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Leafs @ Canadiens - May 3rd, 7:00pm - SN, TSN 1050

Why do these guys want to dick around with the puck so much? On their PP, in OT (the Marner/Matthews two on none). That's their undoing. Just shoot the goddamn puck
 
bustaheims said:
Man, the Habs just lull teams to sleep in OT.
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They had a pretty clear mandate to just play keep away when Matthews and Marner were on the ice, but the rest of the time was more wide open normal 3-on-3. And I mean as crappy/boring of a tactic that is for fans it makes sense for a team like them to go that route.
 
This Leafs team will be out in the third round.  No one except Matthew knows how to put pucks in the net when is needed.
 
Guilt Trip said:
wnc096 said:
Guilt Trip said:
bustaheims said:
Man, the Habs just lull teams to sleep in OT.
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Leafs had their chances.
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Marner and Matthews 2-0 is all you could ask for
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Such a dumb play by Marner there..he shoots he scores because everyone knows he was passing.
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I agree.  Everyone knows knew he was trying to get Matthews 40.  Fake pass..Allen would bite 1 million percent
 
CarltonTheBear said:
bustaheims said:
Man, the Habs just lull teams to sleep in OT.
Click to expand...

They had a pretty clear mandate to just play keep away when Matthews and Marner were on the ice, but the rest of the time was more wide open normal 3-on-3. And I mean as crappy/boring of a tactic that is for fans it makes sense for a team like them to go that route.
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Even when Matthews was on the bench, it never really felt like Montreal was driving hard to the net. They did the same thing against Ottawa the other night. They kill time playing keep away hoping for a defensive breakdown instead of going for it. Not a surprise their OT record has been terrible this season.
 
Guilt Trip said:
Bender said:
Man they are really questionable defensively at 3v3.
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That was brutal by Willy on the goal. Caufield was his man.
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Yup, that was the wrong choice. He got a stick on the puck but not enough to retake possession. 3-on-3 in your own zone is not the time to take chances like that.
 
Habs played a desperate team's game as they actually have something to play for. Toronto played like they have it all locked up.
 
OldTimeHockey said:
Habs played a desperate team's game as they actually have something to play for. Toronto played like they have it all locked up.
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Yeah I got that same sense from the get-go. Another point to consider is the fact that facing the Jets in the first round may even be preferred. So, while I?m not saying they played to lose they didn?t play desperate must-win hockey either. 
 
herman said:
Yup, that was the wrong choice. He got a stick on the puck but not enough to retake possession. 3-on-3 in your own zone is not the time to take chances like that.
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Funny thing: Willy in OT did what he didn't do against that Nick Suzuki goal the other day and attacked the entry winger to hurry the play.
https://twitter.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1387581032917086209
 
bustaheims said:
Even when Matthews was on the bench, it never really felt like Montreal was driving hard to the net. They did the same thing against Ottawa the other night. They kill time playing keep away hoping for a defensive breakdown instead of going for it. Not a surprise their OT record has been terrible this season.
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Been thinking about this a little more and I wouldn't be surprised if this was actually a new tactic Montreal was trying in response to their poor OT record. Because that's 3 straight OT wins for them now including victories over Toronto and Edmonton. I re-watched their OT's against the sens and Oilers and it was a lot of the same thing we saw last night: playing keep away/dominating puck possession. Against Ottawa they literally restarted attempted zone entries 4 times within the first minute because they didn't like what they saw. Against Edmonton they left the offensive zone a number of times with possession of the puck in order to restart and try to catch the Oilers on a poorly guarded rush.

Sure it's a lot more boring than the run and gun 3-on-3 hockey we're used to seeing but I think it's actually a pretty solid tactic. It's a little late in the season to be worrying about 3-on-3 strategies but in the future it's something the Leafs should probably look into more, especially since their OT record (5-6) isn't exactly anything to brag about.
 
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