Canadiens @ Leafs - Oct. 5th, 7:00pm - CBC, Fan 590

[Guilt Trip]

4-1 in the 3rd. Worst lead in hockey.

Haha. For the Leafs!

 

[L K]

I see we are back to the fatigue doesn?t exist nonsense already. 

 

[CatScratchFever]

At least Hutchinson wasn't tired. Oh wait... never mind.

 

[Zee]

There's something about these early games of the season. Dangle pointed this out but in recent years we have

Game 3: 4-0 lead on Jets, blown lead lose in OT
Game 2: 5-1 lead on Rags, blow but still win 8-5
Game 3: 7-6 game with Hawks

And then last night

 

[Frank E]

At least Hutchinson wasn't tired. Oh wait... never mind.

You know, it's easy to scapegoat Hutch here...but when they talk about a back-up that can win games, you shouldn't expect him to do that with 40+ shots against.  Probably shouldn't expect Freddie to win many at that rate.

Watch the goals, that loss isn't on Hutch.  Dig a little deeper than the score. 

 

[L K]

There's something about these early games of the season. Dangle pointed this out but in recent years we have

Game 3: 4-0 lead on Jets, blown lead lose in OT
Game 2: 5-1 lead on Rags, blow but still win 8-5
Game 3: 7-6 game with Hawks

And then last night

Systems aren?t in place yet.  Fatigue exposes flaws that get magnified when 4 of our 6 defensemen weren?t regulars last year.  It can take a good half season to get familiar with where a player wants the puck and where they like to go.

These games down the stretch are the concerning ones.  Not in the early year.  And quite frankly if we are going to blow leads particularly in the division I hope those losses always end up in the shootout where they have the least need impact on the standings.

 

[ZBBM]

Wow, reading through this, I'm glad I had to miss last night's game.  I don't need more frustration in my life.

 

[Zee]

There's something about these early games of the season. Dangle pointed this out but in recent years we have

Game 3: 4-0 lead on Jets, blown lead lose in OT
Game 2: 5-1 lead on Rags, blow but still win 8-5
Game 3: 7-6 game with Hawks

And then last night

Systems aren?t in place yet.  Fatigue exposes flaws that get magnified when 4 of our 6 defensemen weren?t regulars last year.  It can take a good half season to get familiar with where a player wants the puck and where they like to go.

These games down the stretch are the concerning ones.  Not in the early year.  And quite frankly if we are going to blow leads particularly in the division I hope those losses always end up in the shootout where they have the least need impact on the standings.

Schedule isn't helping either.  Like who makes these things up? Leafs have 4 back to backs this month, know how many Boston has? ZERO.  In fact Leafs play Boston on the 19th and 22nd this month, Leafs happen to have another game squeezed in between them but Boston gets to rest.

Correction Boston has one back to back end of the month October 26-27

 

[Bullfrog]

Schedule isn't helping either.  Like who makes these things up? Leafs have 4 back to backs this month, know how many Boston has? ZERO.  In fact Leafs play Boston on the 19th and 22nd this month, Leafs happen to have another game squeezed in between them but Boston gets to rest.

Correction Boston has one back to back end of the month October 26-27

On the positive side, they get a bunch out of the way early. I haven't looked at the schedule, but hopefully that means fewer b2bs later on?

 

[Bullfrog]

Wow, reading through this, I'm glad I had to miss last night's game.  I don't need more frustration in my life.

Meh, it was an entertaining game. Matthews is still awesome. The 2nd period was very good.

 

[Chris]

Maybe it's worth trying Hutch in game 1 and going to Freddie for game 2 at some point. I don't think Hutch was the main problem last night, but maybe Freddie makes a few more stops and we wind up with the extra point. And with the fresher legs for game 1, Hutch might not have to deal with as many defensive breakdowns as we saw last night.

Of course, maybe we lose both games that way...

 

[Phileas Fogg]

Wow, reading through this, I'm glad I had to miss last night's game.  I don't need more frustration in my life.

Meh, it was an entertaining game. Matthews is still awesome. The 2nd period was very good.

Yeah, I think the Leafs really had the edge in play for the most part; the goals scored against exploited the one area that I had concerns about - the ability of the defense to actually play defense, particularly in front of the net. Puck movers and skating are great, but the goals were essentially due to the fact the leafs D couldn't box out net front traffic. Gallagher was giving them fits. But that said, he does the same to a lot of teams, so maybe the tradeoff is worth it. Some back luck and timing.

It seems overreactionary since the bonehead mistake, but I felt prior that Kapanen is the wrong guy to have on the Tavares line; he has wheels, and literally that's it. No vision, doesn't carry the puck well, an average shot. He's not a fit, and it's reducing the effectiveness of the other two 5 on 5.

I'd love to see Milkeyhev or Moore moved up for awhile, both of them have been absolutely terrific. Milkeyhev in particular has extension written all over him, and it'd be smart to do it earlier than later.

And again, overreactionary, and nothing to do with the stick throw, but if they needed to clear some cap room, and get an asset back (maybe a backup goalie?), I think kapanen is the guy over hyman.

But bulldog said, it was a fun game. The third line was great.

 

[Zee]

Wow, reading through this, I'm glad I had to miss last night's game.  I don't need more frustration in my life.

Meh, it was an entertaining game. Matthews is still awesome. The 2nd period was very good.

Yeah, I think the Leafs really had the edge in play for the most part; the goals scored against exploited the one area that I had concerns about - the ability of the defense to actually play defense, particularly in front of the net. Puck movers and skating are great, but the goals were essentially due to the fact the leafs D couldn't box out net front traffic. Gallagher was giving them fits. But that said, he does the same to a lot of teams, so maybe the tradeoff is worth it. Some back luck and timing.

It seems overreactionary since the bonehead mistake, but I felt prior that Kapanen is the wrong guy to have on the Tavares line; he has wheels, and literally that's it. No vision, doesn't carry the puck well, an average shot. He's not a fit, and it's reducing the effectiveness of the other two 5 on 5.

I'd love to see Milkeyhev or Moore moved up for awhile, both of them have been absolutely terrific. Milkeyhev in particular has extension written all over him, and it'd be smart to do it earlier than later.

And again, overreactionary, and nothing to do with the stick throw, but if they needed to clear some cap room, and get an asset back (maybe a backup goalie?), I think kapanen is the guy over hyman.

But bulldog said, it was a fun game. The third line was great.

How about when Dermott comes back he plays right side and they trade $4.5M of cap space from Ceci?

 

[Phileas Fogg]

Wow, reading through this, I'm glad I had to miss last night's game.  I don't need more frustration in my life.

Meh, it was an entertaining game. Matthews is still awesome. The 2nd period was very good.

Yeah, I think the Leafs really had the edge in play for the most part; the goals scored against exploited the one area that I had concerns about - the ability of the defense to actually play defense, particularly in front of the net. Puck movers and skating are great, but the goals were essentially due to the fact the leafs D couldn't box out net front traffic. Gallagher was giving them fits. But that said, he does the same to a lot of teams, so maybe the tradeoff is worth it. Some back luck and timing.

It seems overreactionary since the bonehead mistake, but I felt prior that Kapanen is the wrong guy to have on the Tavares line; he has wheels, and literally that's it. No vision, doesn't carry the puck well, an average shot. He's not a fit, and it's reducing the effectiveness of the other two 5 on 5.

I'd love to see Milkeyhev or Moore moved up for awhile, both of them have been absolutely terrific. Milkeyhev in particular has extension written all over him, and it'd be smart to do it earlier than later.

And again, overreactionary, and nothing to do with the stick throw, but if they needed to clear some cap room, and get an asset back (maybe a backup goalie?), I think kapanen is the guy over hyman.

But bulldog said, it was a fun game. The third line was great.

How about when Dermott comes back he plays right side and they trade $4.5M of cap space from Ceci?

Sure, that'd be great. But let me ask you this - do we have more depth at wing or at defense, and what GM would be willing to take on 4.5M for Ceci a few weeks in when no-one wanted that contract at the trade deadline last year? It's probably going to take lot longer than a month or two to rebuild Ceci's play into a tradeable asset.

 

[KW Sluggo]

The Curtis McElhinney decision continues to haunt and for some inexplicable reason we continue to have slow starts and despite all of the changes on defence and all of the alleged talented players (Muzzin & Barrie, for example) we gained and problems we dumped (Zaitsev & Gardiner for example) we continue to have significant defensive lapses and for some reason Marincin is still on the team and seeing ice time.

#Not Boston Strong Enough

 

[Phileas Fogg]

we continue to have significant defensive lapses and for some reason Marincin is still on the team and seeing ice time.

Meh. It's literally three games into the season with a roster with big changes in the offseason and they're undefeated in regulation. Insert kent brockman line.

And you don't think you hashtag is a little inappropriate considering the context of the original intent? Maybe it's just me.

 

[Highlander]

Said it before the game, should have played Fredo on Hockey Night in Canada and Hutch on Monday.
Hutch is not the answer for 22 games.

 

[ZBBM]

The Curtis McElhinney decision continues to haunt and for some inexplicable reason we continue to have slow starts and despite all of the changes on defence and all of the alleged talented players (Muzzin & Barrie, for example) we gained and problems we dumped (Zaitsev & Gardiner for example) we continue to have significant defensive lapses and for some reason Marincin is still on the team and seeing ice time.

#Not Boston Strong Enough

You may be right, but you are certainly premature.

 

[Bender]

Has anyone pointed out 3 games in 4 nights for Leafs and Habs rested?

Here we go.  You?re up 4-1 with 15 mins to go in the 3rd and the excuse is 3 in 4?  Not to mention the first 3 in 4 to start the season.

It's a fact not an excuse sonny.

Come on. They blew a 3 goal 3rd period lead.

Yeah cause they were skating in cement. You brought up it's the first 3 games of the year -- that actually makes it worse cause their conditioning is just coming off preseason and now you're going full out.  It was so obvious Habs had way more speed in the 3rd they were on every loose puck. Take the 1 point and move on.

With a backup goaltender. Hutch kept them in it at times but hes an odd goalie in that he's really good at making it seem he's not at fault for goals because he doesn't look like a complete mess in net.

 

[Bender]

Agree with the 3 games in 4 nights being a big factor, the Leafs looked absolutely gassed at the end. Couldn't make clean passes, kept losing pucks in their feet, lost faceoffs and puck battles all over the place. Not going to get overly concerned from this one game, we'll see if a pattern emerges.

Kappy...I'm wondering if he might get moved this season once Hyman gets back. He looks completely out of place with Tavares and Marner. Maybe that gets better with time but I don't know if there's really a good spot for him if everyone is healthy. Moore looks more than competent and is much cheaper. If we need an upgrade at backup goaltender and need cap flexibility maybe we move Kappy for picks or prospects.

Kadri suspended himself in the playoffs and it took him suspending himself again to get traded. Doubt they give up on him so easily.