Blinksportsnews247The Leafs’ most recent match was a 5-4 regulation victory over the Dallas Stars at home on February 7. With a record of 26-15-8, the Leafs have 0.612 points percent.
The Ottawa Senators’ most recent road game was against the Detroit Red Wings on January 31. The Senators won 3-2 in overtime, and they now have a 20-25-2 league record with a 0.447 points percentage.
The Ottawa Senators
This season, a lot of teams have sacked their head coach; in fact, the Kings, who were the last to make this decision, recently brought in D.J. Smith to replace Jim Hiller. I don’t recall who is the Sens’ coach. Yes, it makes sense. Right, riiiiiight. Jacques Martin. He coached the Sens for the longest time. the 1990s.
I’m beginning to believe that this team’s new owners may be a little bit mired in the past.
Data slicing is wrong and should be avoided. However, I’m going forward. The Sens are 14th in Corsi with 51.4 and 13th in Expected Goals % since Martin was appointed. Their Save % is the lowest while their Shooting % is eleventh.
They were ranked 27th in Expected Goals, 22nd in Corsi, fourth in Shooting%, and 25th in Save% before the hire. They were among the clubs with the lowest offensive production.
They presently rank among the teams with the most offensive production. Jacques Martin: the man of offense. You’ll then tell me that Patrick Roy has improved the Islanders’ defense.
Nobody in this room, I believe, ever considered D.J. Smith a suitable candidate for head coach. However, it is a remarkable turnaround for a club whose poor goaltending has nearly completely hidden them.
Under Martin, their power play is really subpar, they are significantly underperforming on expectations, and their penalty kill save percentage is appalling given some pretty reasonable Expected Goals allowed.
Ilya Samsonov has fought his way past Joonas Korpisalo to score -11.4 Goals Saved Above Expected, while Korpisalo leads with -12.9. Currently holding the title of NHL’s worst goalie (Moneypuck edition; Evolving Hockey provides all other numbers), is none other than Vitek Vanacek.
I’m not sure what the Senators’ supporters think of Martin, but by now he would have been fired if he had been hired in October and had these kind of goaltending and power play outcomes.
Lines
Translated from a really stupid tweet from a TSN radio station in Ottawa that used jersey numbers like it’s 2015 or something. Zack MacEwen might be in for Parker Kelly if they want some big hits or something useful like that.
Brady Tkachuk – Josh Norris – Drake Batherson
Mathieu Joseph – Tim Stützle – Claude Giroux
Ridly Greig – Shane Pinto – Vladimir Tarasenko
Dominik Kubalik – Mark Kastelic – Parker Kelly
Thomas Chabot – Artem Zub
Jakob Chychrun – Jacob Bernard-Docker
Erik Brannstrom – Travis Hamonic
Joonas Korpisalo – confirmed starter
Anton Forsberg
The Leafs
Fans of Star Trek, you know how much fun the mirror universe episodes are? The beard of Spock, the malevolent Kirk, and the campy yet sinister Intendant Kira. The agonizer booth is an intriguing example of a 1960s technology-related phobia and a precursor to the digital age’s abstraction of violence.
It’s not enjoyable in the Leafs parallel world. The Leafs are so awful in that reality that it is unwatchable. They never seem to have the puck; instead, they futilely chop at the sticks of the other team in an attempt to acquire it. They linger in the area of defense. It’s possible that Samsonov was sporting a beard during those earlier games.
The main issue with Mirror-Leafs is that we are the ones in the agonizing booth.
This season, it feels like there is very little separation between the realities. A nice example of a recent expedition where I spent the whole first period in the booth is the game that is played in parts in both realms.
Tonight, which universe are we going to be in? Nobody is able to guess.
Joe Woll was placed on injured reserve (LTIR) by the Leafs in order to make way for Max Lajoie to be recalled. This decision suggests that there is a degree of illness and injury on the defense and prevents any forwards from joining the club to relieve Ryan Reaves. Conor Timmins and Mark Giordano did not show up for the morning skate.
Lines
Lines from David Alter today:
Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
Tyler Bertuzzi – John Tavares – William Nylander
Nicholas Robertson – Max Domi – Noah Gregor
Bobby McMann – Pontus Holmberg – Ryan Reaves
Morgan Rielly – T.J. Brodie
Simon Benoit – Jake McCabe
William Lagesson – Timothy Liljegren
Ilya Samsonov – assumed starter
Martin Jones
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