Blue Jackets @ Leafs - Nov. 25th, 7:00pm - SN, SN 590

[LittleHockeyFan]

Just heard groin injury for lupul.

:-(

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Just heard groin injury for lupul.

:-(

No jokes about LHF kissing it better, absolutely not.

 

[louisstamos]

Best $120 I've ever spent!  :'(

 

[ZBBM]

How they turned a fast, up-tempo team into the one we've seen this season is beyond me.  Finally get the goaltending and now we have a sludge hockey team.

I honestly don't believe that this team has any speed anymore.

Which is odd, because I thought, even if they lost speed up front with Grabo, MacA, and Komarov leaving, they were adding a full season of Gardiner, Rielly, and Ranger. I was expecting improved breakouts.

Gardiner & Rielly have a lot of developing to do.  They are great skating it out, but passing?  Needs work.  (Some of this is on the forwards, too.)

 

[hap_leaf]

On another: good god is that ever a no-name roster Columbus has.

They're missing arguably their 3 best forwards and their best defenceman. The Leafs have to get 2 points out of this.

I am confident the Leafs can hold them under 40 shots.

Well, you were correct.

 

[bustaheims]

Gardiner & Rielly have a lot of developing to do.  They are great skating it out, but passing?  Needs work.  (Some of this is on the forwards, too.)

A lot of it is on the forwards. As soon as the defence has the puck under control, the forwards are fleeing the zone and not stopping until they get to the other team's blue line. They're forcing the defence to make too many long passes, and a large percentage of them are being picked off, deflected or just not connecting.

 

[Stickytape]

Gardiner & Rielly have a lot of developing to do.  They are great skating it out, but passing?  Needs work.  (Some of this is on the forwards, too.)

A lot of it is on the forwards. As soon as the defence has the puck under control, the forwards are fleeing the zone and not stopping until they get to the other team's blue line. They're forcing the defence to make too many long passes, and a large percentage of them are being picked off, deflected or just not connecting.

I'm convinced that this is Carlyle's doing, as it's such a weird concept and so consistent across all lines that it can only be something he's drilling into them.  Their go-to play is to skate the forwards up to the blue line along the boards and have the D make a stretch pass that is meant to be tipped in to avoid icing.

It almost never works.

 

[princedpw]

Finally, a mercy pull for Reimer. If you try that after the 3rd goal, maybe that would have helped, Randy.

Exactly or at least a timeout back in the first or second period and reem these guys out. Did he even do that?

Hmmm ... this is beginning to sound eerily like the posts toward the end of Wilson.

Except Carlyle isn't going anywhere...

That is true.  Nobody's getting fired when the team is 14-8, all our discontent notwithstanding.

Devils fired Claude Julien 3 games before the playoffs with a 47-24-8 record.

Yup. A good GM can see beyond the top-level number.

 

[ZBBM]

Gardiner & Rielly have a lot of developing to do.  They are great skating it out, but passing?  Needs work.  (Some of this is on the forwards, too.)

A lot of it is on the forwards. As soon as the defence has the puck under control, the forwards are fleeing the zone and not stopping until they get to the other team's blue line. They're forcing the defence to make too many long passes, and a large percentage of them are being picked off, deflected or just not connecting.

I'm convinced that this is Carlyle's doing, as it's such a weird concept and so consistent across all lines that it can only be something he's drilling into them.  Their go-to play is to skate the forwards up to the blue line along the boards and have the D make a stretch pass that is meant to be tipped in to avoid icing.

It almost never works.

They don't seem to use the high flip-out play at all anymore.  That was effective last season.

 

[Jalili]

Jenner was a steal in the 2011 draft.  He is miles ahead of Biggs in all aspects of the game.

Jenner was flying. Gave the team fits the whole night.

Biggs... man, I know there's the element of 2 years of hindsight. But his name's gotta be in the mix for worst high pick of that draft. Such a disappointing pick.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Ughh...ooops!...

;D

 

[Leaflifer]

Some leadership on this team would be a nice thing.

Kirk Muller would have been screaming his lips off at the bench last night.

I can't escape the looks on the leaf bench during the last 5 minutes of game 7. No one saying a word.

This team needs more hard-a$$es.

 

[nutman]

One thing I do want to say about that stinker last night is... Since when do you get a penalty for a good solid hit???????????.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

On another: good god is that ever a no-name roster Columbus has.

They're missing arguably their 3 best forwards and their best defenceman. The Leafs have to get 2 points out of this.

I am confident the Leafs can hold them under 40 shots.

Well, you were correct.

Held them under 7 goals, too!

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Yup. A good GM can see beyond the top-level number.

Well, that's going to be a problem then.

 

[Bullfrog]

So.

That game kind of sucked.

And though it's the topic-du-jour, I just can't let go about that fourth line. What's the point of it? Surely, the role for a player who is not on the team for hockey abilities is already obsolete at this point. If the team wants to carry a face-puncher, then fine. But have it in the mold of Fraser, who can play some. Last night's game was a bad example, but he's been playing ok in the last few games.

Orr and McLaren though, not playing well at all. When they have a "good" game we're really saying "they didn't totally kill any chance of winning." And, sadly, it's rare we can say either of them played a good game. Playing the two of them at the same time is embarrassing. I can think of no argument where a line of Smithson-Smith-McClement, or similar, isn't an improvement. Though I'd replace Smithson with someone else (Ashton?)

 

[moon111]

Lucky me, didn't even think once of this game last night.
Check the play-by-play this morning. 
Curious if this sums up the goal-against:
-4th line. (Face punchers heard face-off and dropped their gloves.)
-Bozak  (1st line wanted to play hero, neglect defense)
-Lupul (Other's blamed, but Lupul doesn't cross his own blueline.)
-Short-handed. (Goalie fails to bail them out this time.)
-Bozak (1st line wanted to play hero, neglect defense)
-Short-handed. (Goalie fails to bail them out this time.)

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

I wish Carlyle would have iced CTB's line-up instead of what we saw last night. It was all bad!

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Lucky me, didn't even think once of this game last night.
Check the play-by-play this morning. 
Curious if this sums up the goal-against:
-4th line. (Face punchers heard face-off and dropped their gloves.)
-Bozak  (1st line wanted to play hero, neglect defense)
-Lupul (Other's blamed, but Lupul doesn't cross his own blueline.)
-Short-handed. (Goalie fails to bail them out this time.)
-Bozak (1st line wanted to play hero, neglect defense)
-Short-handed. (Goalie fails to bail them out this time.)

I'd say the first goal is: Face punchers combined with Gardiner drop the ball and so goes the game.