travel_dude

See a lot of bad play from the 4th line. I counted 3 times that Lucic has the puck and promply puts little on a pass for a turnover. Ritchie or Lucic, can't have both in many games. Seattle is not a skilled team, but thy have work boots. It is what it is. Don't care about dominating on the scoresheet, as long as we get the W. Long hard road trip, so expect some letdown. Stoner seems to take a couple of tries to get the rocket lined up to the sites Johnny may have to break 100 at home.

Nice goal on a delayed call. Stage 2 Complete Begin Stage 3, in the 2nd period. I like when we score late in a period.

Gotta start winning some faceoffs, assuming there are any whistles. 17% to start.

Some odd lines to start. Tkachuk with Lucic.

UNstructured team playing a structured one. More chaos than good play.

Coleman's goalless streak done. Time to Raise the Bread.

Tied game. 4th line goal against. Sutter isn't happy. Shutout done this early? Stage 1 Complete Begin Stage 2.

Too many Leafs fans in the house? Can't get the TV to watch a REAL team? LOL

Well, still no Guddy or Jarnkrok. Not a good sign, but whatevs. We need to get the D all healthy, so we don't need Stone or Mackey, regardless of whether they have "few mistakes" games. Rest up for the big boys. I too want to see the Oilers go on a losing streak, starting with the AVS. Smitty and his passes. Could have been the same result bonking it off his head. Teams just need to learn that McD doesn't play much into the D-zone. The other team I want to see fail down the stretch in TO. Too much press for a team that can barely keep the puck out of their own net.

The thing about Sutter is that nobody is safe. Just because Mackey didn't do anything wrong doesn't mean he stays in the lineup. Same for Carpenter and Jarnkrok and Ruzie and Ritchie. Sutter said that only Toffoli and Lewis play the right way 99.9% of the time. He still searching for the right combo for the right teams. That is good to know. If Valimaki has a good game, he would likely get another one. Same for Stone and Mackey. Have a bad one and someone else comes in. I know that guys like Tkachuk and Gaudreau do things that will make the coach mad, but they are the most dominant line in the league. DOminant for their 2 way play, if you can believe that. Crazy scoring for vs against. Nobody dominates like that. And I think we have never seen this level from this line before. Maybe for some times but not every game. Even when they are not scoring, they are not losing the battle even strength.

I can't really tell you what's up with him. He said he thought he was playing at his best when he was here last. Maybe he's remembering something wrong. I didn't see anything close to his best. I don't think he was bad, but he just looks like he's thinking it too slowly. When your partner is not Tanev and is Stone instead, you are not really going to shine. Almost like you have to play for two guys. Really they need to pair him with a guy like Tanev or Guddy to get a fair read. All is not lost, but he should have been more dominant on the AHL team. That's how you get better. That's how you get rewarded.

Valimaki may end up back in the AHL once the emergency recall status is up. Sorry, that is obvious, I just mean that he won't be turned into a regular recall.

I would say that Mackey was 3rd best out there. Both Stone and Valimaki looked slow for the NHL. Slow reaction that is. Won't be a regular this season. I would say that if it came down to Stone or Valimaki, Stone 9/10 times.

Jarny got in a full skate today, so likely in tonight. I do also think that Guddy and Zaddy both back, so likely Stone and Val out. At least that is what I understand.

I tuned out news most of the time Trump was in power. Used to be a CNN watcher, but they are really bad. The opposite of Fox who is really really bad. It's unfortunate that media is agenda based. To your point, it's not media, it's Eastern dominated media. Rogers is a joke. The affiliates out west pump up the teams that own right to buildings. Main SN broadcasts are just Ontario media, much like TSN. ESPN is too funny, do they even watch hockey or just read blogs. I would prefer the 5pm starts too. Not like they ever show a Toronto game on SN here an day but Saturday. Broadcast rights and all, We get a Boston game instead. Oh joy. Chowda time. Wicked good. Bact to IGDB. Johnny can beat his season high tonight. And force media to take notice. Show them Canada's real team. Lindy is closing on 40 goals. Gaudreau and Tkachuk also closing. If we could get Bread to rise to the occasion, then we could have 4 x 40 goal scorers on one team. But really, I just want to see us rack up points and put the other teams in the rear view for good. Go on a run.

And 90% of the pre-game talk will be about Matthews and his Hart season, trying to justify to the world why there is no other choice. It doesn't matter. Gaudreau shines on the biggest stage. Force the MSM to actually see him play. If the Leafs lose 6-5 to the Habs, it will still be "Did you see that?" expressed by the MSM.

I don't get it. Monahan was unstoppable when his game was on. What was it? He had the most OT GWG's in franchise history? His shot was money. The team overall was useless in the playoffs, but I don;t think you can just put it on Monahan and Gaudreau. Probably the best chance we had in recent memory was against Dallas. Coach was a complete tool. What was it, the turning point game where we had a lead and somehow we get 2 minutes of Backlund out there? Or we have a game where the coach refuses to call a time out and end up burning two goalies? I get what you are saying. But you have to look to our playoff results overall, not just one or two players.

It's kinda funny looking at Rittich vs Vladar. Last year in the AHL, Vladar went .923 with a 2.19 GAA This year in the NHL, he went .906 and 2.78 GAA Rittich in the AHL went .924 and 2.27 GAA First NHL year he went .904 and 2.92 GAA Rittich born on August 19 in Czech Republic Vladar born on August 20 in Czech Republic 5 years apart.

Well if EDM got 3 wins and the rest losses and we failed to win a single game, we would be tied. Can really say the 2nd formula make sense then. By the 2nd formula, we would need an OTL or SOL to clinch the division. But only if Vegas lost at least 4 games due to the first formula. I suspect that the Who part changes as the lead changes.

You are correct. I was looking at Average TOI Leon 22:37 McD 22:10 That goes up and down a bit. Probably wasn't as close before Leon missed a game.

The funny thing is that the first combo isn't even a combo, except on the PP. It's why they have insane PP points totals. They load up McD with Drai when they are down a goal (or two). But those first 4 players all play in excess of 20 minutes, with McD playing the most of any F in the league. Tack on 3-5 minutes to Gaudreau and his numbers would be insane. There is no doubt that our top line is the best in the NHL. Even if you go McD-Drai, it still just two guys and the occasional passenger. Neither of those guys really are defensive. EVG and EVP are a bit closer, but tack on +/- and you really see the difference. It's not just goaltending. We have had average goaltending at times as well. McD and Drai went on a points binge feasting on average teams or tired teams. Our line eats but doesn't pig out.

Just to be clear, this isn't a dump on Backlund thing. The coach called him out for not scoring, so now he thinks he needs to shoot more. Not a bad thing if he hits the net. Not a good thing if it's over the net, on the diagonal or a muffin. I've seen Backlund make perfect passes, but he seems to be focused on shooting.

The bolded is the real problem. Mange is great in the corner. And he can walk the puck out to get a setup. Average passer can hit him in the slot. Backlund on a two on one with Toffee or Mange = Backlund shot. Fix the middle six, as the problem lies there.

It's probably a ways off (hopefully). If Vladar does well next year, he's a pending RFA with rights. We own his soul, so we can probably re-sign him for relatively decent value. Line it up with Markstrom's contract if possible. If and only if Markstrom starts to decline do you start playing Vladar as a 1B goalie. But then again, you have a different problem. Wolf would probably need waivers by then. I would think Markstrom probably has at least 2 more years of high quality goaltending. The last two years are the only question, but he's not close to Mike Smith old by then. Let's get through Markstrom's first normal year as a starter and go from there. High actual salary for the next two years, but in theory we have a bona fide starter. Concentrate on other parts of the roster. We have depth waiting in the wings, so let them develop and take Vladar's job if necessary. Backups don't always become 1B or starters.

I am also seeing a different player. He's never going to be a Selke player, but boy can he follow where the play is going. Sixth sense. I think he is less frustrated this year, because the other things he's doing are adding up for him. Make a big play, win a game. Look for seams instead of doing it all yourself. No play? Dump it. A lot less East West play, once he winds up. I don't even think it matters which line he plays on, he would make them better. But when a line is the highest +/- in the league and probably (haven't looked it up) the best GF/GA line, do you need to change it? Sure, have that in your pocket, but you should be able to find a way to win without chaging.