Panthers @ Leafs - Feb. 3rd, 7:00pm - TSN4, TSN 1050

[CarltonTheBear]

@

28-17-5, 61 points | 28-17-7, 63 points

Projected Lines

Huberdeau-Barkov-Dadonov Connolly-Trocheck-Acciari Vatrano-Toninato-Hoffman Sceviour-Boyle-Malgin Matheson-Ekblad Stillman-Stralman Yandle-Brown Bobrovsky ​

Hyman-Matthews-Marner Kerfoot-Tavares-Nylander Johnsson-Engvall-Kapanen Moore-Gauthier-Spezza Muzzin-Holl Marincin-Barrie Sandin-Ceci Andersen​

Scratches

Mark Pysyk     Joyce Hawryluk ​

Travis Dermott Dmytro Timashov​

Game Notes

FLA
?Bobrovsky (19-13-4, 3.26 GAA, .897 Sv%) will likely start for the Panthers
?Florida's first game after their bye week was a disappointing 4-0 loss to the Canadiens
?Not only did the Panthers lose a valuable 2 points in that game but Barkov left the game midway through the 2nd period with an apparent lower body injury. His MRI results apparently came back good but there hasn't been an update to his status for tonight's game

TOR
?Andersen (24-9-6, 2.87 GAA, .910 Sv%) will likely start for the Leafs
?The Leafs overtook Florida in the standings during their bye week but they only have a 2-point advantage while Florida has 2 games in hand still
?No update on the status of Dermott yet, while it's expected Kapanen will re-join the line-up after missing Saturday for internal accountability reasons

Injuries

?Aleksander Barkov - Lower Body - Questionable Monday ?Chris Driedger - Lower Body - Injured Reserve ?MacKenzie Weegar - Upper Body - Injured Reserve​

?Travis Dermott - Illness - Questionable Monday ?Morgan Rielly - Foot - Injured Reserve ?Ilya Mikheyev - Wrist - Injured Reserve​

Stream Options

Sportsurge.net
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[Kaberle15]

Great job CtB.

I am in revenge mode on Florida. Tonight is payback time. Hopefully the Leafs will be on the same page as me tonight and play a full 60 effort.

Go Leafs Go!!!

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Dermott and Kappy are both regular participants at practice today, so seems like they're a go.

 

[WAYNEINIONA]

How will Kapanen respond to his day off? I hope it wakes him up, he's not been playing as expected lately.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Dermott: had food poisoning, is all good now is a game-time decision

Kapanen: overslept on Friday and was late for a team meeting. Also happened once on the Marlies

 

[Hobbes]

This one is a must-win, as is the one we play against them a little later this month. Winning them both would likely give us enough separation in the standings to almost guarantee a 3rd place finish in the division.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

The Leafs: we want Kapanen to face the media and be held accountable for his mistakes

Kapanen:
https://twitter.com/kristen_shilton/status/1224370932631904256

uhhhh

 

[Bullfrog]

I'm good with that response.

 

[Hobbes]

The Leafs: we want Kapanen to face the media and be held accountable for his mistakes

Kapanen:
https://twitter.com/kristen_shilton/status/1224370932631904256

uhhhh

Strictly speaking, that narrative was pushed (if not almost entirely created) by the media, not the club.

Keefe said "scratched fo the game for internal accountability reasons" and made it very clear he would prefer it be left at that. He didn't wish to disclose the reason -- presumably from a desire not to throw the player under the bus for an indiscretion -- and only on being pressed on it did he resort to "ask Kappy on Monday" which pretty much left it up to Kappy how much he wished to disclose or not disclose.

If this was any market other than Toronto (except maybe Montreal) nobody would even have asked about it beyond Keefe's statement. Like Bullfrog, I'm fine with Kappy's response.

 

[AvroArrow]

I'm good with that response.

Ditto, in the grand scheme of things, it's a nothing incident.  He took his punishment and is ready to play.  What more could there possibly be to talk about?

 

[Kin]

I really don't see how if Keefe had said "Kapanen overslept and missed practice. Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things but we expect that this doesn't happen and obviously we need there to be consequences if it does so that we can maintain our standards for player conduct" would be throwing a player under the bus. In fact, it would do the following:

1) Make a clear statement about what happened.

2) Say why it wasn't acceptable

3) Earn points with the player for taking the media hit

Really doesn't feel like the sort of thing that needed Fred, Velma, Daphne and the gang but not a big deal either way.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Keefe expanded a little more on the situation in his scrum (from the Athletic):

Kapanen conceded to a pattern of lateness when he was still playing for Keefe with the Marlies. The Leafs coach didn?t recall that, noting on Monday morning, ?It?s all to do with here, both in previous to my time coming and since arriving here.?

?We?re a pretty forgiving place,? Keefe went on. ?When there?s a pattern of things that haven?t corrected themselves then we have to do something a little bit outside of what you normally do.?

So this obviously wasn't just a random, one-time mishap. That's why I'm a little disappointed in Kapanen's "this isn't a big deal, leave me alone" type response.

Admittedly Keefe himself is sending mixed signals, I'm not sure how this can be something that's "a pattern of things that haven't corrected themselves" while also calling it "very innocent".

 

[Kin]

Admittedly Keefe himself is sending mixed signals, I'm not sure how this can be something that's "a pattern of things that haven't corrected themselves" while also calling it "very innocent".

My hunch as someone who used to be in the racket of preparing media statements is that the idea here is to suggest that this is a case of Kapanen being undisciplined and not a morning person as opposed to a problem of "enjoying the nightlife".

 

[CarltonTheBear]

My hunch as someone who used to be in the racket of preparing media statements is that the idea here is to suggest that this is a case of Kapanen being undisciplined and not a morning person as opposed to a problem of "enjoying the nightlife".

Yeah that makes sense.

 

[ZBBM]

I thought Keefe told the media on Saturday that he would let Kapanen talk about it today.  Now, he didn't say explicitly that he expected Kapanen to own up to his mistake, but I imagine that, at a minimum, that's what he hoped for.  As it is, sounds like Kappy didn't even rise to the desultory low bar Matthews set for his explanation of the Affair d'Arizona.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Kappy's full comments, if anyone was interested:
https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1224379796660068352

 

[bustaheims]

HUBERDEAU

 

[Guilt Trip]

Kappy's full comments, if anyone was interested:
https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1224379796660068352

There's a point where the media needs to let it go. How many times can you ask the same question. Even Keefe said it isn't a big deal. And Kristen posted at least 3 other tweets before the one you chose to post and be critical of his response. Kappy handled it fine before and even better now that we get the full context of what he said and not just some snippet.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

There's a point where the media needs to let it go. How many times can you ask the same question. Even Keefe said it isn't a big deal. And Kristen posted at least 3 other tweets before the one you chose to post and be critical of his response. Kappy handled it fine before and even better now that we get the full context of what he said and not just some snippet.

He made it 44 seconds into the scrum before getting visibility annoyed at having to discuss this.

 

[ZBBM]

Kappy's full comments, if anyone was interested:
https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1224379796660068352

There's a point where the media needs to let it go. How many times can you ask the same question. Even Keefe said it isn't a big deal. And Kristen posted at least 3 other tweets before the one you chose to post and be critical of his response. Kappy handled it fine before and even better now that we get the full context of what he said and not just some snippet.

OK, I hadn't seen the full clip before I shot my mouth off.  That was unfair of me and I shouldn't have done it.  He took responsibility and I agree GT that the press ended up badgering him.  Good for him to handle it the way he did.