R2, G4: Panthers vs. Maple Leafs - May 11th, 7:30pm - SN, Fan 590

[dappleganger]

Leafs aren't doing themselves any favors, but the officiating is absolute bullshit.

Panthers elbow Stolarz in the head game 2, knock him out of the series. Nothing done about it.

Tavares gets elbowed in the head, nothing done about it.

Marner takes an elbow to the head last night, nothing done about it.

Tanev gets rocked by a crosscheck, nothing done about it.

If those were Leafs dishing out elbows, they would be suspended for the rest of the playoffs, just like Kadri and Bunting use to be.

There is a double standard and it is very hard to ignore.

Woll took a flying elbow from Ekblad as well.

 

[L K]

Auston Matthew leads the Maple Leafs in the playoffs with 35 shots thus far...S% in brackets.

Matthews - 35S - 2g (5.7%)
Tavares - 34S - 5g (14.7%)
Nylander - 28S - 6g (21.4%)
Knies - 25S - 5g (20%)
Rielly - 17S - 4g (23.5%)
Domi - 15S - 2g (13.3%)
Marner - 13S - 2g (15.4%)

You've got your top centre playing over 21 minutes a game, and taking the shots at a 5.7% goal rate...something's gotta give.

Have Matthews shots looked all that dangerous? I can't think of many shots where I was shocked the goalie made a save.

 

[herman]

Ummm Doug Cifu is special

The NHL just suspended him lol

https://twitter.com/x/status/1922265340391665761

 

[Chris]

Have Matthews shots looked all that dangerous? I can't think of many shots where I was shocked the goalie made a save.

Dangerous to the glass and boards for sure.

For the ones that actually are on net, he seems to be taking longer to get them off, and they're not placed like they used to be. Thinking of that one glove save in the last game, he had to settle the puck, look up, then shot it right into the glove.

I know he is still doing a lot of things well, faceoffs being one and defensive play. But overall, on offense he just looks a step (or more) slow. Slow to get the shots off, slow to get in on the forecheck...if it's something physical it will be very interesting to find out exactly what it is (or maybe we will never know).

 

[cabber24]

Dangerous to the glass and boards for sure.

For the ones that actually are on net, he seems to be taking longer to get them off, and they're not placed like they used to be. Thinking of that one glove save in the last game, he had to settle the puck, look up, then shot it right into the glove.

I know he is still doing a lot of things well, faceoffs being one and defensive play. But overall, on offense he just looks a step (or more) slow. Slow to get the shots off, slow to get in on the forecheck...if it's something physical it will be very interesting to find out exactly what it is (or maybe we will never know).

Injured... doubt it, its just how he plays in the playoffs. I still think that that off-speed goal was a total fluke.

 

[L K]

Injured... doubt it, its just how he plays in the playoffs. I still think that that off-speed goal was a total fluke.

I mean he's been off the whole year. I posted something earlier in the year but every year of his career Matthews fairly significantly outperforms his expected goal totals because of his shot deception. This year he was below it. It's a massive outlier on his career. His skating speed is down. His shot velocity is down. He's clearly hurt.

He's also a guy who has historically not scored enough in the postseason though so it's not just injury. What I haven't really seen from Matthews is adaptation in trying to find a way to put the puck in the net. He tries a wrap around every once in a while but he's still playing in the same spot on the PP. When Matthews is on, he can hit the net from that tight angle and find holes in the goalie. I don't think that's a good setup spot for him right now. I'd like to see them shift him more toward the centre of the ice or higher up on the half boards to circle more into the slot instead of down low at the circle.