Leafs @ Lightning - Jan. 27th, 7:00pm - SN, Fan 590

[CarltonTheBear]

@

17-21-9, 43 points | 26-18-4, 56 points

Projected Lines

Grabner-Kadri-Komarov Matthias-Bozak-Parenteau Lupul-Holland-Boyes Winnik-Froese-Clune Gardiner-Phaneuf Hunwick-Rielly Corrado-Polak Bernier ​

Palat-Namestnikov-Stamkos Killorn-Johnson-Kucherov Brown-Filppula-Callahan Paquette-Boyle Hedman-Stralman Garrison-Sustr Nesterov-Coburn Carle Vasilevskiy​

Scratches

Martin Marincin Nick Spaling Josh Leivo ​

Erik Condra Jonathan Marchessault​

Game Notes

TOR
?Bernier will start for the Leafs
?Spaling will sit, he was only expected to play 1 game of the back-to-back
?Grabner left last nights game after getting hit in the face with a puck, so his status is questionable
?Lines are a bit of a guess from me. Assuming Boyes takes Spaling's spot on the 3rd line, and Corrado comes in for Marincin. Leivo would play for Grabner if he can't go

TB
?Vasilevskiy (7-4-0, 2.85 GAA, .906 Sv%) will start for the Lightning
?Tampa had a 7-game winning streak snapped on Saturday against the Panthers
?Kucherov has 11 points in his past 8 games
Injuries

?Stephane Robidas - Old - Out indefinitely ?James van Riemsdyk - Foot - Injured Reserve ?Michael Grabner - Face - Questionable Wednesday​

​

Stream Options

https://www.reddit.com/r/NHLstreams
http://vaughnlive.tv/leafstreamer
http://gofirstrow.eu/sport/ice-hockey.html
​

 

[Bender]

Bout time with Marincin and Spaling. They have been awful.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

That seems very unfair to Marincin, he's not been awful at all.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

That seems very unfair to Marincin, he's not been awful at all.

I don't think so either. And I saw a lot of people ripping him online for that one goal in the 3rd but Smith made a real nice play to use Riemer as a pick to create some distance between him and Marincin. And all Marincin could do at that point was try to play goalie because Reimer sure wasn't in a position to.

I'm just assuming they'll want to get Corrado into a game before the break, and on a B2B where you got handily beat in G1 is as good of an opportunity as any.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

That seems very unfair to Marincin, he's not been awful at all.

I don't think so either. And I saw a lot of people ripping him online for that one goal in the 3rd but Smith made a real nice play to use Riemer as a pick to create some distance between him and Marincin. And all Marincin could do at that point was try to play goalie because Reimer sure wasn't in a position to.

I'm just assuming they'll want to get Corrado into a game before the break, and on a B2B where you got handily beat in G1 is as good of an opportunity as any.

I think he sometimes suffers from a bit of the "big mistake" syndrome - you see a goal against like the one you mentioned, it gets talked about and shown numerous times during the game and yes, it looks bad.  But I think a lot of fans let plays like that colour their view of the overall game.  Marincin can go long periods of time where you don't notice him at all (I think that's a good thing) but then when you do it might be for something like that, even though every D gets burned.

His raw stat totals aren't good (0 points) but possession-wise he is rated VERY well (and I don't think it's arguable that keeping the puck out of your end and in the other end is a part of defensive play) and him and Polak are the two best on the team in limiting high danger area scoring chances against.  I haven't looked but I would imagine they are facing some weaker competition than say, Rielly, but regardless I don't think he's been bad.

He seems to me like a steady, not flashy, defenseman - the type who it is easy to probably underappreciate.

 

[Frank E]

I think Polak has looked pretty damn good lately.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I think Polak has looked pretty damn good lately.

With Marincin his possession rate is 55.1%, pretty darn good. Without it's 44.8%, pretty darn not.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Marincin is really looking like the modern day version of a stay at home dman, he provides almost zero offence, but he makes a decent first pass and is consistently a positive possession player. He leads Dmen at 55% CF%@5v5.

It's really quite peculiar how well he seems to do defensively while offering very little in terms of individual production going the other way.

I had the above to say about Marincin at the start of the month and it still rings true, it took me a while to come around to him, but I like him a lot now.

I think if he was from Canada he'd be getting a lot of positive press.

 

[Kin]

I had the above to say about Marincin at the start of the month and it still rings true, it took me a while to come around to him, but I like him a lot now.

I think if he was from Canada he'd be getting a lot of positive press.

Maybe but I think defensemen of that sort have always been under-appreciated if they didn't also have a strong physical edge to their game.

 

[ZBBM]

Agree, there is nothing wrong at all with a stay-at-home defenseman who quietly goes about his business and doesn't make too many gaffes.  Think Gunnarsson.  They never will get a lot of fanlove but I'll take a couple or three of them anytime.

 

[Bender]

That seems very unfair to Marincin, he's not been awful at all.

I don't think so either. And I saw a lot of people ripping him online for that one goal in the 3rd but Smith made a real nice play to use Riemer as a pick to create some distance between him and Marincin. And all Marincin could do at that point was try to play goalie because Reimer sure wasn't in a position to.

I'm just assuming they'll want to get Corrado into a game before the break, and on a B2B where you got handily beat in G1 is as good of an opportunity as any.

I think he sometimes suffers from a bit of the "big mistake" syndrome - you see a goal against like the one you mentioned, it gets talked about and shown numerous times during the game and yes, it looks bad.  But I think a lot of fans let plays like that colour their view of the overall game.  Marincin can go long periods of time where you don't notice him at all (I think that's a good thing) but then when you do it might be for something like that, even though every D gets burned.

His raw stat totals aren't good (0 points) but possession-wise he is rated VERY well (and I don't think it's arguable that keeping the puck out of your end and in the other end is a part of defensive play) and him and Polak are the two best on the team in limiting high danger area scoring chances against.  I haven't looked but I would imagine they are facing some weaker competition than say, Rielly, but regardless I don't think he's been bad.

He seems to me like a steady, not flashy, defenseman - the type who it is easy to probably underappreciate.

It's possible, but I can have great possession stats but if I make a bad pass that leads to a goal within a few seconds then it sort of trumps that.

I think he's made more than a few very big mistakes that have costed the team on more than one occasion. (Didn't he make the pass in Boston?)

 

[herman]

Agree, there is nothing wrong at all with a stay-at-home defenseman who quietly goes about his business and doesn't make too many gaffes.  Think Gunnarsson.  They never will get a lot of fanlove but I'll take a couple or three of them anytime.

I think he's more like, a keeps-it-out-of-his-home defenseman.

http://nhlnumbers.com/2015/12/29/let-s-talk-about-martin-marincin-s-under-appreciated-game

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

I had the above to say about Marincin at the start of the month and it still rings true, it took me a while to come around to him, but I like him a lot now.

I think if he was from Canada he'd be getting a lot of positive press.

Maybe but I think defensemen of that sort have always been under-appreciated if they didn't also have a strong physical edge to their game.

I think you're probably right, but I think in the analytics era it's easier to quantify just how valuable they are. Of course his quality of competition probably has something to say about his numbers, but that's okay for a bottom pair guy.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

It's possible, but I can have great possession stats but if I make a bad pass that leads to a goal within a few seconds then it sort of trumps that.

I think he's made more than a few very big mistakes that have costed the team on more than one occasion. (Didn't he make the pass in Boston?)

There have definitely been mistakes, early in the year I remember him getting caught trying to keep it in at the opposition blueline. I don't think they've been disproportionate with the rest of the defence though. I also think that's one of the things wrongly colors our impression of Leafs players, we see their mistakes, the truth is dmen on every team make those mistakes too, it's just part of playing in the NHL, we just don't see them because we don't watch those other teams as much. Gudbranson wiping out on Kadri's goal is along those lines.

The fact that Marincin has the underlying number that he does over this long a period suggests that he is doing a lot right, especially when you look at how Polak performs without him.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

That seems very unfair to Marincin, he's not been awful at all.

I don't think so either. And I saw a lot of people ripping him online for that one goal in the 3rd but Smith made a real nice play to use Riemer as a pick to create some distance between him and Marincin. And all Marincin could do at that point was try to play goalie because Reimer sure wasn't in a position to.

I'm just assuming they'll want to get Corrado into a game before the break, and on a B2B where you got handily beat in G1 is as good of an opportunity as any.

I think he sometimes suffers from a bit of the "big mistake" syndrome - you see a goal against like the one you mentioned, it gets talked about and shown numerous times during the game and yes, it looks bad.  But I think a lot of fans let plays like that colour their view of the overall game.  Marincin can go long periods of time where you don't notice him at all (I think that's a good thing) but then when you do it might be for something like that, even though every D gets burned.

His raw stat totals aren't good (0 points) but possession-wise he is rated VERY well (and I don't think it's arguable that keeping the puck out of your end and in the other end is a part of defensive play) and him and Polak are the two best on the team in limiting high danger area scoring chances against.  I haven't looked but I would imagine they are facing some weaker competition than say, Rielly, but regardless I don't think he's been bad.

He seems to me like a steady, not flashy, defenseman - the type who it is easy to probably underappreciate.

It's possible, but I can have great possession stats but if I make a bad pass that leads to a goal within a few seconds then it sort of trumps that.

I think he's made more than a few very big mistakes that have costed the team on more than one occasion. (Didn't he make the pass in Boston?)

For sure, what I'm trying to get at is that even if we accept that he's made some terrible defensive gaffes I think that on the whole he's been a net positive for the team on the defensive end.

 

[disco]

Tank Nation: The Matthews that Tkachuks us all...

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Boyes and Leivo both scratched again. Alrighty. Corrado in for Marincin.

 

[ZBBM]

Mike Babcock is relentlessly positive and forward-thinking, isn't he?

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Mike Babcock is relentlessly positive and forward-thinking, isn't he?

The difference between hearing him and Carlyle talk is insane.

 

[ZBBM]

Night 2: Leaf Dads are cocked and LOADED. 

(already)