right, the only player who goes into the high danger slot consistently with movement these days is Nylander. Our net front set up is stationary, and pretty useless unless Marner and Rielly actually get the puck down to them, instead of floating muffins into the crest, or off high blocks and out.
 
herman said:
Chris said:
But...on the PP in that game, Matthews spend most of his time too far from the net, often looping out near or even past the blueline. He really looked like he wanted nothing to do with the puck. Very strange.
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This is a thing Keefe asks his centres to do; Matthews specifically on the PP would use this to get 'lost' in the defensive re-assignments and let him attack with a speed differential.

We're too static in the OZ; you're right, the only player who goes into the high danger slot consistently with movement these days is Nylander. Our net front set up is stationary, and pretty useless unless Marner and Rielly actually get the puck down to them, instead of floating muffins into the crest, or off high blocks and out.
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The bottom line is, the penalty kills have figured out that by playing a tight box and staying in lanes, they have negated the extra man. Toronto needs to start driving shots into that tight box. They need to take advantage of that traffic. Shoot and Drive. The way Nylander played that Tavares shot was perfect. Be a threat at the post. When the defender moves off of you to Tavares, slide into the screen. There's now two sets of screens for the goalie to fight through.
 
Deebo said:
https://twitter.com/lukefoxjukebox/status/1384276006433746950
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https://www.sportsnet.ca/590/lead-off/hc-nylanders-tardiness-leafs-ongoing-question-net/
Bourne with some insight into the almost benching on today's radio hit that he was ironically late for.
 
herman said:
Bourne with some insight into the almost benching on today's radio hit that he was ironically late for.
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Not sure I can forgive you for making me hear Stewart talk about how the team needs to play better defence when the goalies are struggling... the guy saw Rittich's 5th goal right?
 
CarltonTheBear said:
herman said:
Bourne with some insight into the almost benching on today's radio hit that he was ironically late for.
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Not sure I can forgive you for making me hear Stewart talk about how the team needs to play better defence when the goalies are struggling... the guy saw Rittich's 5th goal right?
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I just assumed everyone would scroll through until they heard Bourne blame his children. I already take off the extra text code from the tweet shares, I can't do everything for everyone.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
herman said:
Bourne with some insight into the almost benching on today's radio hit that he was ironically late for.
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Not sure I can forgive you for making me hear Stewart talk about how the team needs to play better defence when the goalies are struggling... the guy saw Rittich's 5th goal right?
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The Leafs have been a bad defensive team for such a long time that it seems like the media never wants to lay the blame at the feet of the goalie.  They brought up Vancouver blocking shots the last two games of rallying the defense around a goalie.  Dude, they blocked like 20+ shots and still gave up 70+ shots and got outshot by 30 in two games.  That's your example of rallying around a goalie?

If Holtby gave up the .846 SV% that the Leafs got they would have given up 12-13 goals.


 
L K said:
The Leafs have been a bad defensive team for such a long time that it seems like the media never wants to lay the blame at the feet of the goalie.
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Media had no problem dumping on Freddie.
 
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