Leafs @ Sharks - Feb. 28th, 10:30pm - SNO, Fan 590

[CarltonTheBear]

@

28-20-13, 69 points | 36-18-7, 79 points 

Projected Lines

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander Komarov-Kadri-Brown JVR-Bozak-Marner Martin-Boyle-Soshnikov Rielly-Zaitsev Gardiner-Marchenko Hunwick-Polak Andersen ​

Labanc-Thornton-Pavelski Marleau-Couture-Boedker Haley-Hertl-Karlsson Sorensen-Tierney-Ward Martin-Burns Vlasic-Braun Dillon-Schlemko Jones​

Scratches

Josh Leivo Ben Smith Martin Marincin ​

Dylan Demelo Tim Heed Barclay Goodrow ​

Game Notes

TOR
?Andersen (24-13-12, 2.77 GAA, .914 Sv%) will likely start for the Leafs
?Babcock expects both Bozak and Marner to be able to return to the line-up tonight, those pesky trainers just need to give the OK
?If Marner does come off the IR and play the Leafs will need to reduce their roster by one, meaning Gauthier will likely be re-assigned to the Marlies since he doesn't require waivers
?The newest Maple Leaf, Brian Boyle, says that he hopes to be able to make his Leafs debut against the Sharks

SJ
?Martin Jones (29-15-6, 2.31 GAA, .915 Sv%) will likely start for the Sharks

Injuries

?Nathan Horton - Back - Out indefinitely ?Joffrey Lupul - ?\_(ツ)_/? - Out indefinitely ?Stephane Robidas - Old - Out indefinitely ?Connor Carrick - Upper Body - Injured Reserve ?Mitch Marner - Shoulder - Probable Tuesday​

?Dylan Demelo - Wrist - Questionable Tuesday ?Joonas Donskoi - Upper Body - Injured Reserve​

Stream Options

https://www.reddit.com/r/NHLstreams
​

 

[ZBBM]

The NHL is challenging my beddy-bye time.

 

[Arn]

The NHL is challenging my beddy-bye time.

I hate west coast games.

 

[Coco-puffs]

FYI- The D pairs were different at practice yesterday.  I know it's probably to early to say they will change in game but it seems that way.

Pairs were:

Gardiner - Zaitsev
Rielly - Marchenko
Hunwick - Polak

 

[CarltonTheBear]

FYI- The D pairs were different at practice yesterday.  I know it's probably to early to say they will change in game but it seems that way.

Pairs were:

Gardiner - Zaitsev
Rielly - Marchenko
Hunwick - Polak

Really? I definitely missed that.

For those keeping score at home, the Rielly-Zaitsev pairing was once again on the ice for both goals scored against the Leafs prior to OT on Saturday.

 

[herman]

FYI- The D pairs were different at practice yesterday.  I know it's probably to early to say they will change in game but it seems that way.

Pairs were:

Gardiner - Zaitsev
Rielly - Marchenko
Hunwick - Polak

Really? I definitely missed that.

For those keeping score at home, the Rielly-Zaitsev pairing was once again on the ice for both goals scored against the Leafs prior to OT on Saturday.

Kristen Shilton reported it yesterday as the Leafs took a longer practice than usual to iron some things out. We'll find out more when the Leafs skate today at 1:30 pm (10:30 am PST).

 

[Coco-puffs]

FYI- The D pairs were different at practice yesterday.  I know it's probably to early to say they will change in game but it seems that way.

Pairs were:

Gardiner - Zaitsev
Rielly - Marchenko
Hunwick - Polak

Really? I definitely missed that.

For those keeping score at home, the Rielly-Zaitsev pairing was once again on the ice for both goals scored against the Leafs prior to OT on Saturday.

1st Goal, Hyman doesn't get the puck in deep on the PK, Smith covers Patches at first then leaves him while he leaks out for a one-timer.  2nd Goal, Kadri falls down behind the net leaving Galchenyuk all alone in front.  Hard to blame Rielly and Zaitsev a whole lot on those.  It is quite comedic how its gone for the two of them recently.  Not that I'm laughing much about it though.

 

[bustaheims]

Ahh, the dreaded West Coast swing.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

1st Goal, Hyman doesn't get the puck in deep on the PK, Smith covers Patches at first then leaves him while he leaks out for a one-timer.  2nd Goal, Kadri falls down behind the net leaving Galchenyuk all alone in front.  Hard to blame Rielly and Zaitsev a whole lot on those.  It is quite comedic how its gone for the two of them recently.  Not that I'm laughing much about it though.

I don't know, I'm comfortable assigning a bit of blame to Rielly for both of those. 1st goal was on the PK so it's tough I know but he was sort of in no-mans land there covering nobody in particular while Paciorrety was wide open to his left.

The 2nd goal, yes Kadri falling was the primary reason Galchenyuk was open but right before that Rielly lost a battle on the wall high in the zone and then was pretty slow to get back into position to cover the slot area.

 

[Coco-puffs]

1st Goal, Hyman doesn't get the puck in deep on the PK, Smith covers Patches at first then leaves him while he leaks out for a one-timer.  2nd Goal, Kadri falls down behind the net leaving Galchenyuk all alone in front.  Hard to blame Rielly and Zaitsev a whole lot on those.  It is quite comedic how its gone for the two of them recently.  Not that I'm laughing much about it though.

I don't know, I'm comfortable assigning a bit of blame to Rielly for both of those. 1st goal was on the PK so it's tough I know but he was sort of in no-mans land there covering nobody in particular while Paciorrety was wide open to his left.

The 2nd goal, yes Kadri falling was the primary reason Galchenyuk was open but right before that Rielly lost a battle on the wall high in the zone and then was pretty slow to get back into position to cover the slot area.

I watched the Game in Six for both twice now this morning.

On the first goal, I won't give him more than a small amount of blame.  Ben Smith was initially covering Patches, but slipped to the middle rather quickly to get Galchenyuk when he got the puck- Rielly SHOULD have told Smith to go engage closer to the puck earlier and then covered Patches, but its hard to ask a defenseman to cover a player leaking out that high on the weak side upon a clean zone entry.  If anything Zaitsev gave Shaw way too much room entering the zone, which gave him time to find the trailing Galchenyuk.  Had Zaitsev been up on the play it probably wouldn't have been a clean pass to Galchenyuk. 

So... in all, I'd say most of the blame goes to Hyman.  Not only did he not get it deep, but he also engaged Shaw along the boards and didn't prevent the pass to Galchenyuk despite a 1-on-2.
Second most blame to Zaitsev for giving up the blueline too easily.  Smith and Rielly share in the rest for not communicating better.

On the second goal... If Rielly skates right back to the front of the net after losing a puck battle along the boards every time, I wonder how often that man coming off the boards will be wide open.  Babcock doesn't play Randy Carlyle collapse hockey and Rielly was looking for a man to cover coming off the boards or blueline as he should have been. (He was actually late picking up the guy coming off the blueline, but that didn't matter a whole lot).  If he has to cover for his centerman losing his check like that all the time we've got huge problems.  Finally, I wouldn't call what happened along the boards a "battle for the puck" in the sense it was free for either player.  Should he have stayed closer to Radulov before the puck got cycled to him, yes, as that would have actually created a true puck battle.  Partially to blame... sure... everyone on that shift had some partial blame.  Kadri had the majority of it.

 

[Bonsixx]

I love these late games. I work nights, so usually have to DVR Leafs games (the ones that aren't blacked out, anyway - I'm in Newfoundland and most of them are). I'll get off work around 1 am and catch the last two periods via streaming. Pumped!

 

[TBLeafer]

[tweet]836650592969842688[/tweet]

James Mirtle‏Verified account @mirtle  now

Babcock says Boyle will play with Martin on the fourth line, kill penalties and play net front on the power play.

 

[herman]

Forwards minutes leaders gonna be Komarov, Hyman, and Boyle.
Yay.

 

[herman]

Looks like it'll be
Rielly - Zaitsev
Gardiner - Marchenko
Hunwick - Polak

Gauthier centred 4th line at practice, but Boyle just showed up in SJ and Babcock thinks he'll slot him in.

 

[TBLeafer]

[tweet]836677711665868800[/tweet]

Paul Hendrick‏ @HennyTweets  now1 minute ago

Amidst the hoopla surrounding Brian Boyle's impending arrival in San Jose is Matt Martin's 500th NHL game tonight.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

... Partially to blame... sure... everyone on that shift had some partial blame.

Well that's all I really said. I think on basically all goals we're a little too quick to point the finger at just one specific player or one specific play. Often times it's a series of little mishaps that leads to a goal against. And often times most if not all of the players on the ice had something to do with it.

And under normal conditions I might not be so hard on Rielly for little mishaps like those, but I don't think anybody can say that his goals against rate in February isn't concerning. It can't all be attributed to bad luck/bad goaltending.

 

[TBLeafer]

[tweet]836706524902760448[/tweet]

Kristen Shilton‏Verified account @kristen_shilton  now2 minutes ago
Brian Boyle will take Peter Holland's old No. 24

 

[herman]

Leafs have been downgoated to make room for Marner's re-activation.

 

[Highlander]

Baahhh!

 

[L K]

I'm not completely sold on Josh Leivo as a player but it seems odd that the guy with 8 points in 11 games is the one that gets scratched for Marner to get back in the lineup.