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Leafs @ Predators - Nov. 12th, 8:00pm - TSN4, TSN 1050

CarltonTheBear

CarltonTheBear

Administrator
Staff member
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3-8-4, 10 points | 9-3-2, 20 points

Projected Lines


JVR-Kadri-Komarov
  Matthias-Bozak-Parenteau 
Grabner-Spaling-Lupul
Holland-Froese-Boyes

Gardiner-Phaneuf
Hunwick-Rielly
Harrington-Polak

Reimer
​
             
Forsberg-Fisher-Neal
Smith-Ribeiro-Wilson
Salomaki-Jarnkrok-Hodgson
Bourque-Sissons-Watson

Josi-Weber
Jackman-Jones
Ekholm-Ellis

Rinne​

Scratches

Daniel Winnik
  Martin Marincin
Frank Corrado
​
Code: 
     
Victor Bartley
Anthony Bitetto
Paul Gaustad​

Game Notes

TOR
?Reimer will likely start for the Leafs
?Bernier has been taken off the IR and Bibeau returned to the Marlies, so he'll back-up
?Winnik practiced again but it's unclear if he'll be ready to return to the line-up

NSH
?Rinne likely starts for Nashville
?The Preds are coming off a 7-5 victory over Ottawa that saw them score 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd to take the win
?Nashville is led in scoring by James Neal and Roman Josi, both of whom ahve 11 points in 14 games
?Pekke Rinne has started the season off 8-2 but carries only a 2.39 GAA and .910 Sv%, although giving up 5 to the sens recently probably plays a part in that


Injuries

?Stephane Robidas - Old - Out indefinitely
          ?Daniel Winnik - Knee - Questionable Thursday​
Code: 
     
?Paul Guastad - Lower Body - Questionable Thursday
?Carter Hutton - Undisclosed - Injured Reserve
?Eric Nystrom - Upper Body - Questionable Thursday​

Stream Options

https://www.reddit.com/r/NHLstreams
http://vaughnlive.tv/leafstreamer
http://gofirstrow.eu/sport/ice-hockey.html
​
 
Impressive work as always, especially considering the malaise and general disinterest in the games this season.

Rinne is looking more permeable than usual, so while I'm slightly mildly worried about the tank, some early rewards for good structured play will yield benefits at the deadline.
 
herman said:
Impressive work as always, especially considering the malaise and general disinterest in the games this season.

Rinne is looking more permeable than usual, so while I'm slightly mildly worried about the tank, some early rewards for good structured play will yield benefits at the deadline.
Click to expand...

He's still allowed 2 or less in 7 of his 12 starts, so, it's less about being more permeable, and more about struggling with his consistency - which isn't unusual for a goalie early in the season. He's still going to be tough for a team with very limited offensive talent to score many goals on.
 
bustaheims said:
He's still allowed 2 or less in 7 of his 12 starts, so, it's less about being more permeable, and more about struggling with his consistency - which isn't unusual for a goalie early in the season. He's still going to be tough for a team with very limited offensive talent to score many goals on.
Click to expand...

And even if they were playing their back-up goalie or something, that defence is still something that is going to be very tough for our group to crack.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
And even if they were playing their back-up goalie or something, that defence is still something that is going to be very tough for our group to crack.
Click to expand...

Yeah. They probably have the best defensive depth in the league. They essentially have 3 top pairing types and 3 2nd pairing types.
 
I think what I'm getting so far this season is just reinforcement of how central defense is to winning hockey.  As soon as we started getting decent goaltending, several early trends on D got enough support in net to produce a win or two:

1.  They are actually playing structured defense for the first time in years.
2.  Maturation of Rielly
3.  Gardiner doing much better in Babcock's system
4.  Hunwick a solid addition
5.  Harrington playing a responsible low-risk game
6.  Phaneuf getting much-needed reduction in minutes allowing him to play well within himself for a change
7.  Forwards also generally more responsible on D

Polak and Marincin have kind of been ciphers (and there is no Robidas wasting space) but what we are seeing is a much-improved defensive team ? not stellar enough to produce lots of wins by offsetting the cast of (largely) stiffos on forward (not to mention Kadri's Gobi Desert of a scoring start), but enough to keep them in most games.

I'm more optimistic than I have been in a long time.
 
Me too...Ive been quite impressed with the Leafs play in their own zone. Hunwick made a few good moves to cut off chances. Not seeing huge amounts of time scrambling in front of the net either...All good signs
 
MetalRaven said:
Me too...Ive been quite impressed with the Leafs play in their own zone. Hunwick made a few good moves to cut off chances. Not seeing huge amounts of time scrambling in front of the net either...All good signs
Click to expand...

Or them getting hemmed in so much, giving the puck away trying to exit the zone, etc.
 
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