Game 73: LEAFS@Sabres 30-3-24

[TMan]

PP does miss Marner for sure and Rielly too. Every team goes thru special teams slumps. Marner sees plays not many others can. I slagged Willy in my last post about giving the puck away at bad times last night but then I remembered what someone said on Overdrive the other day. Great players will make bad passes trying to make great plays. That’s what makes them great players when risky passes work more often than they don’t. The PK was good again last night. Good sign. The PP will come around. Looking forward to Mondays game.

[stugats1]

This poor PP started with Marner in there. I love Matthews and will go down as our greatest "regular season" player ever, but thought he was a little too excited for a personal goal. It seemed like the last 2 games they tried as a team way too hard to get him 60. Can't play like that. I mean it's an incredible Stat but doesn't help win rt now in playoffs. Get excited over wins n team goals.. I know I'm knit picking but it bothered me.

Yeah like T I lived Giordanos heart and fight. Still a valuable guy

[TMan]

I nit pick too. As fans we always want more. Matthews cellie might have been over the top but the media wouldn’t shut up about #60 and as much as players say they don’t listen it is impossible not too. It was also a big insurance goal on a night the team wasn’t at their best aside from Sammy. The PK looked good last night. I’m confident the PP will follow. Better start Monday😁

[pointshot]

Mar 31, 2024 7:17:01 GMT -5 TMan said:

Every team goes thru special teams slumps.

Yep, a fact of life in the NHL. Coaches differ on their philosophies of how to deal with PP slumps. Some feel that the best way to break out is to shake things up by making player changes to the first unit or starting the PP with the second unit. Others just recognize that occasional slumps are natural, so don’t overreact. They’ve worked out which players comprise their optimal PP unit so just ride it out and sooner or later they’ll end it. Let them work through it—don’t risk being fooled into proceeding with a reshuffled PP unit that just happened to break the slump (which the original unit eventually would have done anyway) but ultimately isn’t the optimal unit and though producing, won’t do so at the level that the original unit would.



I prefer the latter philosophy for a team like the Leafs whose first PP unit contains 4 special, hall of fame bound forwards (one, JT, who is already guaranteed a place there and three others who just require more similar seasons under their belt) whose offensive skills are well above any of their other teammates, and (when not slumping) has already demonstrated that it’s one of the best in the league. Along with the 4 HOF-bound forwards I also prefer Rielly (who is clearly their best offensive D-man)—the unit has been at its best with him on it. Certainly, it’s frustrating when the PP is slumping. However, as the old saying goes, you have to accept the bad with the good—and when this PP unit is good it’s incredibly lethal! Hopefully, when (if?) Marner and Rielly return this will help the PP to regain its mojo.



For teams that aren’t blessed with the HOF-bound bounty of the Leafs I can understand experimenting with the personnel on their first PP unit when it’s slumping.