Leafs 2012/2013 Schedule in 10 game chunks

[Zee]

Tonight's game is the difference between 6-4 and 7-3 over the last 10 games.  More importantly the Leafs don't want to begin a losing streak that may escalate on Wednesday given that Montreal will be out for revenge after that 6-0 pasting.  I'm a tad nervous about this one.

Looking ahead:

 

[Kaberle15]

why not?

Thu, Feb 7@Winnipeg W (W 3-2)
Sat, Feb 9@Montreal OTL (W 6-0)
Mon, Feb 11vs. Philadelphia W (W 5-2)
Thu, Feb 14@Carolina L (L 1-3)
Sat, Feb 16vs. Ottawa W (W 3-0)
Mon, Feb 18@Florida L (W 3?0)
Tue, Feb 19@Tampa Bay W (L 2-4)
Thu, Feb 21vs. Buffalo OTL (W 3-1)
Sat, Feb 23@Ottawa W (L 3-2)
Mon, Feb 25@Philadelphia W (W 4-2)

6-2-2

7-3, same number of points  ;D

 

[nutman]

Got that segment right. Now for the third, I will go 6-2-2.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Wouldn't be at all surprised to see another 6 or 7 wins in this stretch. Especially with Malkin out for Pittsburgh. The biggest thing is not letting 3 of those loses be against divisional rivals.

 

[nutman]

Wouldn't be at all surprised to see another 6 or 7 wins in this stretch. Especially with Malkin out for Pittsburgh. The biggest thing is not letting 3 of those loses be against divisional rivals.

We need to be able to beat Bos. lets hope we can get over that hump.

 

[Mack674]

Wouldn't be at all surprised to see another 6 or 7 wins in this stretch. Especially with Malkin out for Pittsburgh. The biggest thing is not letting 3 of those loses be against divisional rivals.

We need to be able to beat Bos. lets hope we can get over that hump.

Beating Boston decisively will make me a believer that this is not another illusion.

 

[nutman]

Wouldn't be at all surprised to see another 6 or 7 wins in this stretch. Especially with Malkin out for Pittsburgh. The biggest thing is not letting 3 of those loses be against divisional rivals.

We need to be able to beat Bos. lets hope we can get over that hump.

Beating Boston decisively will make me a believer that this is not another illusion.

Imo it will be our biggest test, that is a hump we need to get over.

 

[Boston Leaf]

Well I don't think we will be bullied by Boston now.. Hoping that gives Phil a little more time to relax against them.

 

[nutman]

Well I don't think we will be bullied by Boston now.. Hoping that gives Phil a little more time to relax against them.

I think we should have our injured back by then as well. ;D

 

[Zee]

MotM standings for second 10:
Kadri 8
Scrivens 7
JVR / Bozak 4

 

[Stickytape]

That second 10 looks pretty okay to me!  Thanks for doing this, Zee.

Looking forward, I'm really interested to see how the team handles the next back-to-back pair of games.  vs Montreal will be a pretty big game, and then they play the so-so Islanders the next day.  The back-to-back against Ottawa followed by Boston is also going to be a huuuge test.

 

[Zee]

That second 10 looks pretty okay to me!  Thanks for doing this, Zee.

Looking forward, I'm really interested to see how the team handles the next back-to-back pair of games.  vs Montreal will be a pretty big game, and then they play the so-so Islanders the next day.  The back-to-back against Ottawa followed by Boston is also going to be a huuuge test.

Kadri and JVR are the only 2 players that have been top 3 in the two separate 10 game chunks.  They'e both been very good over the first 20 games overall.

 

[nutman]

So where are the guesses for the third 20 game seg? I'm going with 6-2-2.

 

[louisstamos]

I'll go 6-4-0.  Wins against Mon, NYI, Ott, Winnipeg (x2) and one of the Pittsburgh games.

 

[Optimus Reimer]

One observation I have made in the past few games is that opposing teams are now keying in on ways to neutralize the Leafs team speed.  The neutral zone is getting clogged up forcing the Leafs to shoot the puck in, when that occurs the opposing team attempts to quickly clear the puck out to avoid Leafs forechecking.  Opposing players have been putting pressure on Leafs d-men in their own end making it difficult for the Leafs to break out of their zone.

The Leafs need to stop worrying about what other teams are doing or may do or plan to do and just focus on their game which is really to be agressive towards the puck carrier, crash and bang and use their team speed to overcome what the other teams are doing.  If the Leafs stop doing the things that made them successful in the early part of the season, they will quickly fall out of playoff contention.

 

[Stickytape]

One observation I have made in the past few games is that opposing teams are now keying in on ways to neutralize the Leafs team speed.  The neutral zone is getting clogged up forcing the Leafs to shoot the puck in, when that occurs the opposing team attempts to quickly clear the puck out to avoid Leafs forechecking.  Opposing players have been putting pressure on Leafs d-men in their own end making it difficult for the Leafs to break out of their zone.

The Leafs need to stop worrying about what other teams are doing or may do or plan to do and just focus on their game which is really to be agressive towards the puck carrier, crash and bang and use their team speed to overcome what the other teams are doing.  If the Leafs stop doing the things that made them successful in the early part of the season, they will quickly fall out of playoff contention.

I've noticed this, too. 

I think Kessel made a few nice plays in the last game vs Montreal to just push forward and take a very simple shot on goal which forced a faceoff inside the offensive zone.  At the time the Leafs were really struggling to get established inside the blueline  (frankly they were having trouble getting it out of their own blue line) and a faceoff was pretty preferable; one of these plays even led to the MacArthur goal.  It isn't a perfect solution, but it's something I'd like to see more of instead of bad giveaways and half-hearted dump-ins.

 

[Zee]

 

[Optimus Reimer]

Winning against the Isles in OT was huge.  Forgetting to show up against the Habs the night before, then blowing a 2 goal lead in the 3rd, while Reimer did not play great would have led to a sure loss in seasons past.  This season is different for the Leafs.

 

[Zee]

Winning against the Isles in OT was huge.  Forgetting to show up against the Habs the night before, then blowing a 2 goal lead in the 3rd, while Reimer did not play great would have led to a sure loss in seasons past.  This season is different for the Leafs.

Reimer was full of rust and hadn't played in 2 1/2 weeks so i'm not concerned yet.  Needs to get used to playing with that brace too.  You're right though, that was a game that last year's squad would have found a way to lose. 

 

[Stickytape]

Next few games are all pretty big.  Keeping a lead on Jersey is obviously important, and playing host to Ottawa, only to travel to Boston the next day is going to be a major hurdle.