Series Talk: [A1] Toronto Maple Leafs vs [WC1] Ottawa Senators | Part II (TOR lead 3-0)

[The Gr8 Dane]

sweep

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Toronto loves to copy Ottawa

Yeah so much that the entire Ottawa barn is gonna be draped in blueeeeeeee

 

[Cheapseats]

Tell us how you really feel. So youre saying the sens suck and thats why the Leafs are winning?

No im saying you know little about hockey outside the 416.

 

[conFABulator]

Where we are in this series right now should not be a surprise from the Leafs' (fan) perspective.

Our team played with poise and patience. We generally score first, don't take a lot of penalties, stick to a structure, and then somehow get the W more often than not even if the advanced stats don't support the outcome. We were outshot something like 47 times this year and won 33 of those games.

Ottawa has played well enough to have at least one win in this series and it's hard not to look at them and feel they are a bit like previous Leaf playoff teams -- bad luck, bad reffing, one mental lapse, and goaltending not quite good enough. They could and likely will win a game or two here if they keep playing this way.

I said going into the playoffs, the biggest differences between this Leaf team and previous ones are...

- Leadership. Chief, Matthews, Tavares and lots of vets seem to ba calm, cool and collected in ways we haven't seen before. Not a lot of noise around them and seemingly none of it seeping in.

- Solid D Corps. In G1 no Leaf defender played 20 minutes, which seems impossible until you consider six PP and a five F unit. Still, it speaks to depth and balance and these things show up as games and series go on. Rolling out Benoit and OEL as a third pair is a strength for sure.

- Goaltending. It the two teams swapped goalies, the Leafs could be down 2-0 right now. At some point, if we need to see Woll we won't panic either. This team has strong goaltending and goaltending depth.

- (Speaking of) Depth. Domi from Benoit for the winner. Who had that one on the bingo card? Lorentz, Laughton, Jarnkrok, and Holmberg have all played their roles well. We already talked about G and D depth. Again, this matters as Games and Series go on.

- The Core 4 plus Reilly. They seemed different this year and more interested in team results than personal ones. The Four Nations was a chance for best on best hockey that most of these guys hadn't had the chance to experience and the hope was that it helped them grow. We'll see. Matthews struggled through injuries to a 40G/95PT+ season and really never became a distraction. Same with Reilly, who seems to have finally found a partner in Carlo.

IMO, this is why the Leafs are up 2-0. Will they win the series? Win another one or two? Who knows? IMO the above reasons are they could/should. It is absolutely sufficiently different enough from what we have seen before.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Nothing to do with that. Remind me again how Toronto does every year? Far from over. It should be 1-1. Leafs got lucky, again.

The narrative they choke every year is tired and not based on any factuality. The narrative is every year is like the Habs series. Not even close to reality. For example last year the Leafs battled back from being down 3-1. The year before, they won against Tampa in 6 games.

No reason to think this goes longer than 5

 

[MCR74]

Nothing to do with that. Remind me again how Toronto does every year? Far from over. It should be 1-1. Leafs got lucky, again.

Remind me again how Ottawa does every year? I don't recall them in the 2024 playoffs.

Quit whining. You're making Sens fans look bad (or worse). I hope they close this out at Scotiabank East so that you can really have a good cry.

 

[93gilmour93]

Typical leafs fan that knows nothing, trying to stir the pot. First, its Canadian tire center, second, Can you point me to the article that favors the Sens over Toronto? Leafs are a horrible playoff team making themselves look better beating on a lower ranked, injured team.

 

[Cheapseats]

Remind me again how Ottawa does every year? I don't recall them in the 2024 playoffs.

Quit whining. You're making Sens fans look bad (or worse). I hope they close this out at Scotiabank East so that you can really have a good cry.

If anyone’s gonna cry it’s gonna be you guys when your big 4 fail to deliver against and equal talented team. No one gave Ottawa a chance with this series and you guys are treating round 1 like the cup. You’ve never been there.

 

[MCR74]

Yeah so much that the entire Ottawa barn is gonna be draped in blueeeeeeee

Someone's gotta pay the bills.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Someone's gotta pay the bills.

Yup , Habs fans and leafs fans keep the league afloat , this ottawa guy should show some respect!

 

[LivingRentFree]

Yep, the most annoying fans in the history of sport infest every arena with their arrogance and limited understanding of the game. Can’t wait until they choke, again. For the talent on the roster, the results are terrible. Your only consolation is to pick on the small market team. Small wins for small minds.

Jeez. If you wanna talk arrogance, you should probably go to the pre series thread and read your fan bases comments.

 

[Rob Brown]

No im saying you know little about hockey outside the 416.

The GTA has multiple area codes, so this insult didn't really work.

 

[Cheapseats]

"ChatGPT what is coping?"

I have a fan.

 

[Rob Brown]

If anyone’s gonna cry it’s gonna be you guys when your big 4 fail to deliver against and equal talented team. No one gave Ottawa a chance with this series and you guys are treating round 1 like the cup. You’ve never been there.

No one is treating Round 1 like the Cup, at all. We're all well aware that this is step 1 of 4. You do realize that this series was predicted at close to 50/50 on these boards, right? Leafs fans take so much shit here including before this series started and then people like you cry when Leafs fans give it back.

 

[Auston Marlander]

Where we are in this series right now should not be a surprise from the Leafs' (fan) perspective.

Our team played with poise and patience. We generally score first, don't take a lot of penalties, stick to a structure, and then somehow get the W more often than not even if the advanced stats don't support the outcome. We were outshot something like 47 times this year and won 33 of those games.

Ottawa has played well enough to have at least one win in this series and it's hard not to look at them and feel they are a bit like previous Leaf playoff teams -- bad luck, bad reffing, one mental lapse, and goaltending not quite good enough. They could and likely will win a game or two here if they keep playing this way.

I said going into the playoffs, the biggest differences between this Leaf team and previous ones are...

- Leadership. Chief, Matthews, Tavares and lots of vets seem to ba calm, cool and collected in ways we haven't seen before. Not a lot of noise around them and seemingly none of it seeping in.

- Solid D Corps. In G1 no Leaf defender played 20 minutes, which seems impossible until you consider six PP and a five F unit. Still, it speaks to depth and balance and these things show up as games and series go on. Rolling out Benoit and OEL as a third pair is a strength for sure.

- Goaltending. It the two teams swapped goalies, the Leafs could be down 2-0 right now. At some point, if we need to see Woll we won't panic either. This team has strong goaltending and goaltending depth.

- (Speaking of) Depth. Domi from Benoit for the winner. Who had that one on the bingo card? Lorentz, Laughton, Jarnkrok, and Holmberg have all played their roles well. We already talked about G and D depth. Again, this matters as Games and Series go on.

- The Core 4 plus Reilly. They seemed different this year and more interested in team results than personal ones. The Four Nations was a chance for best on best hockey that most of these guys hadn't had the chance to experience and the hope was that it helped them grow. We'll see. Matthews struggled through injuries to a 40G/95PT+ season and really never became a distraction. Same with Reilly, who seems to have finally found a partner in Carlo.

IMO, this is why the Leafs are up 2-0. Will they win the series? Win another one or two? Who knows? IMO the above reasons are they could/should. It is absolutely sufficiently different enough from what we have seen before.

Really good analysis.

What's impressed me the most is the full team effort. No one ayer is carrying the team. No one is willing a win. We have goals from our best players (but not our best goal scorer) all the way down to our 5th dman.

What I would like to see in game 3 is a domination that would show me the Leafs can hang with the best. Ottawa is an ok team, but they are not nearly as good as what could come next.

2-0 is a great place to be. I hope the boys see blood and go for the throat, coasting isn't an option at any point, or it could be 2-2 real quick.

 

[The Podium]

Nothing to do with that. Remind me again how Toronto does every year? Far from over. It should be 1-1. Leafs got lucky, again.

What part of that game was lucky?

Was it Ullmark letting in 2 on the first 4 shots again?

Or the Sens not getting a shot in the first 15 minutes of period 3?

Was it the OT where the Sens barely mustered a shot on net?

Or were they lucky that Batherson went full on controller disconnected on the OT winner?

 

[MCR74]

If anyone’s gonna cry it’s gonna be you guys when your big 4 fail to deliver against and equal talented team. No one gave Ottawa a chance with this series and you guys are treating round 1 like the cup. You’ve never been there.

So you're saying Ottawa is not an equally talented team? That's not what I constantly heard prior to the series.

 

[Just Rude]

Remind me again how Toronto does every year?

They've done horrible in past years. It's well documented. And the Sens haven't made the playoffs since 2017. What's your argument here?

That Ottawa's won more playoff series? The Leafs have been underachievers? For as embarrassing as they've been in the playoffs, you've never beat them in a playoff series. Like, ever. It's not the flex you think it is.

Leafs got lucky, again.

How did they get "lucky"? The Sens found something in the second and actually played really well, and then down a goal in the third, were completely shut down. They didn't get a shot for the first 13 minutes of the third period of essentially a must-win game and tied it on a lucky bounce.

The Sens can't shut down the Leafs PP. That's not lucky. That's special teams domination.

I actually think the Sens have played very well shutting down the Leafs in long 5v5 stretches, but that's their game. They're opportunistic. But it should also be said the Leafs have played nowhere near their best game either and still lead 2-0. And guess who is tied for the best road record in the league this year?

 

[HockeyVirus]

 

[The don godfather]

Sens will do some home cooking.

 

[Auston Marlander]

Yep, the most annoying fans in the history of sport infest every arena with their arrogance and limited understanding of the game. Can’t wait until they choke, again. For the talent on the roster, the results are terrible. Your only consolation is to pick on the small market team. Small wins for small minds.

You may want to look at The Gr8 Danes profile picture. They are a Habs fan. When Habs fans are clowning on the Leafs opponent you know you've messed up.

It's fun watching you crumble with your team down 2-0. You could talk about the game, or how things may go in the next few, but instead you pound your fists in the ground and cry. I guess your captain is rubbing off on you.

 

[The don godfather]

View attachment 1019008

They gotta go Forsberg now enough is enough.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Jeez. If you wanna talk arrogance, you should probably go to the pre series thread and read your fan bases comments.

Yup. All we heard were the Sens were so much better and they wanted the Leafs and we are choke artists and Brady would terrorize our soft team.

Lmao at this point in time

 

[Peasy]

I hope no one else celebrates when their team wins a game!!!! Cant be acting like you just won the cup or something. No celebrating is allowed until your team officially wins it

 

[The Management]

Leafs put on an absolute clinic in that 3rd period, and Ottawa still scored on their first shot of the period 15 mins in lol, why is hockey so odd?

I've also never seen the Leafs PP click like this, they're scoring goals 10-20 seconds into every PP...

Hopefully there's a signature Matthews' game on the horizon.

I feel like part of it is their horrible PK. They play in a diamond formation and aren't aggressive enough on the puck carrier. They're giving Toronto too much ice.