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

[Ladyfan]

Been a good series 5 on 5, but most leaf fans knew it was going to come down to special teams and goaltending. Boston has been better on both of those and thats difference right now.


He's trying to deflect and put the spotlight on to something different, he's not going to openly call out the stars in the middle of the playoff series, and everyone knows the PP and goaltending is the reason they are down 2-1 right now.

The Bs power play wasn't good going into the playoffs. The PK was good though.

 

[Ladyfan]

That's a crazy stat. And then there's the Leafs that were 0-5 on the PP.

I think Boston is just a better playoff team.......(like, DUH) Pretty sure my team is totally boned.

IDK. I hope you are right (as a Bs fan) but it is 2-1 and there is plenty of hockey left.

I won't feel good until my Bs are moving on and I am not confident they will until they have won 4.

 

[Ladyfan]

Despite unaffordable housing costs in Toronto Marchand has rented a spot in the heads of the Leafs.

I think it is so bad they are paying him to live there.

 

[KnightofBoston]

Goaltending… Toronto has piss poor goaltending. Samsonov is a loser.


Boston has 2 world class goaltenders including the guy who won the Vezina last season.

sure, but let's be real

the bruins have massive flaws in their team structure and roster, they are exploitable

the past two games have been extremely close, the leafs could have won last night had they gotten just one favorable bounce, and the series is far from over

great goaltending isn't everything, and the leafs I think have done a better job than people thought defending up to this point, likewise, samsonov's goaltending hasn't been as bad as it was made out to be save the freddy goal last night

 

[danpantz]

sure, but let's be real

the bruins have massive flaws in their team structure and roster, they are exploitable

the past two games have been extremely close, the leafs could have won last night had they gotten just one favorable bounce, and the series is far from over

great goaltending isn't everything, and the leafs I think have done a better job than people thought defending up to this point, likewise, samsonov's goaltending hasn't been as bad as it was made out to be save the freddy goal last night

They got a pretty favorable bounce on their second goal that bounced in off of Lindholm

 

[TD Charlie]

As a Bruins fan I'm grateful he's out of the lineup, but don't wish heavy migraines on anyone. All the knee injuries, broken ribs, broken bones in feet are shit you expect in the playoffs and the guys are tough enough to push through, but migraine disorder is a different animal. If this were 2002 Don Cherry would be calling him a swedish female body part for not manning up, but I think we have a better understanding today.

Migraines are nasty, unpredictable, and difficult to describe. There are days I can't get out of bed unless I literally crawl across the floor.

So yes, I'd much rather he NOT play obviously, but I feel for the guy if it is in fact "only migraines" keeping him out. He's gonna catch some shit for missing games "because he had a headache," but it's not that simple

 

[Torontonian]

The Bs power play wasn't good going into the playoffs. The PK was good though.

The thing with a bad PP is, it doesn't really matter if your PK is solid and your able to go even with the other team. Just comes down to 5 on 5 at that point.

 

[goldenblack]

I honestly think the Leafs are trying way to hard to play Boston's game than play their own. They need play their style if they want to have a chance. Two of Boston's goals last night had two leafs players more involved in the scrum than the actual play.

But what is Boston's game? All year Boston was pretty soft relative to tough teams. We got Brazeau, Peeke and Maroon to help with that. Two of those guys are out with injury. Boston isn't a hard team. Boston just plays a sound system and is deep in all 12+6, and has amazing goaltending.

TORONTO went and got tough. You guys went and got tons of tough forwards and D, all up and down the lineup. That's way more YOUR game. Your old super skilled identity to me isn't there. And your PP shows it, right?

 

[WetcoastOrca]

We?

Ok. You.

 

[34]

Only Washington and NYI were going to be easy series. The team winning the East is earning it this season.

Absolutely. The East is crazy.

Oilers getting a few pass as well with Talbot. If the Kings beat them it will be hilarious. It will also be awesome!

 

[KnightofBoston]

They got a pretty favorable bounce on their second goal that bounced in off of Lindholm

I don't consider those to be favorable in the sense of luck or happenstance though, if you're throwing pucks on net and getting defensemen to scramble about and position themselves so they incidentally screen or create traffic, that's just part of the game

a bounce to me is something like the puck goes off a stanchion in a weird unexpected way and ends up right on the tape of the opposition

 

[thegazelle]

Maybe it's me, but I just don't see it that the loss to the Leafs should be pinned on Ullmark exclusively. I am not sure Swayman would have fared any better on any of the Leafs' goals. Maybe I am old and forgetting things but there wasn't a point in the game where I looked at this and said if Swayman was in the Leafs would have lost game 2.

I would be happy to be proven wrong but I don't think Ullmark cost the Bruins their loss. Bruins took undisciplined penalties and had problems clearing their zone.

The Leafs played a much improved game in game 2 and I'd say it was fairly even last night on the whole and could have gone either way. Certainly between the two games, bad (undisciplined) penalties are hurting both teams.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Maybe it's me, but I just don't see it that the loss to the Leafs should be pinned on Ullmark exclusively. I am not sure Swayman would have fared any better on any of the Leafs' goals. Maybe I am old and forgetting things but there wasn't a point in the game where I looked at this and said if Swayman was in the Leafs would have lost game 2. The Leafs played a much improved game in game 2 and I'd say it was fairly even last night on the whole.

Maybe even at 5 vs 5.
Special teams have been massively in favour of the Bruins. And that’s a huge part of playoff hockey. The Leafs had the penalty advantage and the Bruins still outscored them 2-0 on special teams.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Courtesy of "Steve Dangle" I heard the Keefe whining over Marchand. That was utterly embarrassing and borderline fireable on its own. Continues to be incompetent even at whining.

There is an art to post game whining - Brindamour and others are at least competent with it. Keefe sounds like a whiny infant with his tangent.

 

[thegazelle]

Maybe even at 5 vs 5.
Special teams have been massively in favour of the Bruins. And that’s a huge part of playoff hockey. The Leafs had the penalty advantage and the Bruins still outscored them 2-0 on special teams.

True indeed. Boston capitalized on the special teams (power play) for sure in all the games.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Maybe even at 5 vs 5.
Special teams have been massively in favour of the Bruins. And that’s a huge part of playoff hockey. The Leafs had the penalty advantage and the Bruins still outscored them 2-0 on special teams.

This is why the “you can score in the regular season but when the refs put the whistles away in the playoffs, the leafs are screwed” when the opposite is objectively true. If the game was 60 minutes of 5 on 5 they’d have a much easier time for whatever reason, special teams have been an abomination every single year for them.

 

[Score08]

I find with Leaf fans that 25% of them are the coolest, smartest, and most easygoing people you can talk about hockey with, but the Internet is overwhelmed by the other 75% who are just completely delusional trolls that you can't help enjoy their losses and stir them up a little bit in the banter.

Basically the two types of Toronto fans are the actual Steve Dangle and the exagerrated character Steve Dangle plays on TV.

Think this ratio could honestly be applied to most fan bases. Being a bruins fan I’ll admit we have our own percentage of dbags , And I’ll also include myself in that category from time to time when shit gets heated. But most of my interactions with leaf fans in this thread I find you can have an honest debate with, but it’s instantly hijacked by some dickhead from Carolina or Montreal throwing gas and it turns into a pissing match .

 

[Ratsreign]

Nylander switching to 88 was a good choice. 29 stinks.

Ok, So I wasn’t loopy when I saw 29 skating out there last night and briefly thought Nylander was playing after all.

 

[NyQuil]

Basically the two types of Toronto fans are the actual Steve Dangle and the exagerrated character Steve Dangle plays on TV.

I don't take him too seriously and actually find him kind of fun.

 

[wintersej]

Still can't but laught at this:

View attachment 859463


These guys just don't have what it takes to win in the playoffs.
Marner in particular, what a dud.

Boston in 5

The question remains... Samsonov or Hart?

Its stuff like this that makes me laugh at prospect lists and rankings.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Certainly between the two games, bad (undisciplined) penalties are hurting both teams.

Not sure if that’s true for Bruins.
For the series Leafs are 1-11 on PP, bruins are 5-10.

I don't take him too seriously and actually find him kind of fun.

If you enjoy, nails on a chalkboard and screaming, sure.

 

[Pierre Larouche]

That’s a cool quote. But it was mostly Tkachuk who impacted that series. Tkachuk started to be a heavy irritant around the time Florida was about to be bounced. And around the same time, each team got a couple of guys back from injury. Bergeron came back for Boston and Florida got Bennett back. Bergeron is a HOFer but at that moment in time, Bennett was a more impactful player. The combination of Tkachuk and Bennett was too much sandpaper for Boston.

Bobrovsky was the #1 reason the Panthers advanced. He turned into a brick wall and gave the FLA even more confidence.

That wasn’t really what happened in the Florida series though. Boston’s goaltending imploded.

That was part of it.

 

[thegazelle]

Not sure if that’s true for Bruins.
For the series Leafs are 1-11 on PP, bruins are 5-10.

True enough. I was thinking primarily of the too many men on the ice penalties in game 2 and I think Bruins got away with another yesterday. But even if the Leafs are not scoring, giving them that many chances is bound to come back and haunt the Bruins.

Even though I am not a Leafs fan, I don't think they are playing poorly overall; they aren't getting certain bounces, and they are taking some dumb penalties, but they are keeping pressure in the Boston zone and it SEEMS like the Leafs' time in their opponents' zone is greater than the time they spent in the Leafs' zone. Hard for me to quantify since I wasn't taking notes nor watching statistics, but absent the Tavares penalty at the end, I honestly thought that the Leafs were about to tie it.

During the regular season they seemed to get into OT a lot this way with late goals. Was hoping to see the game go into OT and was glad to see OT in the later Oilers game (happy to see Hyman scored again - I always thought the Leafs should have kept him) but disappointed in the result when LA scored in OT.

 

[Breakers]

Im liking Toronto's 4th line

decent scoring chances and longer offensive zone shifts

 

[Score08]

True enough. I was thinking primarily of the too many men on the ice penalties in game 2 and I think Bruins got away with another yesterday. But even if the Leafs are not scoring, giving them that many chances is bound to come back and haunt the Bruins.

Even though I am not a Leafs fan, I don't think they are playing poorly overall; they aren't getting certain bounces, and they are taking some dumb penalties, but they are keeping pressure in the Boston zone and it SEEMS like the Leafs' time in their opponents' zone is greater than the time they spent in the Leafs' zone. Hard for me to quantify since I wasn't taking notes nor watching statistics, but absent the Tavares penalty at the end, I honestly thought that the Leafs were about to tie it.

During the regular season they seemed to get into OT a lot this way with late goals. Was hoping to see the game go into OT and was glad to see OT in the later Oilers game (happy to see Hyman scored again - I always thought the Leafs should have kept him) but disappointed in the result when LA scored in OT.

If we are going to count missed chances and bounces, I think the b’s 10+ post shots just entered the chat.