Guilt Trip
Active member
Which baffles the mind as to why the Leafs can play one properly.Nik the Trik said:
Bruins @ Leafs - Apr. 19th, 7:00pm - CBC, TSN 1050
- Thread starter CarltonTheBear
- Start date
Strangelove said:
I only saw parts of the game but Matthews looked less involved than he did in game 3. Not his usual self, didn't really look comfortable/confident, seemed to have more trouble with the puck than usual. Maybe some of those hits have taken their toll.
Marner on the other hand, impresses me more all the time. He gets in there and battles along the boards, wins some battles and holds his own in many others, throws what little body he has around when necessary.
Guilt Trip
Active member
2 on 1s seemed to be an issue all year tho, but you're right, they don't always execute properlyNik the Trik said:
Kin
New member
Guilt Trip said:
I don't agree. I certainly didn't watch this team all year and think "This team is notably bad at defending 2 on 1s". 2 on 1s are hard to defend and though some people like to oversimplify things, there's no one size fits all way to defend them.
In general, it's not the greatest group of defensive defensemen. That is apparent when they were defending all manner of tricky plays, 2 on 1s included.
BrownRolo
New member
The Leafs RHD are just so bad at getting pucks through. Zaitsev, Hainsey and Polak are all terrible. I don't know how many times they had the puck with tons of time and they would never look pass. They just shoot the puck almost blindly. Most of the time they miss the net. Sometimes if hits a player in front and very rarely does it even get though.
They need to learn to move with the puck and find a seam. You can't just stand there and shoot. It's too easy to block.
They need to learn to move with the puck and find a seam. You can't just stand there and shoot. It's too easy to block.
hockeyfan1
New member
Lessons need to be learned, don't they?
[tweet]987151160279629824[/tweet]
[tweet]987151160279629824[/tweet]
Kin
New member
Bender said:
Sure. There are lots of variables in any play. A defenseman can play a 2 on 1 perfectly and the other team can still score and likewise he can play it terribly and not have them score.
That said, I still don't agree that this year's team was particularly bad at playing them and as someone who has watched a lot of this team and this board I think I could say with some confidence that this problem certainly hasn't been noticed much before last night which leads me to think the issue is probably being exaggerated.
Man, last night was such a huge opportunity. At home. No Bergeron. A chance to tie the series. What a wasted opportunity. I really think if we won that we would have had enough momentum to take the series. Now it's Boston's to lose. Hopefully we at least force a Game 6.
Wow, Kapanen was 20-3 in shot attempts last night, Johnsson 20-4. They were flying. I can't believe that they didn't bury one.
Zee
Active member
CarltonTheBear said:
So many blocked shots, so many times I cringed when the puck went over to the right side D and it's Hainsey who is on his backhand and can't move it quickly. The point guys couldn't get anything through.
Babcock has to make an adjustment. Marner is playing well, pair him with Matthews since the top unit will be going against him. That frees up Nylander to go against a lesser line (and lesser defense). Marner might be able to open up more ice for Matthews since they'd be worried about Marner.
How's about:
Marleau - Matthews - Marner
Johnsson - Kadri - Nylander
JVR - Bozak - Kapanen
Hyman - Plekanec - Brown
With the way Johnsson and Kapanen have been getting chances they deserve to be up higher in the lineup. That 2nd line with Kadri could do damage especially since they wouldn't be facing the Bergeron line. It's desperation time, if those lines don't work, then so be it.
bustaheims said:
I'm sure that there's a happy medium somewhere but in Game 1 the forwards were coming down much lower as outlets and the defence were making much shorter passes, but it seemed everytime they completed one a Bruins player was immediately a foot behind the forward taking the pass and disrupting the play. Boston absolutely killed the Leafs breakout game like that early in the series. It wasn't until they started using the stretch pass more that they were getting cleaner exits. Obviously though those come with a risk.
https://twitter.com/ekoreen/status/987313420281286656
Oh great, we're doing this again.
Oh great, we're doing this again.
Strangelove
New member
herman said:
I'd do that but switch Hyman and JvR. Get all your 30 goal scorers on the first line.
