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GDT #6: Leafs at Berlin err, Washington 7PM

BeLeafer

BeLeafer

Well-known member
Ennis finally gets the pressbox and Johnsson returns from his 'your corsi is too good for a fourth liner' punishment.

Mark Masters
‏
Leafs lines at morning skate in DC

Hyman-Tavares-Marner
Marleau-Matthews-Kapanen
Lindholm-Kadri-Brown
Johnsson- ��-Leivo
Ennis

Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Ozhiganov
Marincin-Holl

Andersen starts
Sparks
8:06 AM - 13 Oct 2018 from Washington, DC
Click to expand...

Thankfully, Oz is back in and Marincin out (hopefully forever and ever and ever).

iur


After four games, the Capitals have a rather large -40 shot differential (5v5). They've also been getting stinky goaltending but not quite as putrid as the Leafs.

Hooray for smaller goalie equipment! Should be another night of net filling. Enjoy!
 
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Nice to see Johnsson get back into the lineup so quickly.

I figured that Babcock was just giving him a kick in the pants rather than planning to keep him in the press box for a lengthy stay and this seems to confirm that.

Ennis getting dropped from the lineup and Gauthier (and Leivo) staying also seems to be the right call at the moment. Ennis hasn't done much so far to demonstrate that Minnesota erred when buying him out. He was gifted with a golden opportunity skating alongside Matthews for the pre-season and start of the regular season, and didn't even really look like an NHL player in that opportunity.

I'm really looking forward to this game too. Washington getting rinsed by the Devils in their last game notwithstanding, this should be the best test of the season so far for the Leafs. All five of the teams they've faced so far missed the playoffs last year and I expect will miss the playoffs this year, so it'll be nice to see how they fare against another elite opponent.
 
Washington's lines tonight:

Alex Ovechkin - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Chandler Stephenson
Jakub Vrana - Nicklas Backstrom - T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky - Lars Eller - Brett Connolly
Dmitrij Jaskin - Nic Dowd - Devante Smith-Pelly

Dimitri Orlov - Matt Niskanen
Michal Kempny - John Carlson
Brooks Orpik - Christian Djoos

Holtby starts.
 
Last game of a roadtrip. Usually a letdown game. Let's see how they do. I think Washington wins 5-3.
 
nice to see Ennis and Marincin out when babs finally has to play against a real team. says a lot imo.
 
In theory, the psychological aspect of the game sets up well for Washington. Leafs probably feeling good about themselves (might be complacent) and the Caps got hammered in their last game.

That said, you never know what is gonna happened.
 
I give zero shits about freddies typical october slumps... I have never and will never have any confidence in him.
 
Wild moments in both ends.

Brown ... yeah, let's put this guy on the powerplay. -- thought by no one but Jim Hiller and Mike Babcock.
 
I know it was a two on one where they defender didn't stop the pass, but Freddy didn't even move with the pass. It was like he didn't see it.
 
In fairness, his work rate is excellent, he's apparently a top flight "stick checker" according to an analysis I read last season and his IQ is good on both sides of the puck. But his NHL toolkit is sparse, absolutely. Averageish skater, hands are okay but just okay, not much of a shot to speak of, small and not exactly strong against the board.

IMO, he's a case of the brain being willing and able, but the body not keeping up. He's dragged every bit of ability out of a small, skinny body, kicking and screaming. But I agree, that he's a 3rd liner at best, and with a group of forwards this deep and talented, probably a 4th liner.
 
I love that the shining example of perennial playoff failure has become the model for playoff success now, because they're "mean".
 
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