Lightning @ Leafs - Feb. 12th, 7:00pm - TSN4, TSN 1050

[Chris]

https://twitter.com/TheFlintor/status/963209940721573888

Whether or not we should move Willy to centre is such a difficult problem to answer.

I'd be interested in seeing whether Matthews and Kapanen might be able to develop similar chemistry. I don't think Kapanen has anywhere near the shot that Nylander does, but he is similar in other ways. I'm still marveling at that move he pulled in the corner last night (reversing on a dime, cutting behind the net for a good shot attempt that he missed). Have no idea if there is anyone else in the system that could come close right now.

It's a tough call, are the benefits of getting Nylander on another line (presumably elevating the play of that line) greater than the dropoff that Matthews might experience if they are split up?

 

[ZBBM]

https://twitter.com/TheFlintor/status/963209940721573888

Whether or not we should move Willy to centre is such a difficult problem to answer.

Not sure why defenders keep falling for 34's signature move.  I realize this is DiDo here and not a defenseman, but still, if he maintains his stick position the shot is much more likely to be deflected.

 

[ZBBM]

https://twitter.com/TheFlintor/status/963209940721573888

Whether or not we should move Willy to centre is such a difficult problem to answer.

I'd be interested in seeing whether Matthews and Kapanen might be able to develop similar chemistry. I don't think Kapanen has anywhere near the shot that Nylander does, but he is similar in other ways. I'm still marveling at that move he pulled in the corner last night (reversing on a dime, cutting behind the net for a good shot attempt that he missed). Have no idea if there is anyone else in the system that could come close right now.

It's a tough call, are the benefits of getting Nylander on another line (presumably elevating the play of that line) greater than the dropoff that Matthews might experience if they are split up?

He did it against OTT too.

 

[herman]

I'd be interested in seeing whether Matthews and Kapanen might be able to develop similar chemistry. I don't think Kapanen has anywhere near the shot that Nylander does, but he is similar in other ways.

Yeah I think it works if there's a really good LW or LC we want riding shotgun with Nylander. Depending on who we pick up/promote, Kapanen and Nylander can be moved around as the top-9 RW options.

 

[herman]

Not sure why defenders keep falling for 34's signature move.

Players/goaltenders are trained to square up to shots to the puck's POV.

Matthews likes to shoot off the drag, but he can also shoot it traditional (and even a bit further out). So basically, if he is reading the defense and the goaltender, they have very little chance of guessing where he will launch from. Just from the trigonometry of it all, minor changes from Matthews requires far larger angle adjustments from the goalie, which is how he finds seams to the net so regularly.

It's also something he didn't really do until the summer before his draft year under the tutelage of Darryl Belfry. It added a dimension of deception to a shot that was already very quick, hard, and accurate.

 

[ZBBM]

Not sure why defenders keep falling for 34's signature move.

Players/goaltenders are trained to square up to shots to the puck's POV.

Matthews likes to shoot off the drag, but he can also shoot it traditional (and even a bit further out). So basically, if he is reading the defense and the goaltender, they have very little chance of guessing where he will launch from. Just from the trigonometry of it all, minor changes from Matthews requires far larger angle adjustments from the goalie, which is how he finds seams to the net so regularly.

It's also something he didn't really do until the summer before his draft year under the tutelage of Darryl Belfry. It added a dimension of deception to a shot that was already very quick, hard, and accurate.

OK, thanks for the explanation!  On this goal, it just seems that if the defender hadn't gone for the wide fake Matthews wouldn't have had anything to shoot at.  But I guess it would take exceptional situational awareness on DiDo's part to know that.

 

[herman]

OK, thanks for the explanation!  On this goal, it just seems that if the defender hadn't gone for the wide fake Matthews wouldn't have had anything to shoot at.  But I guess it would take exceptional situational awareness on DiDo's part to know that.

No problem!

If I were DiDomenico, I don't know that I'd do much differently. You guess when he is about to shoot and square with the puck the best you can. Maybe you also try to get wide towards Auston's body too to cover the spread of where he might release, but moving legs and sticks still provide enough gaps and deflection points to make this tricky. Commit for a full layout and he can still flip it over you and proceed unimpeded, or sauce one to Nylander who technically has an even better wrister in terms of raw shot speed and accuracy.

In any case, DiDomenico was screwed either way. His team got entirely sucked into defending Nylander's entry, and for some reason assigned two players to cover Hyman.

 

[Bullfrog]

I was actually more impressed with Nylander's second goal. That pass by Matthews was absolutely beautiful. My son couldn't understand why I was so excited, but I replayed it at least 10 times.

 

[herman]

I was actually more impressed with Nylander's second goal. That pass by Matthews was absolutely beautiful. My son couldn't understand why I was so excited, but I replayed it at least 10 times.

I'm pretty hard pressed to find an unimpressive Nylander goal.

 

[LuncheonMeat]

Not sure why defenders keep falling for 34's signature move.

Players/goaltenders are trained to square up to shots to the puck's POV.

Matthews likes to shoot off the drag, but he can also shoot it traditional (and even a bit further out). So basically, if he is reading the defense and the goaltender, they have very little chance of guessing where he will launch from. Just from the trigonometry of it all, minor changes from Matthews requires far larger angle adjustments from the goalie, which is how he finds seams to the net so regularly.

It's also something he didn't really do until the summer before his draft year under the tutelage of Darryl Belfry. It added a dimension of deception to a shot that was already very quick, hard, and accurate.

OK, thanks for the explanation!  On this goal, it just seems that if the defender hadn't gone for the wide fake Matthews wouldn't have had anything to shoot at.  But I guess it would take exceptional situational awareness on DiDo's part to know that.

After watching that again in real time/speed, I think the defender is screwed either way. Matthews changes his release point so quickly, it's just sort of a blur. I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching him do that, and I'm not sure that goalies will find an effective weapon against it.

 

[hockeyfan1]

How the Leafs & Babcock outsmarted Cooper & the Lightning.  Having Marner-Kadri, Matthews-Nylander proved too much for the Bolts to handle.

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