Panthers vs. Leafs - Dec. 2nd, 7:30pm - TSN4

[Frank E]

The Leafs were 72% in the dot last night.

 

[cabber24]

Best win of the season? Best win of the season. Leafs got rolled last year against a short handed Panther squad. Took care of business tonight and put up enough of a cushion to stave off the pushin’.

This was the best win of the season and hopefully the start of a new direction for this year's group. Depth scoring has not existed in a long, long time. If we can roll lines, this is in fact the new DNA we've been looking for.

 

[Bender]

This season is such a weird one that I really don't know how to evaluate anything at this point. 3 points off of the A2/A3 playoff spots and 4 points back of the WC1/WC2 spots. The league is so bunched up right now that a 5 game winning streak could have the Leafs in a playoff spot by the end of next week. They could just as easily get blown out by Carolina on Thursday and we can all go back to rooting for a tear down.

I still think this isn't a great team. I still think they are going to run into problems if/when Tanev/Carlo come back if Benoit stays in the lineup over Stetcher (or inevitably Stetcher falls back to Earth). This team needs more mobility on the blue line to keep the pace of play up with the team. It's great that Berube let the training wheels off the team a bit but coaches are stubborn and I'm not convinced that we don't see him try and force his way of doing things back into the team.

The stupidity of the PP is just baffling at this point. There is no reason to go 5 forwards on PP1. Matthews defers way too much on the PP and honestly, while I really like a lot of things that Cowan does, I think he holds the puck into trouble spots and tries to force things that work in Junior hockey but lead to turnovers and deflections far too much. I have absolutely no idea why Robertson isn't on one of the PP units.

The PP is a whole other discussion, but I do think the team is a lot better than what we've seen in the past. Is it really a surprise that the Leafs are looking better with better goaltending and a fully healthy forward group? The biggest thing that gives me pause isn't so much the team - it's that AM34 looks like a beat up old man out there comparatively. We're not going to amount to much if he plays more like an $8M forward instead of $13M+.

 

[herman]

This was the best win of the season and hopefully the start of a new direction for this year's group. Depth scoring has not existed in a long, long time. If we can roll lines, this is in fact the new DNA we've been looking for.

I think Stecher makes a huge difference there. Depth lines need help getting the puck into the OZ to let them go to work. That's the commonality of teams that have good depth scoring: puck moving defense.

 

[Chris]

The PP is a whole other discussion, but I do think the team is a lot better than what we've seen in the past. Is it really a surprise that the Leafs are looking better with better goaltending and a fully healthy forward group? The biggest thing that gives me pause isn't so much the team - it's that AM34 looks like a beat up old man out there comparatively. We're not going to amount to much if he plays more like an $8M forward instead of $13M+.

This is it in a nutshell for me. With AM playing like he has so far, this should be a playoff team and maybe even a win-a-round team, depending on matchup and what the injury situation looks like at the time. If AM can get back closer to what he has been in the past, and we get a healthy Tanev back, (and figure out how to score some PP goals) I do think this team could do damage in the playoffs. Maybe not Cup damage, but if you get a hot goalie who knows.

The Roy/Joshua/McMann line could be what we've all been looking for for years now. Three big guys who can forecheck, hit, play some defense, with decent puck skills (especially Joshua near the net) and one with speed to get in on the forecheck. The big problem is that 2 of them have been wildly inconsistent and prone to disappear for long stretches. McMann should be extra motivated in this UFA year, probably his one chance to earn a decent contract somewhere.

The PP is ridiculous at this point and it's hard to believe they're even practicing it based on what it looks like.