they are struggling mightily with a Toronto team that has not impressed and required 6 games and 3 OTs for the Senators. a post from needing a game 7 coin flip. whereas last year they bulldozed everyone on their way to the finals.
Maybe Toronto improved ? They won the division after all … I feel this is the narrative developing … no one gave them a chance to start the series now they aren’t getting credit for staying w the cup champs and “ Florida has obviously regressed because of x (despite adding Jones and Marchy )”
Toronto played a tight series against the Senators. I guarantee that the team that ends up winning the cup would have swept the Senators.
Leafs are better than last year's Bruins and Rangers and Ottawa had good defensive metrics all year and the leafs were very close to sweeping them......
to guarantee a probably is to guarantee nothing at all
Leafs aren't an elite team. they have no bottom sixth scoring and their defense isn't that strong either. they aren't built like a titan that would have swept the Senators, hence they needed 3 OTs in a tight 6 game series
Ya if leafs win all 3 OT games it’s a sweep, if Sens win all 3 0T games, Sens win the series in 5.
Can't truly know until they play......
One of only 6 teams left and taking the team that stylistically gives them a matchup headache to 7 games ....... I think they're doing just fine......
perhaps, I just don't see it that way because of first series + the fact that Toronto's roster isn't even elite since Matthews doesn't perform and regresses into a 7M/y 30 goal guy. It's basically Marner + Nylander + 35 year old Tavares and no standout defensemen. That's a far cry from a juggernaut that would have taken last year's Florida team to 7 games, further than any Eastern team did that year
That's a great question and definitely an impact to consider. Let's take his two most recent elimination games. 8.11 ga 742sv% and 1.00ga 958sv%. One in the Vegas finals the other against Edmonton. Those were the last elimination games played. Last year they let Edmonton force a game 7 from 3-0 and under that pressure he did extremely well. In the end, who knows. Only know once the game is over which goalie came up clutch.
Has there been any sweeps so far this post seasom? Sens are much better than you give them credit for( actually very close to Florida regular season point total ; albeit w injuries ) . Shouldn’t Florida be dog walking Toronto if they are such a layup ?
1.They're worse than last year
Is a d corps with Tanev , McCabe , Rielly , Carlo, OEL and Benoit really a weakness ? Yeesh . Pretty solid group
it's good but there are no stand out D. with Matthews' annual regression, they still have a good top six but zero depth scoring, last year's Florida team would have been way too strong for this Leaf's roster. last year's Florida team won the cup. you can't really believe that this Leaf's roster would have taken last year's cup winners to 7
I’d argue Tanev is one of the best defensive d men in the league .. he’s an offensive black whole but defensively he certainly qualifies. Anyway guess we’ll see . I’m just anticipating lots of coping if the upset happens ( and tons of trolling conversely if Toronto loses another game 7 ) .
Ah yes, I should have known the Leafs have no defenseman on their team right now that can match up with defensive juggernauts Cody Ceci and Darnell Nurse.
he definitely is, but he's still just a 4.5m d-man, he's not going to give you prototypical cup winning 1D impact
it's not just straight up D vs D. it's the overall weakness of the Leaf's roster which includes their D and a total black hole of forward depth. that's too much for Nylander and a 180lb Marner to overcome on a deep run
