Post-Game Talk: Leafs Book Their Tickets for Game 7 [MOD WARNING in OP]

[seventieslord]

Everyone but the Cup winner folds to good teams. In the last 6 years Carolina has only lost once in the First round and made the Final 4 twice. Sounds like a contender to me. They are currently the odds on betting favorite to win the cup, but I guess you know more than the experts that set the betting lines.

NHL Futures: Stanley Cup Odds For 2025

See the latest NHL Futures & Stanley Cup Odds for 2024-25 season along with more NHL Betting Resources at VegasInsider.

www.vegasinsider.com

The reason they are the odds-on favourite is pretty obvious - they are the only team to be a sure thing to play in the second round.

 

[ToneDog]

if there is a silver lining, they lost game 5 at home vs Tampa and closed them out in game 6 in Tampa. Unfortunately Ullmark stopped playing like Vasi did in that series so these guys may have to work a little harder to close out the Sens. If they lose in 7, they will have to live with it.

 

[notbias]

he's a winner, he saw the lay of the land and decided this group wasn't worth staying for..........

No one can be this delusional and think his priority was winning when he went to Nashville, right?

 

[Gary Nylund]

I hope so, but my guess is that lots of Leafs fans will do the pound their chest routine anyway.

You're one to talk LOL. All you do is predict that we win this, win that, It started more than a year ago when you said we'd take over first place in December and stay there which obviously turned out to be a complete joke and your predictions have become a running joke around here. IIRC you said this series was over even before game 2 started and we're going to the finals, Florida is the only team that has a chance against us and a bunch of other nonsense.

 

[Gary Nylund]

The reason they are the odds-on favourite is pretty obvious - they are the only team to be a sure thing to play in the second round.

Mind you they were the top favorites before the playoffs started as well.

 

[authentic]

if there is a silver lining, they lost game 5 at home vs Tampa and closed them out in game 6 in Tampa. Unfortunately Ullmark stopped playing like Vasi did in that series so these guys may have to work a little harder to close out the Sens. If they lose in 7, they will have to live with it.

If they lose in 7 I’m pretty sure we can all just have a good laugh about it and move on with our lives

 

[LeafsStorm]

Turned it off after the short handed goal against and went to bed spewing curses

Hoping for the same effort in the last two minutes of the second but for a whole game

 

[3blizzard4]

Highest paid player has two goals in his last 11 playoffs games. Ridiculous. He is my favorite player. I have three jerseys of his. But this is abysmal.

And last night's game might have been his worst in a long time.

 

[LeafsStorm]

Also we need more offense for game six

Bring in Nicky Bobby and see if he can buy us a goal

 

[Tak7]

So they have "Learned Helplessness"? If they know the narrative, why don't they try to change it? I am sick of looking at their blank/sulking faces in elimination games.

Because they aren't good enough.

 

[arso40]

Nylander has been far worse, defensively alone Matthews brings more value than Nylanders overall play.

Also our stars always score well the first 5 games.

Nylander is playing with holmberg and still produces in the latter part of the series might be why hes not getting crucified as much as the other two but make no mistake there’s a bunch of guys on here that have been on him from the beginning and in my eyes he deserves almost the same amount of scrutiny as the other two bozos only difference is Hes playing with holmberg right now the guy that even magic Mitch in the regular season couldn’t produce with otherwise it would be full on lynching from me anyway I’m sicc of them they’ve broken my heart

 

[authentic]

Also we need more offense for game six

Bring in Nicky Bobby and see if he can buy us a goal

We need to win game 6 in convincing fashion. Get Patches out of there, he’s a big slug who brings nothing to the table. That seems to be tradition with this team, fill the bottom six with useless players while people who can score goals sit out. Ironic considering we can’t score goals in elimination games.

 

[slozo]

38 pages and counting . . . ugh. And yeah I get it - it stings bad for me as well, I'm over 50, I've been a fan of this team a long time, I get it.

BUT - and there is a but!!! - BUT, I actually thought the Leafs played well enough to win, had their chances, played well enough to win. Stollie only lets in 2, we should be able to score 3 goals, especially with the chances we had.

Ullmark just had a hell of a game, their D saved some stuff too, and our guys didn't finish - namely Matthews and Nylander.

I think the desperation pendulum will swing the other way now in the Leafs favour - Ottawa will now be expected to win at home; Leafs will fully feel "desperate" at this point and not make it a coin-flip game 7; and Ottawa will be feeling REALLY good about themselves, especially as a young, inexperienced team (and that is poison in the playoffs, as the Leafs should know).

So everyone just take a nice deep breath . . . exhale . . . do again several times as needed . . . and relax. We don't even need our supposed captain Matty to lead us - because I don't think he can, btw - we have lots of other great pieces and a great team. Berube is going to make sure we close this out, he's got the right mentality for this team, and he will set them straight.

We're going to make the second round folks.

 

[ToneDog]

Highest paid player has two goals in his last 11 playoffs games. Ridiculous. He is my favorite player. I have three jerseys of his. But this is abysmal.

And last night's game might have been his worst in a long time.

It is actually 2 in last 15 games. 5 vs Florida, 5 vs Boston and 5 vs Ottawa.

He went off a cliff after celebrating like he won the SC after beating Tampa.

 

[likecheese]

If they lose in 7 I’m pretty sure we can all just have a good laugh about it and move on with our lives

And find a different winter pastime next year, which will probably be healthy anyway.

 

[yubbers]

This is realistically AMs last chance. If he can't take over 1 of 4 games in this series to close it out....I'm f***in down with him.

Move him...let Marner walk and time to start over.

 

[Madap]

38 pages and counting . . . ugh. And yeah I get it - it stings bad for me as well, I'm over 50, I've been a fan of this team a long time, I get it.

BUT - and there is a but!!! - BUT, I actually thought the Leafs played well enough to win, had their chances, played well enough to win. Stollie only lets in 2, we should be able to score 3 goals, especially with the chances we had.

Ullmark just had a hell of a game, their D saved some stuff too, and our guys didn't finish - namely Matthews and Nylander.

I think the desperation pendulum will swing the other way now in the Leafs favour - Ottawa will now be expected to win at home; Leafs will fully feel "desperate" at this point and not make it a coin-flip game 7; and Ottawa will be feeling REALLY good about themselves, especially as a young, inexperienced team (and that is poison in the playoffs, as the Leafs should know).

So everyone just take a nice deep breath . . . exhale . . . do again several times as needed . . . and relax. We don't even need our supposed captain Matty to lead us - because I don't think he can, btw - we have lots of other great pieces and a great team. Berube is going to make sure we close this out, he's got the right mentality for this team, and he will set them straight.

We're going to make the second round folks.

I disagree, we had very little good chances. Just shooting the puck on the net. And it’s been like that every year. Poor chances masquerading themselves like us “playing better than the other team and getting goalied”.

Aside from that, It’s not a matter of making the second round. I’m sure even these core losers can fluke out an elimination game against Ottawa in 4 tries.

These games are a sign of what’s to come in future series and that’s what everyone is worried about. People have zero confidence in this team. 1-14 elimination games is perhaps the most pathetic record in all of sports. Can anyone name a single team that has done worse? Marners 0 goals and 4 points or whatever is horrible and Matthews isn’t much better.

Fans are allowed to be upset even if they win this series. Only the leafs can make their fans hate having a 3-0 lead in a series. 4-0 shutout at home after fans being excited? Pathetic.

 

[Willchel Marlynder]

Split up Marner and Matthews. I've accepted that the Leafs may choke, but if they choke with these guys playing together doing nothing for the 5th or 6th year I will crash out and end up in a hospital. Please don't do that to me Berube. Split these two clowns up ASAP.

 

[Brown Dog]

I choose to remain optimistic. It’s a different team, and I believe they are more mentally composed. The criticism is absolutely warranted, but they were due to face some adversity. I thought they were the better team in each of the first 4 games. Last night’s I’d give to Ottawa. They won’t be the better team every night. We got no breaks/bounces and had numerous chances to score. Ottawa is back in this series on the back of two seeing eye shots.

We won’t keep giving up short handed goals.

Let’s see what adjustments are made and how they respond. Hopefully they can take that step we are all looking to them to take next game.

Appreciate the level-headed response and optimism. With this franchise's history, it's so easy to go down a rabbit-hole of doomsday scenarios, which is of course a form of coping.

Like many (most?) others, I am mentally preparing for the worst as a form of psychic and emotional self-preservation.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

If Ottawa isn't a terrible team then what can we truly classify as a "terrible team"?

Chicago.

 

[Willchel Marlynder]

3 goals have come in 5 games when the top 6 isn't on the ice, 2 of them being all the way in game 1.. 4 games ago..... in other words, in 4 games, 1 goal has come when Toronto's top 6 isn't on the ice.

You will not win any series when you're entire bottom 6 doesn't contribute to the offence.

Our top guys make too much money so we can't afford a quality bottom 6. Matthews 13M, Nylander 11M, Marner 11M, JT 11M. We're top heavy as shit. When you're that top heavy the people on the top have to produce. Period. If they can't then trade them so we can have a more balanced team. Two $6M forwards give you more playoff goals then Matthews over the last 15 playoff games.

 

[Brown Dog]

if there is a silver lining, they lost game 5 at home vs Tampa and closed them out in game 6 in Tampa. Unfortunately Ullmark stopped playing like Vasi did in that series so these guys may have to work a little harder to close out the Sens. If they lose in 7, they will have to live with it.

Thinking back to that series-clinching win over TB in Game 6, they still only scored two goals and it took OT. Offense going AWOL has been the story in so many of these games. Feels like scoring early is vital in Game 6 to break the ice and not be chasing the game.

 

[Fogelhund]

Zero regulation goals, from the bottom six, in the series.

 

[authentic]

And find a different winter pastime next year, which will probably be healthy anyway.

I won’t lie, I didn’t watch one full leafs game this entire season for the first time, the playoffs are all I care about. I probably won’t watch at all anymore if we lose this round.

 

[ACC1224]

Thinking back to that series-clinching win over TB in Game 6, they still only scored two goals and it took OT. Offense going AWOL has been the story in so many of these games. Feels like scoring early is vital in Game 6 to break the ice and not be chasing the game.

If Matthews could have scored on that early 2 on 1 things could have played out much differently.