View Full Version : Leafs @ Sens - Thanksgiving Day
The Insider
10-10-05, 11:14 AM
The Leafs are going to have their hands full tonight, Ottawa has found it's offense and defence in a 5-0 blowout of the Sabres and are looking for a better effort then they showed last Wednesday, the Leafs on the other hand coming off another 3rd period come from behind defeat and will have to get a much better effort out of the 3rd defensive pairing which was just terrible against the Habs... to say the least :wave:
Leafs will definitely not have Jeff O'Neill in the lineup as he didn't make the trip, Sundin is still out and Wellwood is still playing with Kilger and Domi :rolleyes: This one will could get ugly quickly, but let's hope the Leafs can keep it close and competitive.
Question I have, does Eddie start tonight and tomorrow night VS the Flyers or does Telly get a start in either?
The Insider
10-10-05, 11:30 AM
Question I have, does Eddie start tonight and tomorrow night VS the Flyers or does Telly get a start in either?
Good question... I would personally put Eddie in tonight and Telly in tommorow simply because the Sens are a division rival so it's really a 4 point game whereas the Flyers are in our conference, but a loss to them wouldn't hurt as badly as a loss to the Sens in the standings.
Leafs_Fa_Life
10-10-05, 2:13 PM
Making certain that his voice was loud enough to be heard, Pat Quinn's Sunday morning sermon echoed throughout every nook and cranny of Lakeshore Lions Arena yesterday.
And by the time it was over, each member of the Maple Leafs should have seen the light contained in the words of their emotional coach.
Thou shall not blow any more late leads.
Thou shall not continue to consistently screw up when it comes to defensive zone coverage.
And thou shall not keep misfiring on the power play.
"Of course, we have to be mindful that we're not completely horse(bleep)," he said.
Whether his players actually took his advice to heart will be put to the test tonight at the Corel Centre against the high-flying Ottawa Senators, who are coming off a 5-0 drubbing of the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.
Quinn is most frustrated at the flushing away of potential victories because of gaffes in the Leafs' own end.
The team easily could have headed to the nation's capital yesterday afternoon with four points instead of just one.
But the Leafs coughed up a 2-1 advantage with just 62 seconds left in regulation in the season opener against the Sens, a game the visitors would win 3-2 in a shootout.
Three days later, a 4-3 lead over the Montreal Canadiens disappeared in the final eight minutes resulting in a 5-4 win for the Habs.
"That's the disappointing part," Quinn said. "For all our goofs, I don't want to play all night to win and then watch it disappear in the end.
"In two games (the opposition) has scored three tap-in goals. That's bad play on our part away from the puck."
At times Leafs defenders appear to be reluctant to use the body on opposing forwards for fear that they might be penalized under the NHL's new anti-obstruction rules.
"I tried to tell them that contact is allowed, you just can't hold the guy," Quinn said. "You also have to keep your stick on the ice.
"If we are backing off it means we don't want the puck, which makes it tough."
Quinn is not yet ready to pull the trigger on the beleaguered defence pairing of Wade Belak and Aki Berg, who were a combined minus-6 against the Canadiens.
"I don't want to jerk guys around," Quinn said. "Right now we're trying to build confidence in the dressing room, which in some cases is waning. I don't want to strip them of any more.
"They know they were bad, so I don't want them wondering if they have lost the (trust) of the coach. They should know they will get another chance."
A 2-for-17 power play is another concerning stat for Quinn, who claims not enough Leafs are moving their feet when the team is enjoying the man advantage.
"It's definitely something we have to work on," forward Eric Lindros said. "Sometimes our entries into the zone are pretty good but the puck movement isn't. At other times we just have problems getting it in there."
Link (http://torontosun.com/Sports/Hockey/2005/10/10/1255952-sun.html)
The Berg-Belak pair will be reunited for another night. At least split them up, Pat :cry:
Leafs_Fa_Life
10-10-05, 2:20 PM
Potential forward lines for tonight:
Ponikarovski - Lindros - Antropov
Tucker - Allison - Czerkawski
Steen - Wellwood - Stajan
Kilger - Wilm - Domi
An article in the Toronto Sun said Quinn was playing the three kids together, and I'm hoping to see Steen-Wellwood-Stajan together tonight. Kilger-Wilm-Domi were also decent together in the playoffs last season, so maybe they can find that magic again, since we'll need everybody at the top of their game to win tonight.
Newfie John
10-10-05, 2:22 PM
The original Kid Line of the Maple Leafs featured Busher Jackson, Charlie Conacher and Joe Primeau, a fearsome trio that caused havoc for opponents throughout the National Hockey League back in the 1930s.
Seven decades later, the modern day version was on display at Lakeshore Lions Arena.
Whether the new Kid Line of Kyle Wellwood, Alex Steen and Matt Stajan is unveiled at the Corel Centre tonight remains a prospect coach Pat Quinn continued to grapple with yesterday.
But the three youngsters certainly enjoyed the opportunity to play together at practice and hope the unit will remain intact when the puck is dropped against the Ottawa Senators.
While all three are natural centres, Steen and Stajan worked out on the wings while Wellwood handled the duties up the middle.
"I played with Matt both in junior hockey and in the minors," Wellwood said.
"To have us three young guys playing together is exciting."
Wellwood, Steen and Stajan were among the few Leafs who "kept their feet moving" during a 5-4 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, according to Quinn. It's a primary reason the veteran coach was toying with the combination yesterday.
It was a big night for all three against the Habs. Stajan scored his first of the season; Steen scored his first career NHL goal; and Wellwood chipped in with his first NHL point, assisting on Tie Domi's 100th career goal.
"The amount of support has been incredible," Wellwood said.
Long after most Leafs had retired to the dressing room yesterday, the Kid Line still was on the ice.
"It's fun," Steen said. "We'll see what happens (tonight) but I think it's great bringing in Kyle to our line."
Hopefully this line is played. I can't wait. Steen and Stajan are both good defensively and each person on that line can put the puck in the net with good offensive flair.
The Insider
10-10-05, 3:36 PM
I hope that line plays together... Steen & Stajan are both pretty good 2 way forwards, while Wellwood is an offensive minded player who can create offense for the other two. If Quinn is dumb and plays Wellwood with Domi and Kilger again, then he is looking for a loss.
Leafgirl
10-10-05, 6:07 PM
Do you think that if Sundin was playing tonight we might win?
Do you think that if Sundin was playing tonight we might win? Nope.
Newfie John
10-10-05, 8:15 PM
The leafs have to start wanting this. It's the first intermission and we're down 1-0. Too many soft plays on the puck. Wellwood made a nice pass to Tucker though, and Tucker hit the post. Welly had a good chance cutting in also. Other then him everyone needs to step it up.
Why was Steen played so little and Domi so much?
Newfie John
10-10-05, 9:11 PM
More soft and what could be called retarded plays from the leafs. Leafs down 4-2. Antropov with just a dumb penalty. On Heatley's rebound goal, Berg was standing there doing nothing as usual. At least he swung his stick, albeit missing the puck completely. Idiot.. how this guy gets ice time is beyond me. For 3 of the 4 goals he's been on the ice. I'll give credit where credit is due though, he did make one nice play against Alfie in the first.
Berg is single handedly putting us in the L column.
Not a great game for Eddie either. A bad game actually.
Painfull to watch and Allison limping off the ice!! We're cursed!
The Insider
10-10-05, 9:13 PM
After two we're down 4-2. McCabe scored, but then on a 5 on 3, chased his stick way out of the play leading to a tap in for Alfredsson. Berg is playing like an minor leaguer again, and Antropov is still taking stupid penalties. Allison looked like he strained a hamstring or something, let's hope he's alright cause a loss to another top line player will pretty much finish us off.
BTW for the money we're shelling out for Belfour, youd think he'd be able to stop something and control a rebound. He can't keep anything squeezed and that has cost us 2 goals.
Better outcome then I thought after the 2nd period. Take the point, lick our wounds and hope the flyers got drunk tonight ;)
The Insider
10-10-05, 10:19 PM
I really hate the shootout, the see-saw game goes back and forth, each team gets these great chances in OT and then it's settled on breakaways. Why don't they just play continous until someone wins? Why do they have to settle with a gimmick? Oh, well after being down by two going into the third getting at least a point is satisfactory. No break for us as tommorow we go back to the ACC for a date with the Flyers, hopefully Jeff O'Neill is back and we go at them at least at nearly full strength. Again great game, exciting, but the damn shootout ruined it, let someone score to win it if you don't want ties.
Madferret
10-10-05, 10:23 PM
Tough one guys, you'll get those Flyers...
The Insider
10-10-05, 10:54 PM
Well, I guess after 3 games we've learned a few things:
1. We cannot hold a 3rd period lead since we've had 3 straight and now have lost 3 straight games.
2. If we're down in the 3rd we can comeback and take the lead, since we've done that twice now.
3. We are just terrible in shootouts since we haven't scored in one
4. We need Captain Mats ;)
Leafs_Fa_Life
10-10-05, 11:30 PM
Why Steen doesn't get a chance in the shootout baffles me.
Why Steen doesn't get a chance in the shootout baffles me. The question is, would Alexander have been able to 'get it up'?
:conspire:
Leafs_Fa_Life
10-10-05, 11:42 PM
The question is, would Alexander have been able to 'get it up'?
:conspire:
Well he would've done better than Allison.
Hasek is one of the best one on one, the Olympics should have proved that. The problem is players need to do exactly what Heatly did, start from his own goal line. Weave in and out and not get too close and look for an opening. You get close its over. If a player can do his deaking from far out on the Dominator you will see the holes to aim for.
THE HACK
10-11-05, 5:41 PM
This was my first full Leaf game I've seen in this new NHL and I liked what I saw,except the outcome!Damn this game was fast and entertaining and I liked the way we clawed back from a 2 goal deficit in the 3rd period and earned a point.I thought Hasek made some excellent saves and it was a good game except for the shootout which sucks!
Cheers
Iced Tea
10-11-05, 6:41 PM
Pat Quinn needs to wear a helmet with a visor because I just saw him on TSN and he looks like hell. The right side of his face is all purple and puffy. Looks like he was on the losing end of a boxing match.
http://yelims5.free.fr/Violence/Violence35.gif
THE HACK
10-11-05, 7:20 PM
Pat Quinn needs to wear a helmet with a visor because I just saw him on TSN and he looks like hell. The right side of his face is all purple and puffy. Looks like he was on the losing end of a boxing match.
http://yelims5.free.fr/Violence/Violence35.gif
He also needs to wear a feedbag over his mouth with all the complaining he's been doing lately! :nod: Good thing for Pat that Halloween is around the corner! :laughing:
Cheers
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