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

[Do or Die]

But.....but......the analytics

 

[ACLEVERNAME]

Wtf is a "highly optional skate"? lmao

 

[Golden_Jet]

Wtf is a "highly optional skate"? lmao

That’s a good question.

 

[BostonBob]

Wtf is a "highly optional skate"? lmao

It's when the Head Coach tells his players that while it is optional he also " highly suggests " they participate.

 

[D Wakaluk]

If you think Matthews "visibly lacked playoff intensity" you clearly didn't watch the game lol. Matthews dominated the game from his very first shift, just didn't get the bounces and Swayman played very well.

Agreed. Once again AM was a playoff beast. He had a game high five Auston Matthews NHL shots and was a total force out there. Actually, if you adjust the goals, he had two last night and is tied with Debrusk at the moment. Not too shabby for a first game

 

[nbwingsfan]

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)

Probably not a good sign for the Leaf’s that the Bruins not playing nearly their best still led to a 5-1 easy victory, no?

Also apparently the Leafs aren’t going to “bully their way” to victory now are they

 

[PaulD]

Im sure they feel the pressure already after losing just 1 game. I lost faith in them after they blew a 3-1 series lead against MTL lol.
too many times being let down.
I got my fingers crossed they can do something but Im not going to hold my breath on that one.

leafs fans can hope to win only if Bruins fall apart and choke and the goalies all of a suddent suck. .

They have lost 5 straight to Bruins this season......all of a sudden they are gonna win 4 outta 6?

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

The Deserve-To-Win-O-Meter is so bizarrely wrong most of the time that it is really is a funny meme of itself.

Their model has a few flaws lol

 

[Arthur Morgan]

leafs fans can hope to win only if Bruins fall apart and choke and the goalies all of a suddent suck. .

They have lost 5 straight to Bruins this season......they ain't now gonna win 4 outta 6.

they just need some luck on their side, alot of luck lol

 

[AvroArrow]

Agreed. Once again AM was a playoff beast. He had a game high five Auston Matthews NHL shots and was a total force out there. Actually, if you adjust the goals, he had two last night and is tied with Debrusk at the moment. Not too shabby for a first game

 

[BB79]

leafs fans can hope to win only if Bruins fall apart and choke and the goalies all of a suddent suck. .

They have lost 5 straight to Bruins this season......they ain't now gonna win 4 outta 6.

Go back further. The Leafs haven't beaten the Bruins since November 2022. That's 8 straight L's. Think these guys are in their nightmares yet?

 

[D Wakaluk]

View attachment 856832

I appreciate your self portrait but I enjoyed the NHL analysis more, got some more of that?

 

[Davenport]

Which radio station in Toronto is carrying Game Two? TSN-1050 has Game Three. 590 has the Blue Jays Monday.

 

[cvaicunas]

Over 40 mil in 4 forwards and half of that for any 6 d-men, as a matter of fact add the goalies in and it is still less than what you are paying those 4 players upfront. I think maybe the finger pointing should start with that overrated GM that is now in Pittsburgh, he sucks , and Shanahan might be right with him. The difference between the Bruins win or lose is that that half of the room drinks fine wine and the other half drinks draft beer, the bruins drink out of the same glass........

I've wondered if the team chemistry is off a bit. Every year they just shuffle a few deck chairs around. With so much tied up in their core, they have yet to build a consistent supporting cast. Competent coaching would probably alleviate this, but most Leafs fans seem to believe Keefe is not that guy

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

Nylander's absence in game 1 revealed.

He was put in charge of preparing the Leaf parade vehicles!

 

[RunItBackAgain]

Surprised the Leafs got 1 that game. Better than I thought. Maybe they can push this to game 5!

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

In 5 meetings this season, the Leafs haven't had the lead for a single second.

If they want to change the script that's where it starts. Especially against this years Bruins, giving up the first goal is the worst thing you can do. Outside of those couple clusters of OT games the Bruins had this season, they score first they win like 90% of the time.

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

I'm a little surprised leafs (and their fans) are happy with their game last night. Yeah they dominated some of the stats but it was 4-0 already and the game was done. The ice will be tilted 99% of the time if that's the scoreline, the leading team is trying to kill the clock.

Offensive stats after losing 4-0 are beyond meaningless.

 

[wintersej]

i seen this then looking at the score of the actual game again.... yikes lol

Don’t think that does a good job of taking score effects into account. Bruins didn’t muster much after they got up big.

 

[WarriorofTime]

I feel like once you get to like 20 games left in the season, you have to make a decision on your Playoff Goaltender (always subject to change, but I don't think you can keep doing the alternating thing at that point). The situation is just too weird. If Swayman plays pretty well, not amazing and they lose 2-1, do they go back to Ullmark? What if he plays alright, but not great and they win 4-3? Doesn't make a lot of sense to not be more firm on where they're at.

 

[Over the volcano]

Probably not a good sign for the Leaf’s that the Bruins not playing nearly their best still led to a 5-1 easy victory, no?

Also apparently the Leafs aren’t going to “bully their way” to victory now are they

Not sure where this is coming from - that was as good a game as the Bruins have played all season

 

[AvroArrow]

I'm a little surprised leafs (and their fans) are happy with their game last night. Yeah they dominated some of the stats but it was 4-0 already and the game was done. The ice will be tilted 99% of the time if that's the scoreline, the leading team is trying to kill the clock.

Offensive stats after losing 4-0 are beyond meaningless.

We're not happy with losing the game. We're happy with the compete level (except Marner) and the amount of chances they generated, without Nylander. They controlled the puck for majority of the game, they need to tighten up a bit though. Can't take dumb penalties and start getting guys in front of the net. At the end of the day if you lose 10-0 or 1-0 it's 1 game. As road underdogs, playing without our 2nd best player, a game 1 loss was likely. It's not the end of the series like a lot of "neutral" fans are claiming. Boston literally scored on their 1st shot on net after not being able to touch the puck.

Shots were 6-0 to start, Boston had 1 rush chance after being hemmed in their own zone and they capitalized. They scored on their second shot of the second period as well.

Swayman was just better than our scorers and Sammy sucked.

Just tighten up and get ready for game 2

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Don’t think that does a good job of taking score effects into account. Bruins didn’t muster much after they got up big.

That's why fans of losing teams love it so much, since the meter always shows their team having enormous chances at the end of the game, although the winning team was just turtling and not seriously trying score. Recalling that early season thread where some Leafs fans were arguing that Florida barely beat them because they so badly "out-chanced" Florida. Yeah, "out-chanced" after each game was effectively in the books already.

 

[pockets321]

View attachment 856832

Is that you Mr. 18k comments?

 

[danny90]

I'm a little surprised leafs (and their fans) are happy with their game last night. Yeah they dominated some of the stats but it was 4-0 already and the game was done. The ice will be tilted 99% of the time if that's the scoreline, the leading team is trying to kill the clock.

Offensive stats after losing 4-0 are beyond meaningless.

they were dominant at multiple points in the game before 4-0. no excuses though they have to find a way to score its not enough to get chances they have to convert.