Series Talk: ECQ: Boston Bruins (2-0) Toronto Maple Leafs. Well. We can Win at Home. We Have to.

[Pi]

There is only one problem in this series and its a big one. How do you shut down Marchand Bergeon Pastrnak = 99 goals this season.

For 10 minutes: Bergeron vs. Plekanec, Marchand vs. Komarov, Pastrnak vs Kapanen
For 10 minutes: Bergeron vs. Kadri, Marchand vs. Marleau, Pastrnak vs. Marner

Just stick on to them like white on rice when they are on the ice.

For the remaining 40 min balls to the wall:

Hyman Matthews Nylander
Marleau Kadri Marner
JVR Bozak Brown

...or something along these lines.

I’d see how the first game goes but if the Bergeron line is too much to handle, it’s time to stack Rielly and Gardiner. The rest of the Bruins lineup combined is not as good as that top line.

Rielly and Gardiner have amazing numbers in their short times together. We need them to play 30 mins each if it comes down to that.

 

[Mikeyg]

Matthews is going to saw the bruins in half. Were going to smoke boston then tampa then sid then Nashville and win the cup!

 

[Mikeyg]

We need that johnny plek kap line back, komarov has virtually no purpose playing against the b’s.

 

[MattySnipes]

Marchand vs. Komarov

Dear God....I hope not

 

[HamiltonNHL]

This !

Lol

 

[Mats13]

Andy is 10-1 against the Bruins. We're gonna smoke them.

Leafs in 5.

 

[Polaris1010]

Boston’s team defense is better than ours and probably will be as long as we have guys like Polak, Carrick, Hainsey in our lineups. Goaltending is about the same IMO. Both Rask and Andersen are good goalies but I don’t think either is good enough to steal a series on his own.

The way we beat Boston is the way we have beaten any team this year. Speed and skill.

Disagree.

Andersen is better than Rask at the moment.

Toronto defense more mobile and better at moving the puck.

Toronto will lose this series if the kids on the team under-perform, which can happen, because they are only kids.

If young players choke on the scoring or get lazy on the back check, the Leafs will lose. Of course, this forum is going to blame the defense and goalie.

The Leafs will not lose this series because of defense or goalie. It rest on how well the young players play.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

We beat Boston 3-1 this year.

 

[Pi]

Matthews is going to saw the bruins in half. Were going to smoke boston then tampa then sid then Nashville and win the cup!

God I hope you are right lol.

If that were to happen, the Leafs would probably be the best team to ever win the Cup. That road is about as tough as it gets.

 

[LeafingTheWay]

Maybe change it up with the defensive pairings.

Always have the 1st line or 2nd line matched up against their top line.

And always have Hainsey - Zaitsev on against their top line.

Could even go with Hainsey - Polak.

Hainsey-Zaitsev or Hainsey-Polak would be terrible. We'd be stuck in our zone 24/7. If we try to adjust the pairings to be like a PK against their top-line, we're setting ourselves up for failure. Stick to our game and use our quick transitioning as our 'defensive' strategy.

There's no sense in changing the game we've been succeeding with during the season all of a sudden.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Andy is 10-1 against the Bruins. We're gonna smoke them.

Leafs in 5.

Interesting stat.

 

[Pi]

We beat Boston 3-1 this year.

That is nice and definitely a confidence booster going into the series but it doesn’t mean much once the playoffs start.

 

[Mikeyg]

God I hope you are right lol.

If that were to happen, the Leafs would probably be the best team to ever win the Cup. That road is about as tough as it gets.

Meh one of those teams will get sent home before rd 2, probably pit.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Dear God....I hope not

Dont you remember the kiss

 

[LeafSteel]

To be the best, you have to beat the best.

Bruins had to happen and slay some demons the fan base has, not the players. What happened before doesn’t weigh on our young guys.

They will bring the speed and if we lose, it won’t be for any other reason that Boston has skill and experience. Either way, we will be that much better for it, irregardless if we win or lose .

 

[TMLeafer]

Gotta put 63 in his place early on. I fear flying elbows followed by "playoff officiating" letting the rat off easy.

 

[MattySnipes]

Dont you remember the kiss

Yes. Entirely different Komarov though.

 

[Rude Dog]

Wanted Boston. Only because we mirror tb style. Leafs speed may cause havoc. But bruins will muscle them. Chara is still Chara. Will be tough. Long series. Hoping it turns out differently

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Dont you remember the kiss

yes. I also remember Marchand scoring 2 goals the last time Komarov matched up against him

 

[crump]

To me, Andersen is the key to winning the series. Boston will see it the same way. With his history of concussions, you just know they will be crashing the net. Very worrisome. Our power play will need to be vicious to keep them from running Andersen.

Honestly, I am more concerned about Polak falling on him. Just box guys out or staple them against the boards. Should be a fun series to watch. I think Kadri is going to be a key pest /defensive player in this series. Hope Plekanec and Marleau have been saving it up for this series.

 

[Polaris1010]

Hainsey-Zaitsev or Hainsey-Polak would be terrible. We'd be stuck in our zone 24/7. If we try to adjust the pairings to be like a PK against their top-line, we're setting ourselves up for failure. Stick to our game and use our quick transitioning as our 'defensive' strategy.

There's no sense in changing the game we've been succeeding with during the season all of a sudden.

Cannot really agree with that.

The playoffs, often the teams are evenly matched. Both teams know exactly what the other is like.

Boston has one dominant line. Hold them in check, the path to win becomes much easier for Toronto.

The rest of the Boston lineup won't score no matter how much forchecking there is.

That's the key game plan for the Leafs.

1. Keep their top line off the score sheet.
2. Make sure the forwards play defense responsibly.

The first point they can do. The second point is like seeing is believing.

Babcock wants to win. Now. He will bench forwards who do not buy in with the defense. He should. Marner was playing the 4th line at times this season. Babcock will do it.

 

[Polaris1010]

yes. I also remember Marchand scoring 2 goals the last time Komarov matched up against him

Because Rielly could not make the damn play!

Check the replay. What was Reilly doing except watching him score.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Rielly and Hainsey I think have the worst +/- against the bruins this year from the Leafs

 

[kfox]

Toronto's #2 ranked 25.0% PP vs. Boston's #3 ranked 83.7% PK

Riley Nash, the B's #1 PK center will be coming off injury. #2 Bergeron wil be used a lot, so he'll get tired. Carlo, Boston's #2 PK defender is done for the season= all this should mean advantage Toronto. They'll need it.

 

[Kiwi]

Sure have, so have the other two teams we could have faced, it's hard to keep an edge when you know you're in and real hockey is coming. I don't think the last couple weeks will mean jack to how we ultimately perform, this has been a couple months of basically stuck, Babs did well to keep us motivated imho.

I'd agree with that, we did see some lineup shuffling later in the season to help keep the boys motivated

We're going to have to match Bostons intensity to show our skill in what should be a fairly even contest

Bozak and Plekanec are going to be bloody important, I do think we have an edge in depth up front which has to come to fruition if we're going to win