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Game 4: Leafs 5, Predators 4 in Overtime. The Leafs came out flat. The Tanev/McCabe defensive pair wasn’t good. After the Preds took a 3-goal lead, the Leafs woke up. Matthews decided to play, and McKenna hitting the scoreboard turned the game around. The game became exciting, and the Leafs finally played with passion and a will to win. I give Jim Hiller credit for changing the lines, motivating the team, and putting the Leafs players on the same page. Putting Willy with Austin paid dividends. The upcoming road trip will be a great indicator of what the season will look like. Let’s hope the momentum of this game translates into points on the road trip.
Game 3: Sens 3 Leafs 2
Another close loss. So far this season, they haven’t scored more than 2 goals per game. At this point they haven’t been able to finish off an opponent. With a long West Coast trip coming, they’d better get their chemistry issue sorted out. This is starting to look a lot like last season. Poor start at home to start the season, go on a road trip, lose most of their games, and can’t catch up. They need to be better up front.
The game itself wasn’t bad. Again, they let an opponent off the mat by not burying them. It’s not a good look.
I did not realize that Nylander got benched after the Islanders scored that shorty in the third period.
New coach not fucking around, I like it.
Knies is an absolute beauty, I hope he goes on to have a helluva career. But can you imagine if the Leafs had traded him to Montreal for future scraps? He goes on to torch us for the rest of his career, and we don’t have Marchenko?!?! Hell, Montreal could have landed KM too.
Battle of Ontario Saturday, can’t wait. We own Ottawa, (posters curse?!?!)
I always liked Knies, and didn’t want to lose him. But you can’t get something without giving up something. Maybe playing for a low-pressure franchise allows him to breathe again. With little pressure, he can become a leader in their dressing room. The Leafs have always been a cliquish place to play. They love you or hate you with little in between.
We should get a couple of wins before running the gauntlet in the West in the coming weeks.
Knies did us a favor tonight. Beating the Sabres is definitely helpful. Rangers Shesterkin had a goalie goal tonight. Tampa loses. All helpful.
Knies already scoring on the PP.
And that’s 2 points for Knies.
Doing us a favor against the Sabres.
Game 2: Leafs 2 Islanders 1
The Leafs top 2 lines looked sluggish. Stolarz was on his game and held them in. Cowan may have been the best forward out there tonight, with a goal and an assist. The Defense looked decent. Rielly and Raddysh looked more comfortable tonight. Austin and Willy were no-shows. They were fortunate to get the win. The Islanders weren’t good, except Sorokin.
Time to rest up and get some practice time in when they get the Senators on Saturday.
One last observation. The Prime panel needs to lose the DEI hire in the middle. Pronger was good; the other 2, not so much.
Game 1: Habs 3 Leafs 2
The game was close and could have went either way. The Leafs did well against a cohesive team that had only 1 new player in the lineup. Kreider. Leafs had 4 returning players on their forward lines from last year. A short preseason showed a lack of cohesion. Raddysh looked rusty and made a couple of boneheaded mistakes that ended up in the net. Tanev and McCabe looked good on the back end. OEL and Stecher played fine also. Bob was good, but not great. The Leafs definitely need to work out their forward lines. The Habs looked like a contender tonight, and the Leafs were chasing the game for the last 30 minutes. Tonight’s scores showed a lack of goal-scoring. Although Boston won by 3, they didn’t score until under 5 minutes left in the 3rd. Florida waited to win 1 – 0 against Carolina in the last 3 seconds of overtime. No blowouts so far tonight.
I know lots of the fanbase aren’t happy with this outcome, myself included; I think they need time to gel. Hopefully they can beat the Islanders tomorrow night. I hate it when they have more home games at the start of the season, then lose a few and are chasing all year to get in the playoffs. It happened last year, and they never got close. Marchenko played well tonight, but McKenna was invisible. It’s hard to win when you have 10 new players in your lineup from last year. Hopefully they play better tomorrow night.
Many of the fans on here wanted a teardown. Some wanted a retool. It looks like something in between. Looking at the trades Chayka has made since he was signed as GM, you have to think that Toronto has overvalued many of the players that they let go. Everybody thought that Woll, Hildeby, and Brandon Carlo would allow the Leafs to acquire a top 6 forward, a first-pairing defenseman, or several first-round draft picks. Enter the Matthew Knies sweepstakes. Picking up Kirill Marchenko was at least an attempt to shake up the top 6. The other trades proved that the Leafs and their fanbase were sold on the idea that their players were worth more in a trade than they received. As usual, they overvalued their talent. Treliving was not quick on his feet and traded away valuable draft capital. Chayka came in and lucked out with the 1st overall pick, but two first-round picks were frittered away from past stupidity in useless trades. This is the Leafs team that you’ll see for the next two years. After that, the Matthews and McDavid circus will arrive in town. Almost all of the contracts of the bottom 6 expire in two years. Add Matthews to that equation. I expect this year is make-or-break. Another poor showing and Matthews will be moved. Then the rebuild will happen. Losing those two first-rounders will make it hard to rebuild. It’s up to this team to decide the path of the Maple Leafs going forward.
Finally, on Matthew Knies. He was a good, young power forward. He had lots of potential. He still might turn out that way. He’s only 23. However, concussions, injuries, and inconsistencies crept into his game. Part of that was the Berube factor. Changing styles 3 times in 4 years made it hard on the team to find their identity. I didn’t want the Leafs to lose Knies, but something tells me that Management knew something about him. He didn’t look right in preseason. Treliving tried to move him at the trade deadline last year. Why would Chayka trade him before seeing him in a regular-season game? Something seems amiss here. Time will tell.
Danford looks like a keeper. He looked good in preseason, playing in both road games. I like his competitiveness and attention to detail with regard to his defensive game.
Watched the two games tonight. Giveaways and takeaways.
In Ottawa, a spunky team of 4th liners and Marlies, with Stolarz in net, played their hearts out. You gotta love Landon Sim. He had two fights and handled himself quite nicely. I can see that guy as a future energy guy, making life miserable for the opposition. Sure, he doesn’t score much, but the energy and skating make him a great player to come up and help bust a slump. Stolarz looked sharp. Noah Chadwick made a bad blunder that cost them a goal. He still needs a lot of seasoning. Ben Danford was a monster out there. Great positionally and good at keeping the puck in on the pinch. Physically, he’s ready. I see this guy trending upwards quickly. He may be in the Leafs lineup after Christmas if there’s an injury. There’s lots to like about this guy. He could be the Leafs’ next Tanev.
In Toronto, that wasn’t even close. Bob was great in net. Matthews looks renewed. MacKewen stood out as a player trying to make the cut. McKenna was dishing the puck and could have gotten 4 assists. That line of Willy, JT, and McKenna looks lethal. Knies looked tentative out there. He looked a bit slow. He definitely needs to knock off the rust. I’m not sure what happened to Nick Paul. Easton Cowan was on the puck all night and stood out with his complete game. I see a big year coming for Cowan. If the Leafs stay healthy, they should get into the playoffs.
The media. Craig Button is a buffoon. He predicts the Leafs will be no higher than 6th in the Atlantic. If the Leafs have major injuries, that could happen. Let’s look at the Atlantic. I expect some slippage from Tampa, as they age and some of their talent leaves for greener pastures. Montreal looks really good, but lacks the physical prowess to win a Cup with their current roster. Buffalo lost some talent, and their goaltending is suspect, but they are very good. Ottawa looks discombobulated without Brady leading the charge. They do have some great young players and a solid defense, but lack leadership. Detroit has talent, but the Larkin dark cloud is causing a rift in the dressing room. Boston really hasn’t improved much and may have regressed. Florida got stronger, but they also got older. Their goaltending isn’t as good without Bob, but getting back some of their core forwards from injuries and picking up Brady makes them contenders again.
Atlantic Prediction:
1. Montreal
2. Florida
3. Tampa
4. Buffalo
5. Toronto
6. Ottawa
7. Boston
8. DetroitThoughts?
