#filler2

[thetwistedrope]

Hey so idk if you will ever read this but i am really curious and it is quite important for me to reach a conclusion ig?

I am extremely interested in practicing Kemeticism and came across the KO and Dr. Sidua? And the official site claimed she has the kingly ka?

The thing is I am staunchly anti monarchy (especially the modern day version) and well it made me think if my stance on monarchy would well...not sit well with the gods?

I apologise if i come off as ignorant or silly but it is something i wished to know.

regarding Siuda, my understanding is that she did the rituals that you'd undergo to become a king in antiquity, and that's where the "has the kingly ka" comes into play.

as for the gods, ime, it depends on the deity. in my personal experience, there are certain ntrw who are more down with anti-monarchy/hierarchy stuff and there are those who are less down with it. there are certainly a few ntrw i've had friction with because of my stances on it, but it may not be an issue for everyone.

i think it depends on how often and how hard you brow beat them about it :')

there are definitely kemetics out there who seek to remove a lot of that hierarchy, so you wouldn't be alone, if nothing else.

[facelessxchurch]

Don't kid yourself, Darquesse and Vile are the worst villains of phase 2 as well

Lmao, fair point

We don’t know if Darquesse is a villain in phase 2 tho. Currently Val is more on track to become a villain.

‘Psychotic breaks with legs’ is the most accurate description of Vile and Darquesse I’ve ever heard lmao.

Yes, but that would require Landy to have actual writing skills, which he doesn’t.

[warp6]

My mom just texted me...she is fine; she is visiting NYC and was in Lower Manhatten but several blocks away from the terror attack; she was not there or involved, and is 100% fine. We're going to talk on the phone in a few minutes.

This is horrible. Sending love and strength to anyone affected.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[plms-hockey]

Bruins @ Leafs - Game 18 - Nov.10.17

KEY NARRATIVES

Toronto Maple Leafs (10-7-0) vs Boston Bruins (6-5-3)

On Friday night the Leafs face the Bruins at home in the first half of a back to back. Tomorrow they'll face the Bruins again in Boston. It should be an exciting pair of games considering the bitter rivalry between the two teams.

While there's often some bad blood between two Original Six teams, this particular rivalry was reinvigorated only four years ago, in the Leafs only playoff showing in the decade predating the arrival of Auston Matthews. It was a strange year, shortened by a lockout that had teams only playing 48 games that season - and the Leafs were winning games. Deep down everyone knew that the team shouldn't have been good. They had the lowest CF% in the entire league and yet... somehow they managed to secure a spot at ninth overall in the league.

They faced off against the Bruins in round one. Even then the Leafs didn't seem horribly outmatched if you looked at the scoresheets. The teams traded wins and losses until the series reached game seven. By the end of the second period, the score was 2-1 in favor of Toronto.

They followed it up with another two before minute six of the third period, bringing the score to 4-1 Toronto with only fourteen minutes and seventy-one seconds left in the game.

The Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins in overtime, five to four.

For the city, it was the worst kind of heartbreak. It's one thing to be bad, play bad, and know you're bad. It's the hope that really hurts (a lesson we can take into this year as we nitpick even the Leafs' victories).

Long story short, while Boston was clearly the better team that year, going onto the Stanley Cup Final before being taken out by the Blackhawks, the 2013 Leafs-Bruins series added fuel an old rivalry, urging it into the blazing flame that it is today.

Unfortunately, some of the fun will be robbed from this unlikely rivalry driven back-to-back by the news that once again Auston Matthews will sit out of a game. While my heart hopes he comes back in a fiery blaze of vengeance tomorrow in Boston, it seems most likely that missing this game implies missing tomorrow as well. My brain says this isn't the worst thing. Missing the game against the Wild on Wednesday, plus the two against the Bruins will give Matthews a full nine days to recover before they play New Jersey next Thursday at home. The schedule affording the team this much time while missing so few games is a luxury, and one they seem to be taking advantage of to make sure Matthews is ready to go for the long haul.

Brad Marchand, the pesky star winger of the Bruins, has also missed games and was listed today as a game-time decision. However, he was seen in Toronto today carrying all his gear which implies there's a real possibility he's in the lineup tonight.

Other key players on the Bruins include tallest-player-in-the-league / scariest human / aging Captain, Zdeno Chara. Their top line center is Patrice Bergeron, a year over year top Selke candidate (defensive forward award). They also just signed a deal over the summer with thir new young star, David Pastrnak, who is the final piece of one of the single scariest lines in the NHL (Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak). While age and depth are both concerns of this Bruins team, this year they still look like they could be a true cup contender, if the injury bug leaves them alone for the rest of the season.

Key Numbers

37 - Patrice Bergeron - Center 33 - Zdeno Chara - Defenseman - Captain 63 - Brad Marchand - Left Wing 88 - David Pastrnak - Right Wing 73 - Charlie McAvoy - Defenseman

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE POST GAME

Score: W 3-2 OT

Brad Marchand did join the Bruins on the ice in Toronto. Unfortunately for Boston, it was enough to turn the tide on a close game. This victory brings the Leafs to a three-game win streak, two of which have been played without Auston Matthews. I'd call that holding down the fort.

Barring the line illustrated in our Key Numbers section, the Bruins forwards were basically unrecognizable. If you'd quizzed me "Hockey player or not?" on the names on that list I don't think I could have gone 50/50. They do have a couple mid-level injuries, but not to the point that this doesn't expose a more chronic depth issue, one which the Leafs exploited throughout this matchup. Still, the teams ended up with an even split on 5v5 CF%, largely due to the Kadri line getting steamrolled by the Marchand/Bergeron/Pasternak Demogorgon—I mean line.

Unsurprisingly, that was the only productive group of Bruins forwards, each of them collecting one of the three points given on the night (the defensemen did a little better). The first Bruins goal, and the only even-strength tally on the board, came from Marchand to Bergeron 15 minutes into the second period.

Luckily, the score was evened just 15 seconds before the end of the period on a powerplay goal banged in by James van Riemsdyk.

The third period followed a hilariously similar pattern. Pastrnak scores on the power play at 14:30 into the period. The minutes tick down and Babcock pulls Freddie (who finished the night with a sterling .943 sv% himself) to ice an extra attacker. Mitch Marner, a day late to throwback Thursday, saucers a beautiful pass onto JvR's stick for an uncontested tip in.

Sorry Boston. The Leafs have some shit to prove.

Before touching on overtime and the continuation of Return of the Mighty Mouse, I want to look at James van Riemsdyk, who comes away with two goals on the evening. Drafted second overall by the Flyers in 2007, JvR was traded to the Leafs in 2012. While his defensive limitations are... well known, in seasons where he's been healthy, he's a solid almost 30 goal, 50+ point player. Recently, the Bozak like, which was so effective last year, seemed to fall apart. What's fascinating is the ways in which blame was assigned for this failing. Arguably it fell primarily to Bozak (a vet in a funk) and Marner (a star rookie slipping up a step). This was seen in the moving of Marner onto the fourth line, then Bozak as well. Why wasn't JvR spending time in the metaphorical doghouse? There’s an argument to be made that, unlike the other two, it wouldn’t have helped van Riemsdyk.

Ok, friends. Get ready for a metaphor where I call James van Riemsdyk a tool and try to make that sound ok.

When I look at JvR I think of the following saying, “A tool is only as good as the person using it.” It's been shown time and time again that, when used correctly, van Riemsdyk can score some damn goals. But he's most effective at the net, parked in front, using his big body and solid hands to receive passes and tip pucks into the net. It was clear last year that Marner was the driving force behind that Bozak line. His creativity and playmaking ability turned him into a craftsman who could use JvR to his fullest potential. While this metaphor also exists to highlight JvR's limitations (he's never going to drive a line or really hold his own with slumping linemates) it aims to show why I think it made sense to leave JvR higher in the lineup while shifting Marner and Bozak around until they got their groove back.

And lucky us, it seems like they're ready to start making art again.

Anyway, overtime: Mitch Marner stops Pastrnak from shooting on Freddie. Mitch Marner strips Pastrnak of the puck and creates a 3-on-2 rush up the ice. Mitch Marner drops his shoulder to fake a shot and pull both defenders towards the center of the ice. Mitch Marner then passes to Bozak, who slides it to Marleau for the game winner. Now watch it 100 more times to absorb its greatness.

Statistics and overviews courtesy of hockeyviz.com, corsica.hockey, hockeystats.ca, and hockey-reference.com.

[quicklikelight]

I just read your sciles fanfiction and I'm so full with joy that I came here to say: SCILES IS PERFECT

!! Thank you dear! Which story did you read, if you don’t mind my asking? I’m so glad you enjoyed it and that you came to talk to me about it. Sciles will probably always have a special place in my heart.

[acakaos-archived]

The goat smooths his jacket and hands you a cup of what appears to be swirling stardust. His eyes are whispering a tale and he smiles at you. “Would you like a drink?” he asks. There is no pressure to his tone, only assurance. “Stare into it. There is a power, no?”

Next the fox in the pinstripe suit offers a dark stone which sucks in the life and light and refracts it into dazzling colors. He chuckles and says, “For you, love. See how vivid the toxins are? I find them delicious to break into your maw and fill your eyes.” Within his quaternary set of arms are more such stones and he moans in soft tones when he presses them to his eyes.

You accept both gifts and allow their lust to fill your core. They have many stories to tell of the dead stars, more stories than you could ever hear before your physical form crumbles into dust and leaves you alone in this lonely realm. At this future they giggle madly and reach out to stroke your form. The sentience of their energy is startling in its intelligence and otherness and hunger.

“Who is the progenitor of these gifts?”

“Our Mother, of course,” replies the fox. His easy chuckles fill you with ease not unlike a hare in a glass box. “It is she who provides you with a future under her night. She who devours the stars, devours the light and thoughts and being of your fellows, and disturbs the charts of your ancients. You love the blessed dark of her corruption. You want to fuck it.”

The goat gives a weary smile. “Forgive his adoration for mother. Ammutseba, child. She offers you a destination if you surrender unto her spitting, devouring gaze.”

Your thoughts turn to the stars blinking out like a plague upon the fireflies of your world, little hopeful insects that guide your children home and crawl into the mouths of the diseased in acts of kindness, and you see them flickering and dimming and falling down to the earth as the stars vanish beneath your charted skies. There is no mourning.

You ask with hope: “Will she hold me?”

The fox grasps you by the shoulders and his eyes spin wildly in delight. “I assure you love, she will take you into her spreading infection and embrace you as she would of any. You will no longer be bothered by the lights. Surrender unto her and you will be alone no more.”

“Then please.”

“Drink,” the goat commands. His forms flickers and splits into refractions of colors you cannot comprehend, lightless colors made of absence, and she tips the cup of stardust to your lips with a single layer of her being. She is hypnotizing. “These are are the memories of your beloved dead. Consume them. Devour them as would our mother, and absorb their being and essence within yourself until you are here and they are not.” There is a shroud in her eyes and it tickles your flesh.

You drink of your dead and take the stone within your eyes. You cannot see, there is nothing. And yet you see the goat and the pinstripe fox around you and they dance as would a drowning man. The fox takes you within his jaws and presses his eyes against you as the goat blinds you in her empty, ever changing colors. 

“Mother is watching,” one of them whispers. You feel alone no longer.

[wherenightmaresroost]

finally got to read translated burn the witch and

.............fuck the panty jokes fuck that mc i regret assuming that was kazui laskdfjad aeigsfh,fph;ty

kubo pls WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

like, it gave me severe harry potter vibes (hidden world accessed by a telephone booth?) and the new concept of dragons is interesting but

fucking

dfhhhhhhhhh

[plmstest2-blog]

Leafs @ Ducks - Game 13 - 11.01.17

KEY NARRATIVES

Toronto Maple Leafs (7-5-0) vs Anaheim Ducks (6-4-1)

Tonight the Leafs face off against the Ducks in the second of four road games that includes the infamous California Roadtrip. The Ducks made it to the conference final last year, knocking out McDavid's Oilers before losing out to the Nashville Predators. Year over year they've been dangerous, including a Stanley Cup win in 2007 -- though honestly, it feels less like a perennial great and more like a recurring video game boss you have to beat. Maybe it came with the loss of the "Mighty" in their title, but they've felt distinctly less Underdog Hero and more Disney Bully in the past decade or so. They play a heavy, physical game that's sure to keep the Leafs on their toes between the skill of the Sharks and the maddening system of the Kings.

Yet, if there's any time for the Leafs to beat the Ducks, it's now. Every year a few teams will attract an injury bug which critically riddles their lineup. In the Ducks' case, they're currently missing their top two centers in Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler, as well as first pairing defenseman Cam Fowler. Last week I used a wounded buffalo to describe my misconception about the Sharks -- it's a lot more appropriate here.

More good news for the Leafs: we have changes to the line-up. I didn't get everything I wanted for Christmas, but it's honestly much closer to the optimal lineup than I expected. The lines are as follows for the forwards (notable/changes in caps):

Hyman - Matthews - Nylander Komarov - Kadri - LEIVO JvR - MARLEAU - BROWN Martin - BOZAK - MARNER

And for the blueline:

Reilly - Hainsey Gardiner - CARRICK Borgman - ZAITSEV

Hoo-boy, that's a lot of change. Let's break this down:

Starting with Marleau, as his position has ripple effects through the rest of the lineup. Tonight Patty will begin the night at center. Though he has played a lot of center over his years with the Sharks, the Leafs have been very clear that they acquired him to play on the wing. There have been some analyses that show Marleau's shooting percentage drops when he plays center, but having moved him to the middle twice to cover for an underperforming Bozak, it makes sense the Leafs are finally willing to deviate from their original plan. I personally love this move. I don't think the Leafs need to score that many more goals than they did last year, so if the price for having depth at center and scoring potential through the fourth line is losing out on a few Marleau finishes, I think that's worth it.

On his wings will be James van Riemsdyk and Connor Brown. JvR hasn't often played away from Bozak, and with the stuttering happening through the entire JvR-Bozak-Marner line, I think it's a good idea to give JvR some time away from Bozak to reset, just like they did with Marner.

Slotting Marleau in at third line center means pushing Bozak to the fourth line. It's a funny thing seeing him there, as there was once a time when Bozak was the Leafs' first line center, and often maligned for that fact. He's an interesting character to look at, in the history of the Leafs, currently the player who has spent the most time with the team of anyone on the current roster. He was signed in 2009 to a very different Leafs team. Imagine Bozak in Auston Matthews’ role, except instead of a heralded first overall pick, Auston was an undrafted free agent coming out of college at twenty-three. When you look at Bozak in his actual context, he's been nothing but a success story for the Leafs, even if he couldn’t single handedly save the franchise.

He seems to have lost his way a little bit this year, and I really don't believe that putting him on the fourth line (Marner, too) is a punishment. When he starts tonight, Tyler Bozak will probably the best fourth line center in the league. That's not a bad place to be in for a player who's having confidence issues.

So, if they were just "punishing" Bozak, I would have expected to see Brown next to him, who's defensive responsibility would be expected to mitigate a weak Bozak.

Instead, Marner and Martin bracket Bozak for the night. While I would have liked to see a full skill lineup by replacing Martin with Kasperi Kapanen, things could be much worse.

And on Martin: Marner's "fourth line demotion" has often been simply looked at in the context of his game and development. Yet, notably, only when Marner is on the ice with Martin has the fourth liner been a positive possession player. He should only be set up for even more success with Bozak and the Mouse on his line, especially against a depleted Ducks' lesser lines.

Then we have Leivo up with Kadri and Komarov. We talked about Leivo enough recently that I'll simply say I'm happy he's not just in the lineup but being given a spot in the top nine where he has a real opportunity to prove he deserves a permanent spot on this team.

Onto the defense! Roman Polak is out and Connor Carrick is back in. Huzzah! He's not on the third pairing either, but up next to Gardiner who he spent a lot of time with last year and saw success.

Morgan Reilly and Ron Hainsey are together as well. While many were hesitant about trading Hunwick for Hainsey over the summer, assuming it was a "same but older" trade, the 36-year-old vet has been extremely solid next to Reilly since the start of the season, his steadiness allowing Mo to be creative and jump up on the rush again.

Zaitsev is down on the third pairing next to Borgman, which isn't so much a demotion as management of his time on ice (TOI). Zaitsev is used heavily on the Leafs penalty kill and has had the second highest average TOI of Leafs defensemen this season, which is a lot considering he's only a sophomore with the team. With Polak out, his heavy PK usage isn't likely to change and so slotting him in on the third pairing with less even strength ice time reduces the risk of overuse and burnout.

Lastly, it'll be a big night for Frederik Andersen, who was traded to the Leafs before the 2016-2017 season. This is actually the first time since then that Freddie has played at the Honda Center.

Some Key Numbers

????? all their good players are gone. Ok, shout out to Rickard Rakell (67) who is a good center and is doing good things for my fantasy team.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE POST GAME

Score: W 3-2

The Leafs came out of the gate hot on this one, barring a penalty to Zaitsev in the beginning of the game (this would be a theme of the night), they seemed to dominate the first period. They scored the first goal, a beautiful redirect from Brown (28) from a JvR pass (25), and then in true leafs fashion, they then let in a goal seconds later and go into the second tied 1-1.

While shot numbers evened out after the first period, and possession was skewed to even by the number of power plays the Ducks received (four to the Leafs' two), adjusted to five-on-five, the leafs out-possessed the Ducks with a CF% of 56.47. Even more staggering was how much more dangerous the Leafs’ shots were on top of the quantity. By the end of the game, they had an Expected Goals For % of 72.12. As touched on before, Expected Goals takes into account the historic likelihood of the type/location of a shot to go in the net. Eg. say a tip-in from the right side of the net goes in 20% of the time. That's worth .2 Expected Goals. So at the end of the game, at five-on-five, the Leafs were expected to score 2.25 goals and the Ducks only .87.

While this is a fantastic metric on which to judge "how good" this Leafs' team was against the Ducks, the numbers were much closer when you include the PP/PK time (Leafs - 2.73 xGF, Ducks - 2.3 xGF), so it's lucky the Leafs penalty kill has been looking good this year (currently 8th in the league) and successfully killed off all four of the Ducks' powerplays.

The Leafs picked it up again in the third period, with Marleau scoring what would be the game-winning goal - the 100th of Patty's career. This line was on fire and ended the night with fantastic possession numbers, and it looks like we might not have to worry about Marleau being able to score at center. With how well this experiment went, I sincerely hope they continue this trial. With the Leafs so deep on the wing it would be easy to fill Patty's old spot (with Kapanen/Leivo) and it would give the Leafs perhaps the best center depth in the entire league.

The only line with better possession numbers was actually Bozak's fourth line, which looked absolutely fantastic. Marner looked wild and unpredictable but more in a good way than a bad way. See below:

Gif Source

Martin had a fantastic CF% of 76.26, even if he didn't look particularly dangerous, and Bozak probably had his best game of the year. He looked great and I honestly hope they give this line at least one more go before shifting things around again, just to build confidence.

Rielly and Hainsey also looked good, with the latter tallying two assists. This surfaced some interesting statistics. With these two assists, Hainsey has eight points this year, which is the most of any defensemen league-wide at the moment. (I mean, really? Ron Hainsey?? You go, dude.)

Interestingly, it actually wasn't a great night for the Matthews line, who were severely out-possessed and didn't get on the board once. Considering their track record, this doesn't really set off any red flags, but at this point is just evidence of an off night.

The Kadri line got run over a bit as well, and Leivo looked alright but the numbers didn’t match. They were also on the ice for the only goal against. While I still like this line, due to Leivo's fragile grasp on a job on this Leafs team, it doesn't bode well for him.

In the end, Komarov nets an empty netter to close the door on the Ducks and Freddie gets his first win in his old barn.

It'll be exciting to see how the success of this lineup effects decisions against the Kings on Thursday night.

Statistics from Naturalstattrick.com, Corsica.hockey, and Hockey-reference.com. Signing information from CapFriendly.com.

[thetwistedrope]

Thanku for answering my previous ask, i deeply appreciate it.

Just a follow up, which gods do you think are more willing to look over my anti monarchy stance?

P.S. I have felt extremely called by Ma'at and Set so i would like to know, from your experience if they are willing to accept this side of me.

Once again thanku for ur time!

upg time, but anyone outside of Re and HSA is probably fine. they are the two ntrw i've had the most conflict with regarding this topic.

set, imo, is the deity par excellence to be around if you're anti-monarchy. i'd also say that ma'at is a good choice because, frankly, monarchy tends to go against the core principles of ma'at (imo).

[reimeichan]

Hi. Cyan here. Guess who got triggered, freaked out, and split from Pink. And now Pink refuses to talk to me because she's so mad at me.

I hate being like this.

[mutares]

magda tag drop! ------ part three.

[plms-hockey]

Leafs @ Blues - Game 15 - Nov.04.17

KEY NARRATIVES

Toronto Maple Leafs (8-6-0) vs St. Louis Blues (10-3-1)

The Leafs have faced a couple of the league's repeat "should-be-good" teams. The Blues are annual disappointments as well, except on a significantly higher tier. They often quietly finish near the top of the standings in the regular season, but rarely make waves in the playoffs. They've only even made the Conference Final once in the past six season, in spite of making it into the post-season each year. Currently, they're only trailing the Kings in the standings in the West, and not by much.

The Blues are another team that's topping the list in PDO right now, but what's interesting is where they're getting the boost, not from a hot goalie or a bunch of puck luck, but instead, both shooting percentage and save percentage are just slightly above average. It's a sign that they're not bound to regress significantly in either category and therefore that much scarier of a team.

They've got a number of dominant players, but their flashiest piece is Vladimir Tarasenko, a Russian sniper who's often in talks for the Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship award). He's a great example of one of my favorite things about hockey, which is its global nature. Even players who stay with a team their whole career often play with their International Teams at least once a year. Teammates become temporary foes, foes become allies, and therefore there are many unique relationships based on country, juniors history, etc, throughout the league. Tarasenko will often be found at center ice during warmups, chatting to fellow Russians on the other team.

Gif Source

Also, he has a really cute baby.

Gif Source

I digress. The important thing is that he's as dangerous as he is likable.

Jaden Schwartz has also come out of the gate hot, with 17 points in his first fourteen games.

There are few unsurprising but pleasant lineup shifts tonight in the ongoing optimization project that Babcock has been conducting. Tonight’s lineup basically a mix of the forward and defender groups from the last two games, with Kapanen staying in, and Carrick coming back in for Polak.

Kapanen is staying in with Kadri and Komarov. This is great to see. It shows that even with the loss against the Kings, Kapanen's hard work (and good numbers) paid off.

The defensive lines will once again have Carrick paired with Gardiner and push Zaitsev to the third pairing, and preserve the top pairing of Rielly and Hainsey.

While things definitely need to shift and the Leafs need to figure a few things out, there are some interesting numbers at play here. The Matthews line has clearly been carrying this team but, as pointed out by @ziggy_14 on Twitter, the team has had an average Save Percentage of only 86.6 (league average is usually around ~91%) when the Matthews line isn't on the ice at 5v5. In contrast, from @DylanFremlin, Auston Matthews has a sv% behind him of .973 and a staggering PDO of 111.

With these numbers, you can expect things to balance out into at least a more realistic spread as the season goes on, with the rest of the lines seeing less bad luck/better goaltending and Matthews hot play leveling into a (likely still high) but more sustainable level.

Key Numbers

91 - Vladimir Tarasenko - Right Wing 27 - Alex Pietrangelo - Defenseman - Captain 17 - Jaden Schwartz - Left Wing 55 - Colton Parakyo - Defenseman

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE POST GAME

Score: L 4-6

Ouch. This was a rough one. To be frank, no one group had a particularly good night. Most of the forwards were sloppy, the defense made some serious mistakes, and even Freddie should have had one or two of those goals but was out of position. While the score obscures how poorly the Leafs played, what's funny is that the score should have been only four for St. Louis. In the third period, there was a holding penalty that went uncalled when the Blues were on the powerplay, and if not that one, it at least should have only been five for, due to a blatant slash to Andersen's head right before the sixth goal went in.

I mean, accidental or not, that was a lumberjack level swing to Freddie's mask that sends him crashing to the ground. I can't believe they didn’t even pull him for concussion spotting let alone not call a penalty. What was even stranger, Mike Babcock didn't call for a review of the goal. There's some confusion around this, whether or not he'd already used a timeout and couldn't call for a review (there wasn't one on the scoresheet after the game though), or the video coaches missed it, or if he was sending a message to the team. No matter what of the potential scenarios actually played out, there never should have been a sixth goal in this game.

While we're making concessions, I'll give the Leafs one more excuse: It is the fourth road game in six days. A good team should be able to hold it together in conditions like that, but it's not like they fell down in optimum playing conditions.

Now back to the bad: the Rielly and Hainsey pairing got absolutely rolled, with CF% of 33.33 and 28.57. Hainsey finished the night with a goal differential of minus three.

Nylander also got himself put in the doghouse for the first time this season and was moved off of the Matthews line mid-game. After blowing his coverage a couple times, he was bounced around a few other lines while Brown took his spot on the top line -- putting the defensively responsible Connor Brown, who was also a successful rookie last year but was overshadowed by the potentially elite talent of Matthews, Marner, and Nylander, in other young players' spots seems to be Babcock's go to move to send a message about responsibility and hard work. I don't know how I'd feel about that if I were Brownie, but at least it's easier for the audience to interpret.

There were a couple good flashes in this game though. Connor Carrick had a CF% of 61.54 and somehow had a plus-four night, which means that he was on the ice for every single Leafs goal and none of the goals against. Some of that had to be luck considering Gardiner, who he began the night paired with, had a minus-one. Still, it bodes well for my hopes that Carrick keeps his a spot in the lineup over Polak.

Speaking of weird numbers, Matt Martin had a three-point night. Yep, fourth line enforcer Matt Martin racked up three assists. With six points on the season, Martin has currently scored two-thirds of his entire point total from last season.

The rest of that line performed solidly. Bozak scored two goals, and together the line had six points on the night.

Considering the weird mix of positives and negatives from this game, it will be really interesting to see what the lines look like come Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights. At the very least I hope they give these lines another shot, because I think they were at least headed in the right direction.

In my wildest dreams? I like the idea of Matthews and Nylander spending some time apart. I like the idea of him on Kadri or Marleau's wing - or hell, give him a chance at center which is where we'd expect him to be in the future state of this team.

For me, the other half of this move would involve putting Marner up next to Matthews, which I think could benefit him greatly. He's had some time to be the driving force and build confidence on the fourth line, but I think Marner is still trying to do too much. He's been the driving force on his lines (extra difficult from the wing) since he's established himself on this team, and there's a possibility that playing on a line with a clear driver and superstar, at least for a stretch, would allow him to settle into his own game again.

Statistics courtesy of Corsica.Hockey and Hockey-reference.com.

[vespaeratheemmetest-blog]

T E S T

[samiskinda-cool]

.

[amplexadversary]

.

[acakaos-archived]

It’s the middle of the night and neither of us have yet found sleep, the Emperor Rat and I. Beyond the veil the room flickers with a harsh glow from the rat yet my jackals sleep peacefully in curled piles around me, and simultaneously the physical portion of the room is only darkness and the steady beat of the fan.

“Would you like to join me under the covers?” I ask to the rat, the rat who is alone and cold in their own mind. And as they look at me their form glitches furiously in their thoughts and we stare and stare for an eternity before the rat replies:

“Yes.”

I lift the energetic portion of the blanket and they press into my arms against the lonely eyes of their dreams. There is a sense of vulnerability at their touch but they do not take when their claws dig into me, they only allow my energy to flow around them without breaching the inner privacy of my system.

They do not sleep, but neither do I and we are together beneath the white noise of the fan.