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

[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.

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

And if the Leafs want to be that bad team that makes it, they need to start winning the games against the teams they need to stay ahead of. What good is a winning streak if you follow it up with a losing streak?

 

[Edeagle]

Me: "Oh, we still have good cushion on the 9th place Panthers "

Then... "Three games in hand!?!?! NOOOO"

If the Panthers make the playoffs and we don't I'm going to need to see Wilson fired.. Oh, and Ottawa needs to start losing again, losing a lot.

edit: scratch that.. NHL.com hadn't even recorded the FLA win tonight. This is bad. This is very bad.. please don't slump.

 

[ZBBM]

To put a bit of gloss on a pretty bad game: the difference between this team and other recent Leafs squads is that this one doesn't collapse and get blown out very often any more.  It didn't happen tonite, for example. That's due to more skill up front, better goaltending, and yes, kudos to Wilson, much more disciplined play even if you factor in that the refs seem to have called a lot fewer penalties in 2012.

But the defense is still maddeningly bad against a team with any kind of forecheck and size.  The inability to get the puck out, so many weak clearing attempts in our end, is just sickening.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

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.

Kadri and Lombardi were putting up pretty much same PPG, and Lombardi is faster and kills penalties.  Why wouldn't you want him over Kadri?  I'm sorry, but Kadri did not look anything like hungry outside of his first 5 games when he was called up.

 

[Mikhail Bloodnovsky]

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.

Kadri and Lombardi were putting up pretty much same PPG, and Lombardi is faster and kills penalties.  Why wouldn't you want him over Kadri?  I'm sorry, but Kadri did not look anything like hungry outside of his first 5 games when he was called up.

Lombardi, Connoly and Armstrong. That's over 11 million in cap space tied up in bottom 6 forwards that are absolutely dreadful right now. I don't how Burke does it but something has to change.

 

[Bender]

They haven’t allowed a man-advantage goal in 17 games, the NHL’s longest streak since Chicago had a 19-game run in the 1969-70 season.

Fire Wilson.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

 

[Bender]

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

And if the Leafs want to be that bad team that makes it, they need to start winning the games against the teams they need to stay ahead of. What good is a winning streak if you follow it up with a losing streak?

If the winning streaks are longer than the losing streaks then you should be OK. Even the best teams lose two in a row. Jeez, its like unless we're firmly cemented in a playoff spot at any given time we panic.

Besides, we were never good enough not to be dog fighting even up until the last few games of the season.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

 

[Bender]

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.

Kadri and Lombardi were putting up pretty much same PPG, and Lombardi is faster and kills penalties.  Why wouldn't you want him over Kadri?  I'm sorry, but Kadri did not look anything like hungry outside of his first 5 games when he was called up.

Lombardi, Connoly and Armstrong. That's over 11 million in cap space tied up in bottom 6 forwards that are absolutely dreadful right now. I don't how Burke does it but something has to change.

At the same time I wouldn't consider them useless assets. Overpaid maybe but each can be traded for something. I think the ability to trade a player is generally more useful than empty cap space as you'd still have to give up assets from your roster in general. I would think that having more chips is better than fewer (except for Komisarek... he's an anchor).
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

 

[proteus2000]

Phily's forechecking was spot on...if the leafs were better at breaking out of the zone they could've created a lot of chances off the rush, but Philly played too smart and tough. Reminded me of Boston against the leafs a little bit.

I guess that's why their record is so weak against the flyers similar to the bruins. Hard to put it on one person, but for a 11 mil 3rd line, you gotta have a more competitive effort from those guys.

 

[Strangelove]

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.

Kadri and Lombardi were putting up pretty much same PPG, and Lombardi is faster and kills penalties.  Why wouldn't you want him over Kadri?  I'm sorry, but Kadri did not look anything like hungry outside of his first 5 games when he was called up.

He was orders of magnitude better than Connolly, Armstrong, and Crabb are right now, and has the playmaking ability that has been completely absent in the bottom six for a long time.  Why wouldn't you want him in the line-up?

Connolly and Armstrong in particular have been wretched on the ice, even beyond their ludicrously overpaid contracts.

 

[Capn_Crunch]

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

And if the Leafs want to be that bad team that makes it, they need to start winning the games against the teams they need to stay ahead of. What good is a winning streak if you follow it up with a losing streak?

If the winning streaks are longer than the losing streaks then you should be OK. Even the best teams lose two in a row. Jeez, its like unless we're firmly cemented in a playoff spot at any given time we panic.

Besides, we were never good enough not to be dog fighting even up until the last few games of the season.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

That's how I see it too, anything better is a miracle.
The amount of three point games pretty much guarantees that.
What was it 20% or higher of the games so far have resulted in 3 points being given out or something like that?

We just need to find the secondary scoring from the role guys and tinker a bit with dumping guys like connolly and maybe a couple others.

 

[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.

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.

Well, as Chazz figured, I wasn't really being all that serious, just that's it's a game and you can't win them all.

Yes, I'm pretty happy with the development of the team. They aren't perfect, fighting for a playoff spot just as they should be and got behind against a determined squad. Two tough losses after a really good stretch of games isn't the end of the world.

 

[Capn_Crunch]

Saturday Night... the Win Streak Starts. Book It!

If these guys can't get up and do it on a night for Mats, They need a gutcheck and more.

Win one for Mats!

Wouldn't you rather see Kadri out there then Connolly at this point? Maybe even Colbourne?

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

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.

Kadri and Lombardi were putting up pretty much same PPG, and Lombardi is faster and kills penalties.  Why wouldn't you want him over Kadri?  I'm sorry, but Kadri did not look anything like hungry outside of his first 5 games when he was called up.

He was orders of magnitude better than Connolly, Armstrong, and Crabb are right now, and has the playmaking ability that has been completely absent in the bottom six for a long time.  Why wouldn't you want him in the line-up?

Connolly and Armstrong in particular have been wretched on the ice, even beyond their ludicrously overpaid contracts.

I certainly was not seeing that Kadri.  I saw a guy who was getting easily knocked off the puck and who was not creating much with his creativity.  So if the choice is between him doing that up here or one of those guys doing it, I'm fine with letting the older players do it while Kadri gets more development time.

If you saw differently, that's fine, we don't all think alike.

 

[Tigger]

People are seriously endorsing Colborne over Connolly? That doesn't make a lot of sense to me, he wasn't ready.

I mean Crabb I get but Lombardi and Connolly have been a big part of a recently successful pk and aren't stinking it up at even strength for the most part.

Army is playing 4th line minutes after coming back from a concussion, jeebus.

It's an overly expensive 3rd line and I wouldn't mind seeing Kadri in the lineup either but he was far from lights out and would really benefit from playing in more situations.

Colborne needed time, I like Frattins game but I'd rather see him get some top minutes than what he was getting to really round out his game.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I certainly was not seeing that Kadri.  I saw a guy who was getting easily knocked off the puck and who was not creating much with his creativity.  So if the choice is between him doing that up here or one of those guys doing it, I'm fine with letting the older players do it while Kadri gets more development time.

If you saw differently, that's fine, we don't all think alike.

Seriously. That must have been the best stretch of 10 games where a player has only recorded a single point ever from the way people talk about him.

 

[avatarx51]

The last min efforts in both games have been comical at best they were all over the place

 

[proteus2000]

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

And if the Leafs want to be that bad team that makes it, they need to start winning the games against the teams they need to stay ahead of. What good is a winning streak if you follow it up with a losing streak?

If the winning streaks are longer than the losing streaks then you should be OK. Even the best teams lose two in a row. Jeez, its like unless we're firmly cemented in a playoff spot at any given time we panic.

Besides, we were never good enough not to be dog fighting even up until the last few games of the season.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

That's how I see it too, anything better is a miracle.
The amount of three point games pretty much guarantees that.
What was it 20% or higher of the games so far have resulted in 3 points being given out or something like that?

We just need to find the secondary scoring from the role guys and tinker a bit with dumping guys like connolly and maybe a couple others.

It feels like the leafs can't sneak in those 3 point games as much as other teams... In their last 3 games they lost to Mtl 3-1 after being tied going into the 3rd, and lost to the jets/Philly by 1 where they got behind and couldn't uite pull off the to extra point. The pens did it on them recently and got 2 out of it.

 

[Zee]

Glad I didn't waste any more time watching last nights game. I pulled the plug at 4-2 after watching only a few minutes.

 

[leafplasma]

Glad I didn't waste any more time watching last nights game. I pulled the plug at 4-2 after watching only a few minutes.

To keep things close against a cup contender on the road when you don't have your "A" game going is a good thing.  So they lost a couple of 1 goal games on the road after taking 11 of 12 points, big deal.  Like others have said, if you think we are never going to lose a couple games in a row ever again your nuts.  Chill out people and get ready for Saturday.