Pre-Game Talk: Game 4 -> SWEEP or Comeback to win it in 7?

[Buds17]

Quite the spot in which to make one's first playoff start! All the best to Joseph Woll!

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Well only good news my friends is we will get to see if Woll is gonna be da guy here or not .. this lineup by Keefer not likely to score much so it will be decided by Woll .. i put my $$$ on Woll only because I have seen him play in totally one sided games and win them by himself .. and he gets more clutch as you get to championship finals .. but now da big question can he put an NHL team in playoffs in a do or die game on his back and win .. i know you guys aren't gonna believe it but you will see soon .. da kid has it .. he was made for it .. can he do 4 in a row well that's Conn Smyth stuff in round 2 which is way way way over da top

 

[SprDaVE]

For the love of god split up Matthews and Marner - how many f***ing playoff losses does it take to realize they don't mesh well together for playoff hockey

They split them up all the time. It didn't work either. Come on...

 

[Rob Brown]

They split them up all the time. It didn't work either. Come on...

Didn't it actually work when he split them up vs. Tampa? I want to say in Game 4 when we were down 4-1 he split them up, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[1specter]

They split them up all the time. It didn't work either. Come on...

Didn't they have Nylander playing with Matthews for most of the Tampa series and that's the only round they've ever won?

 

[saffronleaf]

They should at least win one for Woll. Kid has played his heart out this season. Give him a playoff W he can remember and hang his hat on.

 

[keonsbitterness]

Lose tomorrow, locker clean out on Friday and Willy can play Sunday vs Aut and/or Monday against the Fins. That should motivate him.

You mean like how Ovechkin, Forsberg and countless other Europeans went when their teams were eliminated early?

With our stars being completely non existent they are BARELY winning. If our guys were scoring 3-4 goals a game and we still kept getting outplayed and lost, it would be a little different. The positive here is, if our guys show up, Florida is very beatable. The desperation and motivation will be there going into game 4.

They'll need to score 3-4 goals (or more) multiple times to win this series. I think they'll do it tomorrow. Hard for me to be confident beyond that.

 

[PROUD PAPA]

They should at least win one for Woll. Kid has played his heart out this season. Give him a playoff W he can remember and hang his hat on.

I was hoping his insertion into the last game would be a spark.

 

[SprDaVE]

Didn't they have Nylander playing with Matthews for most of the Tampa series and that's the only round they've ever won?

Pretty much 50/50 from what I recall. Really not much of an excuse to split or not though. We've won games while they were paired together. They've produced a lot together for a long time. If they can't do it together...

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Kerfoot-Tavares-Nylander
Giordano-Holl

Let’s do it Keefer you genius.

 

[SprDaVE]

Didn't it actually work when he split them up vs. Tampa? I want to say in Game 4 when we were down 4-1 he split them up, but maybe I'm wrong.

It worked with them playing together and them being split. It's just not something that really matters or to lose sleep over.

 

[Rob Brown]

It worked with them playing together and them being split. It's just not something that really matters or to lose sleep over.

Well, I think the fact that they have scored 0 goals in 3 games and looked really bad on Sunday means that something should give tomorrow. We can't really waste 40 minutes tomorrow hoping they do something only to change it in the last 10-20 minutes. Who knows, maybe they dominate together tomorrow, but they haven't vs. Florida at all.

 

[authentic]

FFS

That second line has been dogsh*t for two years now.

34 and 16 should be split apart too.

Fire Keefe into the sun.

And promoting Holl after his garbage playoffs, and atrocious game 3? What are we even doing here.

At the same time Giordano is clearly done so may as well try the line up without him and see what happens

The rest I agree with though

 

[SprDaVE]

Well, I think the fact that they have scored 0 goals in 3 games and looked really bad on Sunday means that something should give tomorrow. We can't really waste 40 minutes tomorrow hoping they do something only to change it in the last 10-20 minutes. Who knows, maybe they dominate together tomorrow, but they haven't vs. Florida at all.

They wouldn't have done it even if they weren't together. They played like shit. It wouldn't have mattered.

 

[Rob Brown]

They wouldn't have done it even if they weren't together. They played like shit. It wouldn't have mattered.

Why not? Why wouldn't giving them different looks with different linemates have helped? Couldn't have made anything worse. Sorry don't really understand.

 

[Buds17]

I was hoping his insertion into the last game would be a spark.

Have to hope that him being the guy in net from the start of the game this time will act as somewhat of a difference (maker). Would be great for the team to provide him with a bit of an offensive cushion as well.

 

[SprDaVE]

Why not? Why wouldn't giving them different looks with different linemates have helped? Couldn't have made anything worse. Sorry don't really understand.

They've played away from each other many times in these playoffs. It wasn't good either a lot of times. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. With how they both played, not sure I see why they can't work through it. But yeah, every time they struggle I guess splitting up MM and AM, or putting them back together, is the easiest thing to do as some sort of method to get players going.

I just think it's not the problem and playing your best with the best should result in more than 0 goals...

 

[PhiladelphiaKessel]

They may as well win on Wednesday so they can lose in front of another packed house at Scotia on Friday. They've become accustomed to being eliminated on home ice.

I see this as the most possible outcome

 

[On-the-Fly]

Weird that this is almost an even poll. What has this team shown you that makes you think they can accomplish a comeback? If you can stomach it, go back and look at Reinhart's OT goal. 4 guys could have stopped him. All they did was wave sticks at him and let him dance around the net for the wraparound. If they can't bring their A game to that situation, what exactly do you see changing for the next 3? Gimme a break. This is over. Sorry.

I don't usually look at polls at all here so I'm glad you mentioned that.

Game 4 is a coin flip in my eyes. Them showing wouldn't surprise me. Them shitting the bed again wouldn't surprise me.

But winning 4 elimination games in a row? I wouldn't bet a nickle.

 

[Racer88]

How do you get excited or pumped up for tomorrow nights game?
it’s been a long time since I have been so blah about a game……..no excitemen, no anger, no anticipation just indifference. I hope that changes before the game

 

[Eternal Leaf]

Love how he shows attitude to the media and then becomes a scared kitten on the ice.

 

[Suntouchable13]

How do you get excited or pumped up for tomorrow nights game?
it’s been a long time since I have been so blah about a game……..no excitemen, no anger, no anticipation just indifference. I hope that changes before the game

I will get excited/pumped for a game 6, if it gets there.

 

[Racer88]

I will get excited/pumped for a game 6, if it gets there.

That’s a good point

Trade him to Winnipeg or Vancouver……nobody likes it there

 

[Macallan18]

I think the Leafs will win tonight.
Then, who knows?

 

[Phion Keneuf]

The virgin Marner vs the chad Nylander.

Yeah Marner we can tell you’re focused on yourself. Got the money and doesn’t show up when it counts.

Prove us wrong. But you won’t.