zeke
Well-known member
Ok so the "it's early" stuff is starting to wear a bit thin. The Leafs have played mostly well but the results haven't been good enough yet....and a loss tonight would bring us back down to .500, and would be another loss to the hated bruins, which would put the town into a bit of a frenzy. So this is kind of big for an october game.
Of course we lost Tavares, which really sucks.....except that, remember, Tavares and his line have kinda sucked this year so far anyways, so it might not actually be that much of a loss.
And the Bruins are definitely missing Krejci....and now it seems Bergeron is also a game time decision tonight, which is obviously a huge deal.
Either way, there's a couple things to really watch closely tonight imo:
1. The Matthews line has been absolutely dominant possession wise this year. (which is why breaking them up to put willy at C didn't work for me). Elite, elite stuff - even if the actual production has only been good, not great. With Tavares out, Matthews will finally get the full-on test against arguably the best possession line in hockey - if Bergeron is healthy. It'll be very interesting to see if their new level of play can match up evenly with Boston's top line. I sure as hell hope it does.
2. Mucho Marner gets to show what he can do without relying on the captain in the middle. He'll get MUCH, MUCH easier matchups tonight as a result of Tavares' injury - with Krejci out Boston's 2nd and 3rd and 4th lines all look pretty crappy. And Kerfoot and Mikheyev have both been very good possession wise and production wise so far this year, so Mitch doesn't have much excuse not to shine here. Hope he can come through.
So yeah, kind of a big game. And Bergeron may not actually be in this lineup here....and I really don't know that Boston would do without him....healthy scratch Backes in at C? Lindholm as 2C? I dunno.
Of course we lost Tavares, which really sucks.....except that, remember, Tavares and his line have kinda sucked this year so far anyways, so it might not actually be that much of a loss.
And the Bruins are definitely missing Krejci....and now it seems Bergeron is also a game time decision tonight, which is obviously a huge deal.
Either way, there's a couple things to really watch closely tonight imo:
1. The Matthews line has been absolutely dominant possession wise this year. (which is why breaking them up to put willy at C didn't work for me). Elite, elite stuff - even if the actual production has only been good, not great. With Tavares out, Matthews will finally get the full-on test against arguably the best possession line in hockey - if Bergeron is healthy. It'll be very interesting to see if their new level of play can match up evenly with Boston's top line. I sure as hell hope it does.
2. Mucho Marner gets to show what he can do without relying on the captain in the middle. He'll get MUCH, MUCH easier matchups tonight as a result of Tavares' injury - with Krejci out Boston's 2nd and 3rd and 4th lines all look pretty crappy. And Kerfoot and Mikheyev have both been very good possession wise and production wise so far this year, so Mitch doesn't have much excuse not to shine here. Hope he can come through.
So yeah, kind of a big game. And Bergeron may not actually be in this lineup here....and I really don't know that Boston would do without him....healthy scratch Backes in at C? Lindholm as 2C? I dunno.
