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Panthers @ Leafs - Mar. 28th, 7:30pm - SN, Fan 590

lc9 said:
Really nice 3rd period this far.  Good structure.  Extended the lead.
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Yeah. There were a couple of moments where they could?ve gone aggro but knowing the score, they went with the guaranteed outs rather than trying to force anything.
 
Johnsson is the new Connor Brown, subbing Nylander on shutdown minutes. It?d be nice if he got the empty.

Nvm. It?s Brown now and we got scored on.
 
Well that was something. Desperate Florida team gave it their all.

I agree Florida should have gotten delay of game with that cheesy Reimer move
 
bustaheims said:
Zee said:
That should do it for Florida. Their schedule is brutal the next 10 days or so.
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Those 3 games against Boston are not going to be fun for them.
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Somebody ought to take the folks responsible for making the NHL's schedule and dangle them over a pit filled with fire ants until they do better.
 
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
bustaheims said:
Zee said:
That should do it for Florida. Their schedule is brutal the next 10 days or so.
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Those 3 games against Boston are not going to be fun for them.
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Somebody ought to take the folks responsible for making the NHL's schedule and dangle them over a pit filled with fire ants until they do better.
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To be fair, the final Sunday back to back game is a make-up game that was cancelled earlier.  Hard to get around that.
 
https://www.mapleleafshotstove.com/2018/03/29/game-77-review-toronto-maple-leafs-4-vs-florida-panthers-3/

7.  We noted it after one of the wins against Dallas, but there was another example on the third period penalty kill of Kasperi Kapanen forgoing a possible chance to drive the net or rip a shot on goal and instead circling the net, resetting with a pass back to the defensive zone, and burning more time off the clock. It?s a mature play. If he doesn?t feel he can get to the net successfully for a real scoring chance, he?s more likely to get taken out of the play (should he get buried on the drive to the net) or get caught behind the puck (if he misses the net or the goaltender steers/plays the rebound/save into a productive area) ? in that case, the  power play is now breaking up ice against three penalty killers.
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I definitely noticed this from Kapanen's game. He is pretty smart about picking his spots and this was a very unselfish play.
 
herman said:
https://www.mapleleafshotstove.com/2018/03/29/game-77-review-toronto-maple-leafs-4-vs-florida-panthers-3/

7.  We noted it after one of the wins against Dallas, but there was another example on the third period penalty kill of Kasperi Kapanen forgoing a possible chance to drive the net or rip a shot on goal and instead circling the net, resetting with a pass back to the defensive zone, and burning more time off the clock. It?s a mature play. If he doesn?t feel he can get to the net successfully for a real scoring chance, he?s more likely to get taken out of the play (should he get buried on the drive to the net) or get caught behind the puck (if he misses the net or the goaltender steers/plays the rebound/save into a productive area) ? in that case, the  power play is now breaking up ice against three penalty killers.
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I definitely noticed this from Kapanen's game. He is pretty smart about picking his spots and this was a very unselfish play.
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Same here.  He could have tried slicing a backhand at Luongo, but that would almost certainly not have worked, and may not have even hit the net.  Smart play by our 2018-19 PK leader.
 
Contrast with Nylander's giveaway in the third: he's safely over the blue line down the left wing with Hyman in support coming up the middle.

This is a bit where youthful confidence leads to risk -- Nylander tries to force a feathered backhand sauce around his defender to Hyman, who would be open and busting through with speed. If it works, it'd have been glorious (maybe). It ended up being both a missed execution and generally a poor decision.

Coupled with a semi-selfish sort-out after the turnover, it resulted in a goal against. Nylander tracked back in time, but instead of trusting his teammates, he tried to make up for his gaffe and kept checking the puck carrier, who was already hip deep in Leafs in a bad shooting position. The broken sort out opened up a lot of time and space for Huberdeau to take the reversed puck and deposit it into the net.

As Alec mentioned in the game review (above), with Hyman coming in support with speed, the correct play was to chip in for the guaranteed battle down low (with an A++ forechecker at that), rather than risk coughing up the puck with only 2/3rds of the ice to counter attack from. It's something that plagued the Leafs in the early part of the season, leading to what appeared to be a heavier focus on dump and chase hockey.

Nylander was benched for a couple of shifts as a result of his risky and selfish decisions. He's being held to a much higher standard than his teammates who occasionally flub an out (Hyman, Zaitsev) because the coach knows his potential is ridiculously high. If Nylander had Marner or Hyman's motor for every game of the season, there'd be no discussion about which player was better or should be paid more. Matthews' fierce competitive drive for perfect details is really the only thing separating his game from Nylander's, as Nylander can do just about every Matthews can do and some other things even better. I think Willy knows it too; it's just some habits in his game that resulted from coming up through leagues that were too easy for him need to be ironed out.
 
herman said:
If Nylander had Marner or Hyman's motor for every game of the season, there'd be no discussion about which player was better or should be paid more. Matthews' fierce competitive drive for perfect details is really the only thing separating his game from Nylander's, as Nylander can do just about every Matthews can do and some other things even better. I think Willy knows it too; it's just some habits in his game that resulted from coming up through leagues that were too easy for him need to be ironed out.
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So you think if Nylander had Marner/Hyman's motor, Nylander would unquestionably be better than Marner?  (Well, you said "no discussion" but it doesn't fit the sentence as well)

I beg to differ.  As good as Nylander is when he's at his best:
a)  Nylander has a better shot- but not by as much as we used to think.  Marner has been sniping for a while now this year.
b)  Nylander is very fast and quite elusive.  What Marner gives up to Nylander in top-speed, he makes up for by being a bit more elusive. I doubt their controlled exit/entry rates are much different and they have slightly different tools to get them.
c)  Nylander is definitely stronger, so you'll see him win more battles where he hasn't necessarily gotten himself in fantastic position.  However, Marner's anticipation is at another level and it allows him to win just as many battles by getting there quicker with his brain and putting his smaller frame in the right position to win.
d)  Where I think Marner exceeds Nylander:  Marner has super-star level vision (and anticipation, as previously mentioned).  Nylander is no slouch (probably top 100), but Marner is a magician both offensively and defensively because of those qualities.

I think if Marner had Nylander's top speed and strength we'd be wondering if he's in Matthews class. 
 
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