Can we beat Tampa?

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I thought it was already slanted into the Leafs favour, but AM's obvious injury suddenly makes it back to a tossup.

Paying the same for ROR, Acciari, McCabe, and Lafferty as Tampa paid for Tanner Jeannot seems to be at least slightly in the Leafs favour...

Matthews isn't hurt he just went through a slump, it happens

 

[fancy lad]

i just can’t get over this insane playoff format where it looks like for the 100th year in a row we’re going to get f***ed over with a brutal first round matchup again.

honest to god it would be better to be a wildcard team than our place in the standing.

so much is riding on the first round this year and the Exact same thing that happens every year is looking like it’s going to happen again.

all you can do is laugh.

 

[hotpaws]

i just can’t get over this insane playoff format where it looks like for the 100th year in a row we’re going to get f***ed over with a brutal first round matchup again.

honest to god it would be better to be a wildcard team than our place in the standing.

so much is riding on the first round this year and the Exact same thing that happens every year is looking like it’s going to happen again.

all you can do is laugh.

if we went back to the old format we'd still be playing Tampa and the wildcard teams get Bos or Car , there's no easy path in the east this year

 

[Schennanigans]

Yes we can beat anyone. Will we beat Tampa? Probably not.

 

[MilkofthePoppy]

No point complaining about our potential match ups. We had Columbus and Montreal and choked away both of those series.

I have to say, this team is absolutely stacked.

 

[Divine]

Game 1 tor 6 tb5
Game 2 tor 3 tb 7
Game 3 tor 5 tb 3
Game 4 tor 3 tb 8
Game 5 tor 6 tb 5
Game 6 tor 1 tb 3
Game tor 3 tb 2

Tor get more pp on 4 of 7 game...

Okay, now look at the total penalties per team. Giving Toronto 1 more PP a few games and then Tampa 7-3 & 8-3 some games is not even.

It’s crazy how you can argue that it’s even when Toronto got 1 game of 2 more power plays and Cooper complained that was lopsided. Meanwhile every Tampa advantage was min 2. (2, 4 and 5 PP’s more than the other team)

Tampa has multiple games where they just ran away with power plays. Like I said, the numbers suggest this was the most lopsided pp differential in the first round, maybe in the entire playoffs (I didn’t check after the 1st round). Nothing you said dismissed that.

 

[Gabriel426]

They can and they will

 

[thusk]

Okay, now look at the total penalties per team. Giving Toronto 1 more PP a few games and then Tampa 7-3 & 8-3 some games is not even.

It’s crazy how you can argue that it’s even when Toronto got 1 game of 2 more power plays and Cooper complained that was lopsided. Meanwhile every Tampa advantage was min 2. (2, 4 and 5 PP’s more than the other team)

Tampa has multiple games where they just ran away with power plays. Like I said, the numbers suggest this was the most lopsided pp differential in the first round, maybe in the entire playoffs (I didn’t check after the 1st round). Nothing you said dismissed that.

Both game leafs was just rash a took a lot of penalties of frustration... yeah for sure... leafs didn't lose those game because of number of penalties... they lost it becaise they was trash

 

[Divine]

Both game leafs was just rash a took a lot of penalties of frustration... yeah for sure... leafs didn't lose those game because of number of penalties... they lost it becaise they was trash

Imagine being trash and taking Tampa to 7 because of a phantom high sticking call leading to a 2 man adv. for 2 mins allowing Tampa to extend the series.

Probably going to sweep them this year if that’s what a trash Leafs team did last year.

Leafs had the worst goalie since January 2022 in net and took Tampa to 7. Look how that goalie is doing this year.

Only way I see Tampa winning the series is Vasy going God mode at this point tbh.

 

[67Cup]

They can and we’ll see If they do.

I do think they have a better chance than two weeks ago. As a fan since the 58-59 playoff, I am trained into pessimism, but looking at it rationally rather than emotionally, I think they have a decent chance. If they were playing anyone in the West or several other Eastern teams, I might even verge over into mildly confident.

One more thing: at my age I am even more on the clock than the Leafs!

 

[ACC1224]

The players would be happy to face Tampa again, 100%.
They certainly won't be crying about how hard their path may be.

If they don't feel they can beat any Team they face, they've already lost.
Personally, I give them a little more credit than that.

 

[notbias]

if we went back to the old format we'd still be playing Tampa and the wildcard teams get Bos or Car , there's no easy path in the east this year

Ya, the best spot this year for the East is to be at the top of your division or 2/3 Metro.

Can't really complain about it being 1-8 vs how it is now.

Should really reward teams by having it 1-16 though.

 

[mix1home]

Of course we can.

We were a phantom high stick away from winning the series in 6. The Holl interference in Game 7 was questionable also considering Tampa scored a goal just like that the game prior. We had the most lopsided 1st round refereeing of the playoffs (in terms of PP advantages by one team over the other).

This year, Toronto got better and Tampa got worse.

The biggest question mark however is our goaltending. It's been inconsistent. Some games Murray and Samsonov look like stars, other games it looks like it's their first time playing goal. To be fair, Campbell was just as bad last season but Tampa got bad goaltending in the first round also.

I expect Vasilevskiy to play better than last series, which probably means Murray/Samsonov need to give us better goaltending than Campbell's .897 last series. I would say if Murray or Samsonov can keep pace, or stay within reach of Vasilevskiy, we probably win the series as it stands right now assuming no more moves by the trade deadline, fair refereeing, and no phantom calls because we're up.

I believe Sammy has that extra gear and focus. Murray showed it twice and with him it’s only matter of health. Here is the hope.

 

[67leafs]

Perry and Maroon will be running our goalies every chance they get.

 

[kb]

Perry and Maroon will be running our goalies every chance they get.

lol They will be doing that even with Andre The Giant on D.

 

[ShaneFalco]

I have little to not faith in Keefe, but to have a chance, they nned to cut down on the odd-man rushes (always a problem it seems) and punish them physically. But more than that, they need the core to show that they can actually play playoff hockey

 

[Sypher04]

I have little to not faith in Keefe, but to have a chance, they nned to cut down on the odd-man rushes (always a problem it seems) and punish them physically. But more than that, they need the core to show that they can actually play playoff hockey

You mean like they already did last year?

 

[GoonieFace]

Imagine being trash and taking Tampa to 7 because of a phantom high sticking call leading to a 2 man adv. for 2 mins allowing Tampa to extend the series.

Probably going to sweep them this year if that’s what a trash Leafs team did last year.

Leafs had the worst goalie since January 2022 in net and took Tampa to 7. Look how that goalie is doing
Only way I see Tampa winning the series is Vasy going God mode at this point tbh.

[QUOTE
Vasi wasn’t great either, so it’s not like that was the deciding factor. Hopefully they have learned from their past 6 failures and put them to bed. And whining about officiating is played out

 

[ShaneFalco]

You mean like they already did last year?

You think that's a big accomplishment? 4-5 years and they decide to play one series....and still lose?

 

[IPS]

You mean like they already did last year?

In the early part of the series it really did look like Matthews and Marner were ready to finally take over a playoff series but they dropped off bad in the 2nd half of the series.

 

[Sypher04]

You think that's a big accomplishment? 4-5 years and they decide to play one series....and still lose?

Point out to me precisely where I claimed it was a big accomplishment.

 

[Sypher04]

In the early part of the series it really did look like Matthews and Marner were ready to finally take over a playoff series but they dropped off bad in the 2nd half of the series.

If you compare what the top 6 of each team did in games 5-7 you’ll see the two teams matched very evenly. Our guys actually edged the Tampa group.

 

[Clark4Ever]

I think we have the depth throughout the lineup to beat them IF we get great goaltending.

Samsonov has demonstrated that he can play at that level throughout the regular season, but he is unproven in the playoffs.

In goal, Tampa Bay still has the edge.

 

[IPS]

If you compare what the top 6 of each team did in games 5-7 you’ll see the two teams matched very evenly. Our guys actually edged the Tampa group.

Matched evenly yet we pay our top players a whole hell of a lot more than Tampa does. We need more out of ours than they do out of theirs if we are to win.

 

[Peace Frog]

Dubas has done an excellent job… so far! I still think there’s more work he can do. Another top 4 dman would go a long way to REALLY tipping the scales. A top shut down dman would be ideal. This would help insulate our goaltender even more.

Defence wins championships, my friends!






PS…. Yes, I think this current team can beat the current Tampa team. But I’m of the opinion that it’s a good idea to bring a 50 cal. to a knife fight… just to make sure!!