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

[TheGroceryStick]

Just curious, who do Montreal fans root for in this series?

I have a guess at an answer, but I’d likely get banned from this site if I said it

 

[Zilo44]

Just curious, who do Montreal fans root for in this series?

Boston for me.

I find it somehow fun to see Matthews go basically GPG during the regular season and then disappear in the playoffs.

Coming back from 1-3 in the Covid playoffs with Price stealing the series by himself is still one of my favorite moments as a fan

 

[PaulD]

Flat. They came out flat. The one thing they absolutely could not get away with in this series... They came out flat.

I get that it's only game 1 but that's as bad a start they could have come out with.

Bruins need to do better from here on out.

 

[ACLEVERNAME]

1-0.

 

[PaulD]

Florida TB, is the series most interesting to me, but the Winnipeg one is up there as well.

Bolts Panthers
Stars Knights
Oilers Kings

in that order

 

[bert]

Well lately it's been Matthews, Marner and Nylander all on a different line other than tonight due to players being out so it will be interesting to see how Boston covers all three lines

Marner ain't showing up we all know that's not happening. Nylander didn't play. Easy night for the Bruins only having to matchup against one line. Hopefully Nylander comes back and makes it a series or this maybe over in 4.

 

[Mick Riddleton]

Leafs in 4/5 is a truly special take

They have to suck up to the channel owners, who are huge leaf fans, or they are gone. How can they pick things this way and announce games the way they do without obedience to the company policy.

 

[PaulD]

That's what surprised me most about the game. The Bruins were in playoff mode out of the gate while the Leafs played like it was just another regular season game. Hopefully game 2 will be more competitive after the Leafs regroup. The Leafs' stars need to step it up.

Leafs had rhe first goid scoring chances. Swayman made 2 big saves. Leafs pretty much sucked after that.
Leafs best players have to be great for them to win. They rarely are in play off games.
Bruins best players don't have to be and they can still win.
Beecher , Carlo , Debrusk, Frederick 5
Matthews , Marner , Tavares , Reilly 0

Good luck with that.

 

[thaman8765678]

Bruins have the better coach, the better goalie, the better defense, and the better clutch forwards come playoff time.

Look at the Leafs d, most of them don't make the cut on other teams.

This is one of the biggest mismatches in playoff history.

 

[Johnnyduke]

I don't think they were expecting the Leafs to miss a 98 point player. That's a pretty big swing.

Imagine the Leafs with Nylander while Pastrnak was out. It's quite a swing to lose a 40 goal/98 point player.

Ok so they were picking the Leafs in 4/5 with a healthy team? Still doesn't make any sense. The Leafs can start by winning a single game against Swayman or the Bruins.

 

[floridada]

If only Keefe had the team Maurice has, Toronto is in no position to deconstruct, frustrate, embarrass and obliterate anymore!!!

It's a fake quote

 

[PaulD]

They weren't very likable back then either. Perhaps you've forgotten about wafflegate or salutegate?

I'd say this current bunch was likeable until about 2019-ish, but a combination of Dubas's baby shit soft culture, Keefe's general incompetence as a coach, as well as the core guys puking all over themselves repeatedly in the playoffs have turned alot of fans off the team and organization as a whole.

Yup.
We Hab fans watched guys like Lou, Hunter, Lemaire, Babcock come in and take over. We went UH-OH. Then they won the draft lottery and got Matthews. Yikes!
But when they hired Dubas - Keefe . All those other guys gone. Well, Toronto worried nobody again. The same old Toronto Maple Leafs leafs were back.

Bruins have the better coach, the better goalie, the better defense, and the better clutch forwards come playoff time.

Look at the Leafs d, most of them don't make the cut on other teams.

This is one of the biggest mismatches in playoff history.

That's why I picked Bruins in 5.

 

[Lshap]

Anyone thinking last night represents the series is is kidding themselves. Leafs will push back, although it might not be nearly enough. Tavares and Marner have to do a lot more than skate around in a daze. Matthews, Reilly and the 4th line showed up, but they really need Nylander to open up space. Goaltending.... well... not sure what they can realistically expect from Samsonov or whether they're considering switching to Woll.

Bruins were solid, although Swayman bailed them out many times. Bruins' depth kicked the crap out of Leaf's depth.

Frankly, both teams have seen better days, but watching them play each other was entertaining.

Domi is a plug and will play for a dozen teams before he hangs them up.....

Domi has enough natural talent to place him in a top-six role. His passing and possession are good; he didn't look out of place playing with Matthews. His chronic problem is mental. He gets thrown off his game way too easily, usually because something/someone makes him mad. He'll hurt his team with a dumb penalty or bonehead play and the coach will think, "Nah, I can't trust this kid...", and that'll be it.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Antics like the ones Domi pulled tonight are completely a waste of effort and time. Hacking, slashing and lip service aren’t intimidating.

Big hits, making players check the ice before receiving a pass and a heavy forecheck are much more intimidating

That made him look dumb, easily distracted and immature.

Toronto from the start was pushing an artificial tough act and it was easy to see through. Bruins are soft but the far tougher team as a whole. Most of Toronto's toughness is the defense, limited in skill, also an advantage.

Domi/Bertuzzi have extremely low hockey IQs and it shows every shift they pretend tough.

Highlight for me is the sequence post whistle with Matthews crosschecking a Bruins defenseman while simultaneously backpedaling back to the bench as quickly as possible.

Toronto needs to focus on offense.

 

[SeanAveryTheGreatOne]

Leafs are about to win the next 3 games and lose the series. Book it

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Matthews had a solid game but... no production again.

Marner's usually better at the start of the series rather than the end. Maybe this time he'll flip the script, if the Leafs can extend the series. He was completely invisible.

They need Nylander back in the worst way, he's their best playoff performer.

As for the Bruins, they need more shots on net.

 

[Norwegianoiler]

Since scoring his 69th, Matthews has now gone 29 shots on goal and 11 missed shots (six wide, two over, one post, one short, one cross) without scoring.
That's shocking.

His stache demands he stay on 69 forever.

 

[PaulD]

Anyone thinking last night represents the series is is kidding themselves. Leafs will push back, although it might not be nearly enough. Tavares and Marner have to do a lot more than skate around in a daze. Matthews, Reilly and the 4th line showed up, but they really need Nylander to open up space. Goaltending.... well... not sure what they can realistically expect from Samsonov or whether they're considering switching to Woll.

Bruins were solid, although Swayman bailed them out many times. Bruins' depth kicked the crap out of Leaf's depth.

Frankly, both teams have seen better days, but watching them play each other was entertaining.


Domi has enough natural talent to place him in a top-six role. His passing and possession are good; he didn't look out of place playing with Matthews. His chronic problem is mental. He gets thrown off his game way too easily, usually because something/someone makes him mad. He'll hurt his team with a dumb penalty or bonehead play and the coach will think, "Nah, I can't trust this kid...", and that'll be it.

Yep. And he will be heading to yet another club this summer.
I don't think anybody said this series is over.
But I did read about 15 leaf media types say it was over before it even started. One of them even predicted a sweep by the leafs. ha! Most others picked "leafs in 5."
Raycroft and Oniel were the only ones picking Bruins.

Just read the leafs have lost their last 5 hockey games and gave up 27 goals doing so.
Good luck with that Sheldon.

Matthews had a solid game but... no production again.

Marner's usually better at the start of the series rather than the end. Maybe this time he'll flip the script, if the Leafs can extend the series. He was completely invisible.

They need Nylander back in the worst way, he's their best playoff performer.

As for the Bruins, they need more shots on net.

No they don't.
They play according to the score and clock, Bob Gainey coaching 101.
They won't cheat their game to "get more shots on net"
And , they have confidence in their goalies.

 

[Blowfish]

Good summary.

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

Too bad Knies couldn’t play. I’m sure he’ll make a difference when he plays…

 

[I am not exposed]

Any word on if Nylander will actually play in this series? Why is he out? Doing a reverse Mark Stone?

 

[hatterson]

Just read the leafs have lost their last 5 hockey games and gave up 27 goals doing so.
Good luck with that Sheldon.

5 to the Bruins, 6 to the Lightning, 5 to the panthers, 5 to the wings, 6 to the Devils. So yea.

 

[hatterson]

Any word on if Nylander will actually play in this series? Why is he out? Doing a reverse Mark Stone?

There’s effectively zero information about his injury, so it’s really guess work. There was comments that he felt a “tweak” in practice and hadn’t been playing through it or anything in the regular season, so it wasn’t an aggravation.

He’s been shockingly healthy through his career only missing games for contract issues or illness, not injury, since his rookie year, so it’s definitely surprising for him to be out.

 

[AvroArrow]

Still lots of hockey to be played, despite the score I was not really that impressed by the Bruins. They remind me of the Jets from 4-5 years ago

Very poor puck possession

Playing defence for most of the game

Give up lots of chances against

Elite goaltending keeps them in the game

Generate a few chances off of a big save or missed scoring chance and capitalize


Overall it was a good game, both teams competed hard. Full points to Boston, goaltending kept them in it early, even when it was 1-0 Swayman made some big saves and their players capitalized on the few chances they generated. If there was a game for Toronto to lose, it was game 1 on the road without Nylander, on to the next one.



Keys to game 2

Marner needs to show up for once in his life, please

Sammy needs to be a little better

Get bodies in front of Swayman

Don't take dumb penalties (Domi)

 

[PaulD]

Still lots of hockey to be played, despite the score I was not really that impressed by the Bruins. They remind me of the Jets from 4-5 years ago

Very poor puck possession

Playing defence for most of the game

Give up lots of chances against

Elite goaltending keeps them in the game

Generate a few chances off of a big save or missed scoring chance and capitalize


Overall it was a good game, both teams competed hard. Full points to Boston, goaltending kept them in it early, even when it was 1-0 Swayman made some big saves and their players capitalized on the few chances they generated. If there was a game for Toronto to lose, it was game 1 on the road without Nylander, on to the next one.



Keys to game 2

Marner needs to show up for once in his life, please

Sammy needs to be a little better

Get bodies in front of Swayman

Don't take dumb penalties (Domi)

Yea , the Bruins didn't play their best hockey. Fortunately it was the leafs and they didn't need to.