Game 55: Maple Leafs @ Flyers, 7:00Pm, Battle of #1 Goalies?

[Edeagle]

Did we have a 2 man advantage there or did I imagine the Flyer penalty+Reimer pulled?

Well, a penalty plus pulling Reimer.

Either way, we had 6 they had 4 so it was a 2 man advantage.

haha! yeah.. just didn't seem like it at all.

 

[azzurri63]

I'm hoping we bottomed out tonight, but *shudder* I've got a bad feeling about the game against MTL on Saturday.
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Ya me too. Habs are starting to play better as well as Price.

 

[Tigger]

I'm glad they lost. Hated that whole smug talk that this team doesn't need any moves trade wise. Hope that non sense ends now. So many overpaid bums

You sure you're a Leafs fan?

Yes. Next question

Have you checked your blood pressure recently?

So are you happy with our line-up or not and why?  You're attacking him instead of what he said...

Well I asked a couple questions, not much an attack frankly, people just get sooo mad.

 

[Kin]

Disappointing that in two close games that the Leafs couldn't squeeze out any points. That said, you can't win them all and I just hope the team has a big effort in store for Mats Sundin night.

 

[Derk]

Leafs need to start picking up some of these garbage points like everyone else seems to be doing.

 

[pnjunction]

I'm glad they lost. Hated that whole smug talk that this team doesn't need any moves trade wise. Hope that non sense ends now. So many overpaid bums

You sure you're a Leafs fan?

Yes. Next question

Have you checked your blood pressure recently?

So are you happy with our line-up or not and why?  You're attacking him instead of what he said...

Well I asked a couple questions, not much an attack frankly, people just get sooo mad.

They were stupid questions.  Actually you're doing the thing that caught my attention in the first place:  it's condescending to reduce the points people are making to high blood pressure, mad, etc.  I wish you'd get to a point relevant to the discussion and leave your theories about our emotions and health out of it.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I'm glad they lost. Hated that whole smug talk that this team doesn't need any moves trade wise. Hope that non sense ends now. So many overpaid bums

You sure you're a Leafs fan?

Yes. Next question

Have you checked your blood pressure recently?

So are you happy with our line-up or not and why?  You're attacking him instead of what he said...

I think it is good enough to be a playoff team, and after this long of the season it is one (or was one coming into the game).  The league is so tight these days that any game is a potential loss for any team, and that 1 or 2 losses can skew the standings quite a bit from day to day.

 

[Mikhail Bloodnovsky]

I'm glad they lost. Hated that whole smug talk that this team doesn't need any moves trade wise. Hope that non sense ends now. So many overpaid bums

You sure you're a Leafs fan?

Yes. Next question

Have you checked your blood pressure recently?

Heh, I should.

 

[crazyperfectdevil]

i blame this on bozak ..if he could score hattricks they would have won!

 

[pnjunction]

I think it is good enough to be a playoff team, and after this long of the season it is one (or was one coming into the game).  The league is so tight these days that any game is a potential loss for any team, and that 1 or 2 losses can skew the standings quite a bit from day to day.

It's games like this that remind me that we're very much a bubble team.  It's easy to be optimistic after beating Pittsburgh or Detroit but then we drop games to teams like Winnipeg and come up wayyy short against a definite playoff team like this.

 

[Edeagle]

The guy drinking Kessler whisky needs to join me on my midnight flight to Philly to kick some ass!

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I think it is good enough to be a playoff team, and after this long of the season it is one (or was one coming into the game).  The league is so tight these days that any game is a potential loss for any team, and that 1 or 2 losses can skew the standings quite a bit from day to day.

It's games like this that remind me that we're very much a bubble team.  It's easy to be optimistic after beating Pittsburgh or Detroit but then we drop games to teams like Winnipeg and come up wayyy short against a definite playoff team like this.

I don't think there is any denying we are not at the level of the elite teams, but it was very unlikely that this team was going to make such a leap from last year to this anyways, especially with inconsistent goaltending (an elite goaltender can vault a team).  I think apart from a handful of the top top teams, the Leafs are playing just like a whole bunch of other playoff teams are - going through some highs and lows, trying to string together some positive consistency.  Last year's team was better than the year before, this year's is better than last year's.  Whether they take that big leap the rest of the way is still TBD, but I certainly think we have seen enough so far to guess that they can and, arguably, will.

 

[Edeagle]

I think it is good enough to be a playoff team, and after this long of the season it is one (or was one coming into the game).  The league is so tight these days that any game is a potential loss for any team, and that 1 or 2 losses can skew the standings quite a bit from day to day.

It's games like this that remind me that we're very much a bubble team.  It's easy to be optimistic after beating Pittsburgh or Detroit but then we drop games to teams like Winnipeg and come up wayyy short against a definite playoff team like this.

yeah.. if we meet a talented team that's playing well in the play-offs (Philly, Boston. Rangers, Pitts) we're getting swept. Gotta make it first I guess.. if we get FLA in the first round by some miracle we may make it to the second, Caps first round will be a dog fight.. but if we don't get 6th, we're swept.. and if we do and make it to 2nd round.. we're also swept. Unless one of our goalies pulls a miracle run.

 

[pnjunction]

Kulemin on pace for 8 goals and dropped off the 2nd line in place of Crabb during this game

This guy doesn't need an alarm clock to wake him up he needs a defibrillator

 

[TML fan]

Tough loss but nowhere near as frustrating as the one in Winnipeg. They have got to stop dropping points to teams behind them. This is the stretch drive. There's no excuse for it anymore. Prove you belong in the playoffs.

if the leafs could just win all the games you seem to think they should be able to  then they'd be going for first ...not 6/7/8th  ..the leafs aren't a first place team ..they're just not ...now let's see how they do on saturday

If they had won just 3 more games, beating the likes of Buffalo, Montreal, and Carolina, they'd be tied for the division lead. Aside from beating New York twice, the Leafs have lost to all the top teams in their conference, so it's not like the Leafs are stealing a lot of games from teams way better than them.

 

[Erndog]

It's pretty amazing how useless Connolly has become.  Incredible really.  Lombardi and Crabb too... The 3rd line has been incredibly ineffective. 

I'd like to see a Kadri-Colborne-Frattin 3rd line instead.  Cheaper, younger, probably more talented and certainly hungrier.

I don't think we'd lose anything doing that.  Would be fun to watch too.

 

[crazyperfectdevil]

Tough loss but nowhere near as frustrating as the one in Winnipeg. They have got to stop dropping points to teams behind them. This is the stretch drive. There's no excuse for it anymore. Prove you belong in the playoffs.

if the leafs could just win all the games you seem to think they should be able to  then they'd be going for first ...not 6/7/8th  ..the leafs aren't a first place team ..they're just not ...now let's see how they do on saturday

If they had won just 3 more games, beating the likes of Buffalo, Montreal, and Carolina, they'd be tied for the division lead. Aside from beating New York twice, the Leafs have lost to all the top teams in their conference, so it's not like the Leafs are stealing a lot of games from teams way better than them.

but any 8th place team is going to be able to say pretty much the same thing ...look who's in 7th and 8th in the west..are you really saying they're any more of a complete team than the leafs?    ..i think people put lofty expectations on playoff teams around here because the leafs have been so bad for so long that it seems like an achievement to get to the post season...but really some bad teams make it every year

 

[pnjunction]

It's pretty amazing how useless Connolly has become.  Incredible really.  Lombardi and Crabb too... The 3rd line has been incredibly ineffective. 

I'd like to see a Kadri-Colborne-Frattin 3rd line instead.  Cheaper, younger, probably more talented and certainly hungrier.

I don't think we'd lose anything doing that.  Would be fun to watch too.

When you compare Kadri/Colborne/Frattin to Lombardi/Connolly/Armstrong and what you are getting for the money with each it really does show you what you get for your cap space with younger drafted players compared to underachieving UFAs...  Sad part is we have the young talent here now but we are bogged down by those bad contracts, two of which were avoidable.

 

[Capn_Crunch]

It's pretty amazing how useless Connolly has become.  Incredible really.  Lombardi and Crabb too... The 3rd line has been incredibly ineffective. 

I'd like to see a Kadri-Colborne-Frattin 3rd line instead.  Cheaper, younger, probably more talented and certainly hungrier.

I don't think we'd lose anything doing that.  Would be fun to watch too.

I wouldn't mind that line either. A shooter, playmaker and bang and crasher all with something to prove. Give the future a chance to give the vets a kick in the as to up their game or they prove expendable.

 

[Stickytape]

I really hate these games where the refs just let them go. It was open season on hooks, slashes, and trips on both sides, though I feel like Philly took the most advantage of it.  It just doesn't cater well to the Leafs' style of play, especially given the size of some of their more dynamic players.  Kessel, Grabo, Lombardi, and even Gardiner all got shoved around a lot and pushed off the puck.

The Flyers have a great forecheck, too, though; gotta hand it to them.

I also have to admit that Connolly has been weak sauce for a long while now.  He looks like he's just going through the motions out there.  Sometimes when a guy is having an off streak, I wonder if he's just under the weather or there's something else going on - you never know.  But it's been a long stretch and my patience is worn out.  Someone needs to light a fire under that guy because I know he can produce.

I still like Lombardi, though.  He just needs to be on the right line, and take more shots.