Game 2: Leafs @ Bruins - Apr. 13th, 8:00pm - CBC, Fan 590

[Phileas Fogg]

https://twitter.com/emilymkaplan/status/1117274671253213184

I think this is probably playing a lot in Kadri getting a bigger suspension that people might have originally thought. Especially after Tom Wilson's last suspension.

Yeah, I think you're right. I'd forgotten about the Backstrom one. I think we're in 5-7 territory.

I know it's just guesswork and homer bias, but looking at the video, I really think Naz was trying to get him in the upper shoulder with the cross check, and it went high.

 

[Highlander]

Really need to think about trading Nylander in the offseason.  He isn?t an xfactor.  Unless people think he will rebound next season.

Selling low is not a good idea.

This is a good point.  I guess you could look at the acquired cap space as the win in the trade.

Just. Stop.

I've tried to be as tolerant as possible, but this is just absolute garbage.

Because he's not worth anywhere near what they signed him for?

Sorry Mikey 29, you are just plain wrong.  Nylander is going to prove a steal over and over.  And he is not going anywhere so get used to him, Dubas promised him no trade and Dubas has to be a man of his word.
The thing is all these forwards are what 21, 22?  Once we have a very nice D in 3 years and these guys are a seasoned 25-26...just imagine, a not a decent D but a dynamic D.  Its coming.
I thought Muzzin had a terrible game, responsible for the first 2 goals.

 

[Highlander]

Long time lurker here and i didnt expect a win tonight but the refs are to blame when this gets out of hand. I know it is the playoffs and you they let a bit more slide but there is a line and it is more for the cluching, grabbing and the battles. Not late hits. High hits. Knee on knee. I know i am obviously going to be a bit biased but no sane hockey fan can watch this and think the refs arent having a complete nightmare.

Thanks i am going back into the shadows.

You should post more.  The more the merrier, as they say.

Ditto as you do have a brain unlike other posters here with 9 in there monikers.

 

[Highlander]

we could just do it back to them although Kadri will end up in the box or possibly suspended.

That was almost Psychic at this point out in the game STA but in some ways predictable. Can you pick my Lottery numbers for me?

 

[Bullfrog]

Really need to think about trading Nylander in the offseason.  He isn?t an xfactor.  Unless people think he will rebound next season.

Selling low is not a good idea.

This is a good point.  I guess you could look at the acquired cap space as the win in the trade.

Just. Stop.

I've tried to be as tolerant as possible, but this is just absolute garbage.

Because he's not worth anywhere near what they signed him for?

Sorry Mikey 29, you are just plain wrong.  Nylander is going to prove a steal over and over.  And he is not going anywhere so get used to him, Dubas promised him no trade and Dubas has to be a man of his word.
The thing is all these forwards are what 21, 22?  Once we have a very nice D in 3 years and these guys are a seasoned 25-26...just imagine, a not a decent D but a dynamic D.  Its coming.
I thought Muzzin had a terrible game, responsible for the first 2 goals.

I think you're both wrong. His contract isn't a steal and it isn't terrible. It's just right. It's appropriate, and that's OK.

 

[Redleaf]

After watching the highlights of the game again I?d forgotten how many roughing penalties DeBrusk should have been given, not to mention the deliberate looking knee on knee that was completely  blatant.

I don?t agree with the Kadri hit, but I completely understand his built-up frustration and uncontrolled response to the abuse he was taking to that point. Some people can take that without retribution but others just aren?t wired to.

I?m generally not one to blame the referees influence on the outcome of a game, and have to believe the NHL has told them to put away their whistles in the playoffs for the smaller infractions. There were obvious plays and infractions that crossed the line of being fair on both sides of the ice , but the balance of that scale certainly tipped more in the Bruins direction.

 

[Highlander]

After watching the highlights of the game again I?d forgotten how many roughing penalties DeBrusk should have been given, not to mention the deliberate looking knee on knee that was completely  blatant.

I don?t agree with the Kadri hit, but I completely understand his built-up frustration and uncontrolled response to the abuse he was taking to that point. Some people can take that without retribution but others just aren?t wired to.

I?m generally not one to blame the referees influence on the outcome of a game, and have to believe the NHL has told them to put away their whistles in the playoffs for the smaller infractions. There were obvious plays and infractions that crossed the line of being fair on both sides of the ice , but the balance of that scale certainly tipped more in the Bruins direction.

Hey Redleaf, I usually don't complain about the refereeing but this game was terribly one sided. Who put Krug out of the game, thats the kind of clean hits we have to start throwing more often, only way to beat the Bruins....we still have time to kill some Bears. 

 

[Redleaf]

After watching the highlights of the game again I?d forgotten how many roughing penalties DeBrusk should have been given, not to mention the deliberate looking knee on knee that was completely  blatant.

I don?t agree with the Kadri hit, but I completely understand his built-up frustration and uncontrolled response to the abuse he was taking to that point. Some people can take that without retribution but others just aren?t wired to.

I?m generally not one to blame the referees influence on the outcome of a game, and have to believe the NHL has told them to put away their whistles in the playoffs for the smaller infractions. There were obvious plays and infractions that crossed the line of being fair on both sides of the ice , but the balance of that scale certainly tipped more in the Bruins direction.

Hey Redleaf, I usually don't complain about the refereeing but this game was terribly one sided. Who put Krug out of the game, thats the kind of clean hits we have to start throwing more often, only way to beat the Bruins....we still have time to kill some Bears. 

That was a beautiful hit by Muzzin.

Watching the Leafs last night against this physical Bruins team, you can?t help think that the Leafs need more sound defencemen with the ability to dish those types of hits out in order to take their game to the next level. I?m sure no matter what the outcome this spring, Dubas will be looking to do just that this offseason.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

This game was lost in the first 5 minutes of the first period. Boston came out swinging and Toronto came out ducking and reaching. They handled the puck like it was a live grenade and this is not a good way to play hockey.
They turned it into a dump and chase game and you're not going to win a dump and chase game against the Bruins. Not the way they were stapling everything to the wall.

As for Kadri, he has to be smarter. I get that he feels he's responding to the Marleau hit, but there are far better ways to do that. His emotions constantly get the better of him. You know why Marchand and Gallagher are so effective? Because they know when to reel it in. Kadri tries to walk the same line but he has no self control. He should be suspended for that play. I'm guessing 3 games again. If so, he has let down his team again. That's two playoffs in a row. That's unacceptable IMO.

I have to watch the knee on knee again, but Kadri jumped, and we all know that jumping when someone is trying to hit you is never a good move. Especially not on those open ice hits.

No game is ever lost in the first five minutes of the first period.

Yeah it was only 1-0 at that point and the entire game to play. Had the refs called it fairly who knows what the outcome would have been.

That's great, and I understand what you're saying but:

1-I wasn't being literal
2-The Bruins came to play. The Leafs didn't
3-The Leafs played scared
4-Blaming the refs for a loss where you were completely outplayed, outmuscled and out worked is lazy. You can't control the refs. You can only control your play. Boston was the better team. Game over.

 

[Highlander]

After watching the highlights of the game again I?d forgotten how many roughing penalties DeBrusk should have been given, not to mention the deliberate looking knee on knee that was completely  blatant.

I don?t agree with the Kadri hit, but I completely understand his built-up frustration and uncontrolled response to the abuse he was taking to that point. Some people can take that without retribution but others just aren?t wired to.

I?m generally not one to blame the referees influence on the outcome of a game, and have to believe the NHL has told them to put away their whistles in the playoffs for the smaller infractions. There were obvious plays and infractions that crossed the line of being fair on both sides of the ice , but the balance of that scale certainly tipped more in the Bruins direction.

Hey Redleaf, I usually don't complain about the refereeing but this game was terribly one sided. Who put Krug out of the game, thats the kind of clean hits we have to start throwing more often, only way to beat the Bruins....we still have time to kill some Bears. 

That was a beautiful hit by Muzzin.

Watching the Leafs last night against this physical Bruins team, you can?t help think that the Leafs need more sound defencemen with the ability to dish those types of hits out in order to take their game to the next level. I?m sure no matter what the outcome this spring, Dubas will be looking to do just that this offseason.

Heard a couple of good things about Rasanen, 6'6' skating good, reach well what can you say (huge)...but he likes to hit hard..lets hope we can get a couple of tough bastards back there. Hope we can retain Muzzin after next season.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

Watching the Leafs last night against this physical Bruins team, you can?t help think that the Leafs need more sound defencemen with the ability to dish those types of hits out in order to take their game to the next level. I?m sure no matter what the outcome this spring, Dubas will be looking to do just that this offseason.

If there's one thing that's been fairly consistent about Dubas, it's his lack of priority on size/grit. I doubt he'll make any sort of move that pulls a player in if he can't skate and pass as top strengths.

 

[Chris]

So after sleeping on it and browsing some of the comments from this morning, some thoughts...
1) Kadri will get at least 3 and probably 5 games.
2) Reffing was absolutely ridiculous last night, had to be the worst game I've seen in years in that regard.
3) Someone posted that the Leafs looked or played scared. I think they were definitely hearing footsteps. Lots of perimeter play, lots of dumping the puck rather than playing through physical contact. Especially notable in this regard were Matthews and Nylander but Marner and to a lesser degree Marleau as well. I think this led to lots of the puck bobbling and bad passes. Kadri thrives in that type of game but unfortunately when things reach a certain point he cannot control himself.
4) Gauthier...I mean, he does some things well and is generally not a negative factor out there but I don't think I've ever seen a guy so big go down so easily from contact. He also misses on most of his checking attempts (lots of running into the boards). If he has any level of aggression in him, game 3 would be a good time to show it.
5) Andersen for MVP so far
6) Gardiner and Dermot seem to still be in recovery mode, hopefully they can pick up their play as the series goes on.
7) PP, or lack thereof, is really starting to hurt this team. How about changing things up and moving Matthews around to the right side for some one-timer opportunities. Right now he is taking too long to get his shot off from the current set up.

 

[ZBBM]

It *was* a close game until the Kadri penalty.  I don't think we were going to pull it out, but it was close.  With them getting to play headhunters all night.  Amped up.  Desperate. Crowd into it.  Benefiting from an unspeakable gaffe.  And playing good Bruins defensive hockey.

What I'm saying is G1|G2|2018>>>G1|G2|2017.  Andersen looks great.  Loss of Kadri may be a blessing in disguise, that much less temptation to mix it up with their agitators.  (BTW where did Physical Pastrnak come from?  He was blasting guys all nite.) 

And we now have home ice.

This team is in 100% better place this year than last year at this point.  Now Matthews needs to step up, major-like, in G2 and G3.  If he does, we'll take the series.

 

[ZBBM]

Chris, your point about the PP goes against the optimistic grain I just highlighted in my previous post, but it's true.  The Leafs had 3 chances to get themselves back into the game and didn't get it done, and can only blame themselves (the refs did give them a few chances after all), and while the PP wasn't godawful, ithe passing is way way too slow.  They need to get that going immediately ... but so far haven't shown they can, since October.

And oh, it would be nice if Nylander would drive the net once or twice a game.

 

[Stronger Than All]

I know many are sticking with the ?we got the split? narrative, but now we got a split and lost a centre.  It?s frustrating.

 

[L K]

The one thing I will say is that Andersen made a half dozen ridiculous saves that kept the game close.  This easily could have ended up a bigger blowout without him making some absurd saves.  I don't think the Leafs necessarily played awful but I'm not sure that I would take as much away from this game as a positive.

 

[Redleaf]

Watching the Leafs last night against this physical Bruins team, you can?t help think that the Leafs need more sound defencemen with the ability to dish those types of hits out in order to take their game to the next level. I?m sure no matter what the outcome this spring, Dubas will be looking to do just that this offseason.

If there's one thing that's been fairly consistent about Dubas, it's his lack of priority on size/grit. I doubt he'll make any sort of move that pulls a player in if he can't skate and pass as top strengths.

I agree. I didn?t say anything about an inability to skate and pass.

 

[Guilt Trip]

My fear is that with Kadri out Babs will put Marleau with Matthews and that would be a huge mistake. Kadri being out shouldn't effect his line but it always does. I don't see him putting Nylander, Marleau and Brown together. One positive is that Kadri will be off the 1st PP. Let's see what Babs does.

 

[LuncheonMeat]

It *was* a close game until the Kadri penalty.  I don't think we were going to pull it out, but it was close.  With them getting to play headhunters all night.  Amped up.  Desperate. Crowd into it.  Benefiting from an unspeakable gaffe.  And playing good Bruins defensive hockey.

What I'm saying is G1|G2|2018>>>G1|G2|2017.  Andersen looks great.  Loss of Kadri may be a blessing in disguise, that much less temptation to mix it up with their agitators. (BTW where did Physical Pastrnak come from?  He was blasting guys all nite.) 

And we now have home ice.

This team is in 100% better place this year than last year at this point.  Now Matthews needs to step up, major-like, in G2 and G3.  If he does, we'll take the series.

I sort of agree with this. I think this series goes better without the back and forth of Kadri and the Bruins.

When I saw Kadri deliver that crosscheck, it immediately reminded me of Domi taking out Scott Niedermayer years ago. I realize it's a completely different situation, but the feeling of 'oh man, what have you done' afterward was instant, and exactly the same. The feeling that one event could turn a series in a bad way. After time to reflect on it, maybe in this case a suspension will be a blessing. I guess we'll find out.  :-\

 

[Chris]

My fear is that with Kadri out Babs will put Marleau with Matthews and that would be a huge mistake. Kadri being out shouldn't effect his line but it always does. I don't see him putting Nylander, Marleau and Brown together. One positive is that Kadri will be off the 1st PP. Let's see what Babs does.

Rather see

Johnsson-Matthews-Nylander
Moore-Marleau-Kapanen


I hate hate HATE Marleau with Matthews, could live with

Johnsson-Matthews-Kapanen
Marleau-Nylander-Brown (or Moore)