Leafs @ Panthers - Feb. 27th, 7:30pm - TSN4, Fan 590

[CarltonTheBear]

@

39-20-6, 84 points | 28-25-6, 62 points

Projected Lines

Hyman-Nylander-Kapanen Marleau-Kadri-Marner JVR-Bozak-Brown Komarov-Plekanec-Leivo Rielly-Hainsey Gardiner-Zaitsev Dermott-Carrick McElhinney ​

Dadonov-Barkov-Bjugstad Huberdeau-Trocheck-Vrbata McGinn-McCann-Mamin Haley-MacKenzie-Sceviour Yandle-Ekblad Matheson-Pysyk McCoshen-Petrovic Luongo​

Scratches

Roman Polak Dominic Moore Matt Martin ​

Connor Brickley Maxim Mamin Mackenzie Weeger ​

Game Notes

TOR
?McElhinney (7-4-0, 2.24 GAA, .932 Sv%) will likely start for the Leafs
?Going to guess here that Connor Carrick will rotate back into the line-up for a game
?Babcock didn't seem quite as pleased with Nylander's game at centre as he was with game #1, so it'll be interesting to see if he makes any adjustments there or shows a little more patience
?Nikita Zaitsev's points streak has now reached 1 game

FLA
?Luongo (9-7-1, 2.65 GAA, .926 Sv%) will likely start for the Panthers
?Florida tried to swing a big deal prior to the trade deadline, but couldn't get anything done. Rumours suggested that they were interested in Ryan McDonagh and Max Pacioretty
?The Panthers did make a minor move earlier in the week acquiring 23-year old forward Frank Vatrano from the Bruins. Vatrano was a big goal scorer in the AHL (scored 36 goals in 36 games in his last extended stint there in 15/16), but hasn't been able to score consistently in the NHL
?Florida has clawed their way back into the wildcard race, going 9-3 in their past 12 games. They are 7 points behind Columbus, with the Islanders and Hurricanes above them as well. The Panthers have 4 games in hand on the Blue Jackets too.

Injuries

?Nathan Horton - Back - Out indefinitely ?Joffrey Lupul - Actually Injured - Out indefinitely ?Auston Matthews - Shoulder - Injured Reserve​

?Denis Malgin - Lower Body - Injured Reserve ?Frank Vatrano - Lower Body - Injured Reserve​

Stream Options

https://www.reddit.com/r/NHLstreams
​

 

[herman]

Florida should've kept McKegg with McGinn and McCann.

 

[ZBBM]

Florida should've kept McKegg with McGinn and McCann.

Does anyone else think the "Mc" construction is just kind of weird?  It's like a periodic element or something.

My handle excepted of course.

Apologies in advance to any Irish/Scots/Gaelic folk out there.

 

[Strangelove]

How long will it take Babcock to move Dermott up in the defensive pairings and move Zaitsev down to third pairing?

I'm guessing midway through next season.

Which sucks because Zaitsev has been awful with whoever he plays with for 1.5 seasons now.

 

[Kaberle15]

rebound win please.

Go Leafs Go!

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/ShawnMcKenzieSN/status/968612250419425280

 

[AvroArrow]

Where's the facepalm emoticon?

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Let's remember that earlier in this season in like November and December when Babcock was making weird line-up decisions the rational was that he was essentially using it as a learning experience because we probably had a playoff spot locked down.

Now when we actually have a playoff spot locked down he's punting Nylander out of the centre ice spot after one so-so game even though it's a perfect opportunity for him to use this time as a learning experience.

*shrugs*

 

[Highlander]

https://twitter.com/ShawnMcKenzieSN/status/968612250419425280

Thats pretty bizarre, I guess it is more mad experiments of Dr.Emmet "Doc" Babcock" trying new stuff out when he can.

 

[Strangelove]

https://twitter.com/ShawnMcKenzieSN/status/968612250419425280

Thats pretty bizarre, I guess it is more mad experiments of Dr.Emmet "Doc" Babcock" trying new stuff out when he can.

"New" stuff like putting washed up veterans in positions the Leafs' young stars should be playing.

This is not new. This is Babcock.

 

[herman]

Haha coaching mind games.

I think this has more to do with the Barkov match up than Willy?s short leash. This gives Plekanec?s shutdown time more viable exit options. Barkov plays 23+ min a night, and this gives Babcock two lines to try to check him with on the road.

Nylander is going to be filling in centre duties on his shifts on strong side draws anyway. I don?t think the coach was a fan of having 3 righties on the same line.

Semi interested in seeing how Dermott handles Zaitsev time if Babcock is okay with reuniting the Gardiner-Carrick Corsi fun festival.

 

[Strangelove]

Haha coaching mind games.

I think this has more to do with the Barkov match up than Willy?s short leash. This gives Plekanec?s shutdown time more viable exit options. Barkov plays 23+ min a night, and this gives Babcock two lines to try to check him with on the road.

Nylander is going to be filling in centre duties on his shifts on strong side draws anyway. I don?t think the coach was a fan of having 3 righties on the same line.

Semi interested in seeing how Dermott handles Zaitsev time if Babcock is okay with reuniting the Gardiner-Carrick Corsi fun festival.

Babcock gave Kapenan one game in the top six before promoting the Leafs' worst forward yesterday, Plekanec, and demoting Kapenan.

This is a game against the Florida Panthers. They don't need "two lines to try to check [Barkov] with on the road". They need to play their best line-up and they need to let their non-washed up players play.

 

[Guilt Trip]

I think this move has more to do with Babs seeing what he has in Plekanec, plus we're miles ahead in a playoff spot, so is the time to experiment with things. You guys act like he's making this a permanent move.

 

[cabber24]

https://twitter.com/ShawnMcKenzieSN/status/968612250419425280

WTF? I think anyone that doesn't already know will quickly figure out Turtle Neck sucks! Not a fan encase you were wondering.

I guess Levio is our 15th forward not that I'm a huge fan or anything. Just don't get why he's on the team?

 

[herman]

Babcock gave Kapanen one game in the top six before promoting the Leafs' worst forward yesterday, Plekanec, and demoting Kapanen.

This is a game against the Florida Panthers. They don't need "two lines to try to check [Barkov] with on the road". They need to play their best line-up and they need to let their non-washed up players play.

Having seen Barkov play, I?d say it?s a pretty good idea to try to have as many options to contain him as possible. I totally agree that it?d be great if we could just play the fun players.

From Babcock?s perspective, which I am merely surmising and trying to parse, this is a great opportunity for Nylander to learn up close from a vaunted shutdown centre. In my opinion, he clearly wants to mold Nylander into Datsyuk/Zetterberg level two-way play because he sees the natural gifts that merely need honing. He tried it last year by moving him to play with Komarov-Kadri and it certainly added a new dimension of taking care of the details to his game, even without much results on the scoresheet.

I haven?t seen it yet, but by all accounts of those that have watched Plekanec for his whole career and of players who?ve come up against him, he has those requisite defensive details down. Babcock loves players who take pride in defense (Zaitsev, Komarov, Polak) regardless of fan interpretation.

So is it kind of a slap down to pull Nylander off of centre so quickly? Yeah.
Does that mean Babcock doesn?t care about Nylander?s development into a centre? Quite the opposite. Watch him tonight on the right side draws as he swings into low coverage for the defense (the centre?s role).

 

[ZBBM]

Hey complainers.

Carrick.
Draws.
In.
For.
P O L A K

 

[disco]

SCOTIABANKGAMEDAYEAHHHHTHANKSCTB

 

[herman]

Noodles night!

 

[ZBBM]

O-Dog just said the Leafs *have* to get better in their own end.

"O" stands for "Obvious."

 

[cujo4ever]

What's with the bush league camera work? Looks like an OHL game...