ECQF: Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs (Series Tied 3-3)

[Horton Hears A Woo]

Please rank the top ten D and somehow include McAvoy.

Do you really want me to? Because it’s not even a debate he is top five IMO. He is one the best shutdown d man In the entire league…. Not flashy on ofence but points aren’t everything.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Yea but it's often forgotten that he had 2 awful quarters and 2 incredible quarters in that game.

And Michael Jordan is kind of in a league of his own when it comes to athletes.

Matthews had 2 awful periods and a no show

Sadly the 3rd period might have been his best period

 

[Number8]

So who's comparable to Nylander on the Bruins?

We know you hate the Leafs but that's a ridiculous take. No one takes Marchand over a top 10 scorer in the NHL.

Not trying to be a jerk, but I think this is the problem with the Leafs.

Marchand’s drive and intensity sets the bar for all players. Like Bergeron before him and Chara before him.

NHL playoffs are so great because success requires so so much more than being a top ten scorer.

It was like when Toronto added Joe Thornton as vet leadership to get them over the top. Just confusing.

 

[Ezekial]

Matthews had 2 awful periods and a no show

I agree, he was terrible the first 2 periods, I could see him visibly affected by his ailment. He was the worst player on his line with Bert and Domi.

 

[Prairie Habs]

Are penguins fans excited about their next coach? Kyle probably gives him until about Christmas before bringing him in.

 

[Oilslick941611]

That clip of Nylander telling Marner to stop crying is going to eat Marner alive. What an embarrassment. It's all over the net. His peers are going ride him into the ground over that. What a chump.

Career defining.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

A tale of two franchises.

Boston won the Cup in 2011. Shortly thereafter they fired their GM Chiarelli and moved probably their top young offensive player in Seguin because they didn’t think he fit the Bruins model.

Toronto gets eliminated in the first round for 7 or so straight years and makes it to the second round once and the result is that they move around some depth players.

 

[57special]

I wonder what Bobby Baun would have to say about all the excuses for not playing well in the playoffs?

The crazy thing is that as good as Boston has played, and as deep as they are, I don't think that they are going to be good enough to win the East. Good system, nice depth players, solid D and goaltending, but not enough high end talent to break a game open against a top team.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

This is likely a sweep if Swayman played Game 2.

So I'm guessing Keefe gets fired within 48 hours of the Leafs being eliminated on Tuesday night.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Things not to do in playoffs
-get food poisoning

Matthews : “ I’m gunna get food poisoning”

 

[Ted Hoffman]

I mean, no one, NO ONE would ever argue that Auston Matthews mentality as an athlete is in the same stratosphere as Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was able to convince himself of shit he made up about people to propel his intensity to a higher level when he played them.

That's not the point, so let me restate it again: If Matthews is an all-time NHL player as some want to claim he is, he's gotta figure out how to dig deep and perform when ... perhaps literally, at the moment ... shit hits the fan.

If Matthews can only perform in the playoffs when he's 100%, everyone else who's supposed to be in the lineup is and they do their part, the other team isn't better / someone on the other team is playing really well / it's an "unfavorable' draw / whatever, ... great players find a way to push through and lead their teams to victory. They find a way to will their teammates to do better. They find a way to overcome adversity.

It's makes it more difficult to consider him a greater player all-time than lesser skilled, lesser accomplished players who rise to the occasion and overcome injuries or adversity or whatever and still find a way to win. It makes it even more difficult when he becomes the face of a group of players who've perenially underachieved, found ways to lose games and series, and always have an excuse for why they couldn't just f***ing step up and overcome and win when they could have, should have.

But if the measuring stick anyone wants to use is "MJ or bust," .... OK.

 

[the]

Absolutely embarassing. Shame on Leafs Nation for having such a bunch of pansies.

With all that talent they still can’t win shit year after year. How humiliating, burn this team to the ground.

I’m trying to be nice and I’m no Leafs hater but there’s simply no positive thing to say.

 

[jetsforever]

Sucks that AM had to leave early, hope he's back for Game 5

 

[Galaxydoggystyle]

Its kind of sad that they have not one not two not three but four elite talents on the team and have not won a damn thing.

 

[TheOne]

Everyone!

It's been 109 pages so far, but nobody has pointed out the obvious issue!

How is it the refs fault the Leafs lost this game????

 

[McSomnii]

*quietly changes "Toronto in 7" vote to "Bruins in 6", then stealthily slinks away into the darkened depths underneath your bed*

 

[rea]

Can I just say, I've just become a fan of nylander, lol. I may make Tshirts w that quote for next seasons leafs visit to Van

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Is Guy Boucher running the Leafs powerplay? It was absolutely atrocious in the 2017 Sens playoff run. Like 11% or something.

 

[The Panther]

Watched the 2nd period and most of the 3rd and, to be honest, I was kind of stunned by the Leafs. Like, in the 2nd period they were just awful. You're on home ice, trying to avoid giving your opponent a strangehold, the fans are starting to boo, and you're down by 2. I was expecting to see a massive push with maybe some big hits, some physical challenges, some momentum-changing play by someone to inspire his mates. They desperately needed to wake up, ignite the crowd, and make sure the B's didn't get the third goal (which would clearly be a back-breaker).

So, what happened...? Absolutely nothing. It looked like they were about as engaged as during a preseason game. And of course they gave up the 3rd goal in the dying seconds...

I normally don't have much patience for Paul Bissonnette and his "look-at-me" media nonsense, but I was watching the TNT broadcast and he completely ripped into the Leafs in the intermission, basically calling Marner a pathetic loser... and I kind of agreed with him. (At least Marner did score in the third, but it was way too late.)

It's not exactly news to anyone, but the problem with the Leafs is that they overpaid their four top skaters. It's fine to pay big for the core group (as a few other clubs do) -- it's a calculated gamble in team-building, and every management group has to make one gamble or another -- but if you're going to lock down those three or four stars with massive cap-eating salaries, you've got to feel confident that you've locked down guys who are going to be able to either (a) be so dominant at times that they win games by themselves, or (b) bring it in the playoffs when the presure is on. The Leafs' core will occasionally be so dominant that they win games on their own (in the regular season), but not nearly as often as McDavid / Draisaitl, or MacKinnon / Makar, or Crosby / Malkin of yesteryear. And needless to say, that core is just not getting it done at crunch-time in the playoffs. And they've been getting paid more than all those other combos, which obviously results in the rest of the team being barely even at playoff level, due to salary constraints.

When you've drawn even after opening on the road against your big rival, and then you come home only to see the core players in their primes being collectively outclassed by an almost 36-year-old, there's a problem.

 

[McHelpus]

Ryan O'reilly said it was basically the core 4 and everyone else. Very poor leadership and whenever they do acquire vets they just zone them out.

 

[crowi]

Damn I love this guy

Yea what a winner he is.

 

[BobColesNasalCavity]

 

[TD Charlie]

I must admit that while i didn’t agree with everything throughout the entire game, the officiating wasn’t totally dreadful tonight. Best outing for the officials all series

 

[Seb]

The Leafs moves for the playoffs were Lyubushkin and Edmundson.

WTF did they think would happen?

They are a skilled but horribly built team.

 

[crowi]

Ryan O'reilly said it was basically the core 4 and everyone else. Very poor leadership and whenever they do acquire vets they just zone them out.

Yeah, it just seems like a rotten club to me. Some are more equal than others and others are just there to stay in the league/get experience to get an offer elsewhere. It's imperative that Leafs FO interrupt this bullshit and make it known to their players that they actually run the show, not the players.