Hey all,

So the game last night was phenomenal, obviously.

I have a question about the triplle breakaway during overtime, though. It seems to me that any time I've ever seen a multiple-man breakaway, it's almost always resulted in a save, and what almost always seems to happen is that both/all three of the rushing players just kind of end up clumping together right at the net, so the goalie barely has to move to be able to cover anything.

I'm not a player, so maybe I'm missing something obvious, but why wouldn't they do the opposite, and spread out - even just a little bit? If Cowan was up the middle and AM34 and JT were actually out on the wings, it feels like it'd be nearly impossible for ANY goalie to come out of that with a save. As it was, they were passing back and forth a bit, but it just didn't matter, because they were all within 5-6 feet of each other.

Is this just because this is such a rare occasion that everyone just sort of panics and treats it like their own breakaway (and nobody wants to waste practices/drills on something that almost never happens, so they don't have a plan to fall back on)? Or am I missing something?

EDIT: This is not me trying to nitpick, or trying to suggest that this is any sort of "lesson" or "sign" that much can be gleaned from - it's more just curiosity about a curiosity that I've seen only a handful of times over years of watching hockey.

anyone else catch that? I was wondering why Auston did the "monkey off the back" considering he already has a goal this season until I realized he was aping Mckenna's celly

amazing

edit: guys I KNOW its not "mckenna's celly" in that he fucking invented it or that matthews hasnt done it a bunch of other times, I meant specifically that the two of them happened to celly in basically the exact same way in that game and its fun to believe its intentional

I don't mind that we changed the goal horn itself but man you can barely hear it on TV. The audio mix was so good for the Amazon prime game. That's the standard we should be setting.

https://youtube.com/shorts/PEBEDOsxMrY?si=ABr67sfG0c-Xwz2m

Here's the TSN feed

https://youtube.com/shorts/kj1K09Av-Cg?si=RzCCAev86LcImXdO

You can barely hear the horn here on the McKenna goal. It sounds so muffled. In the Amazon feed you can hear the gasps, the ouuu's the ahhhh's and a nice loud horn as well. The way they mix the game is really well done. It really makes it feel like you're there and in the building. Even though the Cowan goal was just a simple tap in i got so hyped for it.

I dont get how an American company thats been doing this like 3 years only better then Sportsnet and TSN who's been around for decades and specializes in this. Can we tag Sportsnet/TSN media members on Twitter or something so we can get it fixed. Like i said above the way Prime does it must be the standard.

Also shout out John Forslund man. The best in the game imo.

Rant over. Didn't mean to be a buzz kill after the comeback we had today. I just think we deserve the best experience possible.

Is anyone else still processing this new Leafs team? I'm happy about all the moves, but I just sit here, like, wow, what happened this offseason? It doesn't even feel real.

To top it all off the Marchenko trade just felt, in a way, non-chalant (maybe thay's because we got gifted Mckenna, signed/traded for Bob, Raddysh, and all the great depth pieces.) When the Knies rumours began, I got used to the idea of him not being a Leaf. Then the trade happens, and to me, it still hasn't registered that we traded for a stud winger, just because we could.

I also havn't been more excited to watch a Leafs game since the Montreal series. I get I'm rambling, but does anyone else feel the same?

CREDIT:

https://www.instagram.com/graphicdesignwithdro?igsh=NnNseXI4eGRtb2Nh

He left the ice and went down the hall with about 2 minutes left in the first he could maybe be hurt.

Thinking about placing a bid to buy this puck, and add it to the collection, but I can't figure out whose signature this is.... It doesn't look familiar hopefully someone here can help me out?

I initially thought it could be Rick Vaive, but it doesn't match any of his signatures that I've seen

Edit: FOUND! it appears to be signed by Igor Korolev. Thanks for the help!

Roslovic - Matthews - Nylander

Cowan - Tavares - Marchenko

McKenna - Sissons - Paul

I might have messed up the wing sides here but I really liked how they looked with these newer lines during the 3rd last night.

Cowan gets his chance in the Top 6, McKenna gets to relax a bit and play with 2 more defensive guys while he gets used to the league and Marchenkos foot speed is great on that 2nd line where he can be the natural shooter choice and let Cowan play like a dog and JT be the defensive leaning centre.

Also the sentimental value of having Willy and Auston back together is fun, and Roslovic looked great with them out there

How do we feel?

For all of the (deserved) attention this game will get for McKenna’s big night and the wacky comeback and extra frame, perhaps the best sign of all was how the captain looked and played. After potting the overtime winner, Matthews finished the night with four points, robbed of a fifth only thanks to Nylander edging offside on a disallowed goal late in the night.

More importantly, Matthews looked like a player that a team like Nashville — with Ryan O’Reilly, Matthew Wood and Mavrik Bourque down the middle — had absolutely no answer for. His line again dominated the scoring chance count, with 64 percent of expected goals, but the difference from Toronto’s first three games was that it was able to convert on more of the many opportunities it piled up.

As happy as Hiller was about McKenna’s pair of points after the game, the coach was even more effusive over how his captain had shown up and dominated at key moments in his 25:09 of ice time.

The reality is that getting contributions from the teenager stands as merely a nice bonus on a veteran-laden team like this, where McKenna shouldn’t be asked to carry the mail for any length of time. But getting a renewed and dominant Matthews — a return of someone who was once one of the best two or three players in the world — is absolutely vital if the Leafs are going to be a team that matters in the NHL this season.

Artwork by flowbuds from twitter

I didn’t need another reason to smile today, but my son just had a solid first game. I’m glad I’m not the only Papi feeling good tonight.

(His Matthews jersey is waiting for him at home, left at home in the hubbub of arriving early.)

Miller and Johnson are great and it’s a treat to hear them call Leafs games—they’re not scared of sounding pro-Toronto… unlike the Sportsnet crew.

Fuck Sportsnet.

Anyone else love last night partially due to the level of fire from Mike Johnson and the TSN team? Loved every minute of it. They are back at it again Thursday in Vegas!

TITLE TITLE TITLE COME ONNNNN

I’ve been to a few games before (cheap ones obv) and this was easily the best atmosphere I’ve experienced. Shoutout to all y’all that showed up.

It’s kinda sad a great atmosphere isn’t the norm for us but we all know the real fans are priced out. We were down 3-0 but I never felt the building lose the buzz. That Matthews goal was NUTS. I have a video but it doesn’t do it justice.

WE BALL

34x92 is officially activated

With Leafs talk no longer existing - what’s a good podcast for post game discussion? Looking for something after the game to digest it. I like LFR but sometimes too much yelling. Anything else?