Game 4: Islanders at Leafs - LeafsTV 7:00 PM

[Redleaf]

Embarrassing night. Gunnar and Frattin with three points each, though.

I hope there aren't too many games like this - it is going to drive me up the wall listening to everybody clamor for Nonis to trade for Luongo and his crippling contract that could hamstring the organization for the next decade.

Yet, if they had a goalie like Luongo you wouldnt be driven up the wall as much. Until the Leafs find someone to backup Reimer, or until Luo is officially traded we will undoubtedly continue to hear the rumours.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Did Carkner get a misconduct after he suckered Phaneuf?

I felt like someone should have answered the bell for Dion there, he is the Captain and yes he can handle himself, but when someone goes after him like that, I would like more of a reaction.

Of course it would have negated the PP, but still, I think that one will be kept on ice till the next time they meet, much like the Kaleta situation.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I'm not going to be able to complain about the puck over the glass penalty anymore.  I think it is only ethical to complain about the worst penalty in the league first.

I've come to terms with the puck over the glass penalty. It's not going anywhere. This one, on the other hand, hopefully won't last.

I don't understand it.  It's not like covering the puck with your hand was some big, pressing issue.

That's what we all said when the puck-over-the-glass penalty came in. 

When did anyone ever make a post about how they were sick of players intentionally firing the puck over the glass.  It just wasn't happening.  And yet no-touch icing is still not in the rules.

I could actually see the rationale there though, that league people may have wanted to stop the ability of players to just throw it over the glass when hemmed in their end.  At least I thought that happened a heck of a lot more than covering the puck/playing it with your hands off a draw ever really did.  And the purpose seems more legit to me.

I suppose we'll just get used to it.

 

[bustaheims]

I felt like someone should have answered the bell for Dion there, he is the Captain and yes he can handle himself, but when someone goes after him like that, I would like more of a reaction.

I think the whole team was kind of shellshocked at that point.

 

[Derk]

Embarrassing night. Gunnar and Frattin with three points each, though.

I hope there aren't too many games like this - it is going to drive me up the wall listening to everybody clamor for Nonis to trade for Luongo and his crippling contract that could hamstring the organization for the next decade.

Yet, if they had a goalie like Luongo you wouldnt be driven up the wall as much. Until the Leafs find someone to backup Reimer, or until Luo is officially traded we will undoubtedly continue to hear the rumours.

Definitely true - I just don't relish the rumours. However, specific to the Luongo situation, things would be worse than they are now once his game starts to degrade and the fans realize that the Leafs are on the hook for a big cap hit for the next bunch of years. A goalie LIKE Luongo, but without the ridiculous contract on the other hand...

If he comes to the Leafs, I hope it is because the Canucks bought him out and he signs a much more reasonable contract.

 

[Frank E]

I felt like someone should have answered the bell for Dion there, he is the Captain and yes he can handle himself, but when someone goes after him like that, I would like more of a reaction.

I think the whole team was kind of shellshocked at that point.

WIGWAL's right though, you don't let your captain get treated like that.

It's early, but I still get the feeling that this team has NO (edit) leadership structure...maybe that's more of a comment on Dion than the rest of the team though. 

 

[L K]

And Kadri again sitting in the 13-14 minute range in TOI.  To me he has been the Leafs best forward all year AND has been productive offensively.  Why not give him more ice-time.  He should have better legs based on playing all year.

The only forwards that got more ice time than Kadri was the 1st line. He had more than 16 minutes of TOI tonight.

At the time I posted, he had 13-ish minutes.  He played 2:57 of the remaining 3:12 of the game.  I felt like his line had a lot of jump, were playing well overall.  I think they probably deserved to have more minutes tonight earlier in the game when things started changing.

 

[Peter D.]

It's concerning how ineffective Liles is looking.

 

[maplesyrup]

We've played 2 periods of bad hockey following 10 relatively good ones. I'm still keeping my cool.

 

[gunnar36]

It's concerning how ineffective Liles is looking.

He was a turnover machine tonight....I thought he had been good the first 3 games

 

[gunnar36]

The leafs were the more dominant team tonight. The difference was the fact that the islanders managed to capitalized on all the leafs mistakes.

 

[L K]

The leafs were the more dominant team tonight. The difference was the fact that the islanders managed to capitalized on all the leafs mistakes.

In the first period, yes.  But in the 2nd and 3rd period they were just ineffective.  Hardly dominant.

 

[moon111]

Despite the loss to NYI, Gunnarsson ends up with a +2 (+4), overtakes Komisarek (+3), for the Leaf's +/- leader.

 

[sleepyone]

All part of the game..game of mistakes


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[ZBBM]

I'd really like to see the team have an actual goalie for once.

This.  Look what a good game from Reimer against Pittsburgh did to the team.  I'm not counting him out yet.  Scrivens, however, I don't have much faith in.

I'm not a big Scrivens fan.  He seems like a really nice guy...and probably can be a reasonable 10 game a year backup for a team that has a Martin Brodeur/Roberto Luongo who can play 70 games for a million years in a row.  I just don't see him as a guy who should be getting 20+ starts a year.  And for a guy who supposedly can handle the puck, he's terrible at it.  Bad rebounds, horrible at playing the puck behind the net, etc.

My only thought when they showed Scrivens on the bench was, "Are there no child labor laws in Ontario?"

 

[Stebro]

I think that the leafs lack a real leader. To be Dion is good with media etc, but he is not reliable enough in his own zone, he don't know when to push and when not to, he is an average desicion maker imo, and I would expect more from a captain. Kessel seems to be more obsessed with himself or his own lack of scoring. We need a Gary Roberts type of guy. Or hey, why not a Scott Stevens too while we are at it. And I think that both goalies feel a bit insecure about their status. I think we need 2 more hard working veterans, one winger and one defender.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Scrivens definitely looked pretty bad in the net last night.  Noticed the Islanders forwards were going with the quick release shot that Scrivens obviously has little if no experience with.  The Leafs defensive game fell apart save for Gunnarsson and the Leafs overall allowed the Islanders too much room.

These situations are going to be frequent for this young team.  Sometimes playing against a top team (such as Pittsburgh) can elicit a greater degree of motivation, while playing a low team (Islanders) especially the next night might not bring out the same results, etc.  Consistency will be the key to the Leafs fortunes if they are to improve at all, that is.

I'm not ready to 'throw in the towel' yet. 

GO LEAFS GO!

Ah yes, Isles too! 

 

[cw]

I'd really like to see the team have an actual goalie for once.

This.  Look what a good game from Reimer against Pittsburgh did to the team.  I'm not counting him out yet.  Scrivens, however, I don't have much faith in.

I kind of feel the same way about Reimer as I do Scrivens. I thought Reimer's game in Pittsburgh was ok but I wasn't brimming with confidence. He had some awkwardness handling the puck. His glove hand looked suspect. He was having trouble tracking the puck. And those observations were a deja vu from last year.

All NHL goalies allow softies and stoppable goals. All NHL goalies make some great stops. The pattern for Leafs goaltending since the lockout is they don't seem to make as many great stops as the good goalies and they allow more soft and stoppable goals than the good goalies. The latter is especially deflating for their teammates - like it was last night.

I'll always hope for the best as a Leafs fan and I hope Reimer can resume the results he got when he first showed up in the NHL. But even in the Pittsburgh win, I didn't see much evidence of that. Both goals he allowed were of the stoppable variety or to some degree questionable.

 

[Corn Flake]

It's concerning how ineffective Liles is looking.

I think that has a lot to do with use. He should be running the 1st PP unit and in key offensive situations.

I like Kostka but Liles should be in that role. If he was I think we'd be a lot happier with his output.

 

[Peter D.]

It's concerning how ineffective Liles is looking.

I think that has a lot to do with use. He should be running the 1st PP unit and in key offensive situations.

I like Kostka but Liles should be in that role. If he was I think we'd be a lot happier with his output.

Yes.  I believe this is a fair assessment.  Why he isn't on the 1st PP unit is befuddling.  Heck, I'd feel more comfortable having him leading the back end on the PP ahead of even Phaneuf.