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Series Talk: Leafs vs Bruins - 'ah shit here we go again' edition -- Full schedule post #933

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JKG33 said:
Boston has the reigning Vezina winner who's likely their back-up, meaning they have another goalie better than him, and you think up against the Leafs bargain bin goalies it's a wash?

That might be one of the funniest things I've ever seen on this site
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The Bruins have home ice advantage, more playoff experience, a better penalty kill and more reliable goaltending. They also should enter this matchup with plenty of confidence given their recent success against the Leafs. It wouldn't be shocking if the Leafs won this series, and they certainly are capable of getting hot offensively with all of their elite scoring talent, but the Bruins have the edge in too many important areas.

Swayman owns the Leafs but has been MEH since the TDL.

The decision for Montgomery comes down to Swayman's career excellence against the Leafs versus Ullmark's overall brilliance down the stretch. Regardless of who plays, the Bruins should have the edge at this position throughout the series.

Goaltending is the weakest area of this Leafs roster, and it hasn't looked good of late, either. Samsonov and Woll have allowed a combined 15 goals over the Leafs' last three games.


Have to agree, goaltending is a wash. LOL.
 
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Evilhomer said:
It's not counting on it. It's more that for now there isn't evidence to suggest that Boston has some monumental goaltending advantage. I think it's basically just a wash.
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You started by saying that "their goalies are noticeably worse in the playoffs", that's quite a bit different from saying they don't have a "monumental goaltending advantage".
 
JKG33 said:
Boston has the reigning Vezina winner who's likely their back-up, meaning they have another goalie better than him, and you think up against the Leafs bargain bin goalies it's a wash?

That might be one of the funniest things I've ever seen on this site
Click to expand...
I invite you to ask a Boston fan what they think of Ullmark, despite his ridiculous numbers last season, and then consider that despite those ridiculous numbers he still can't win the starter's job on his own team. Boston's goalies benefit from the structure the team plays under. That structure is what the Leafs offense will need to break. If they can't, then Boston's goalies won't really matter because they will have an easy time of things anyway. But if Boston is left to rely on their goalies, I think they will be in trouble, and that would be the case whether they were playing Toronto, Florida or Tampa. It's why they lost to Florida last year and Carolina the year prior.

In other words, the key will be Toronto's ability to pressure Boston's defense to create chances. If they can, I think Toronto will win in relatively short order. If they can't, then it will probably be a series of 2-1 and 3-2 games that end in overtime, which will mostly be a coin flip.
 
JKG33 said:
On one hand, the Bruins don't have Bergeron or Rask anymore. This is a much better matchup than Florida who would've rolled the Leafs in 5 again.

On the other, literally the only thing the Leafs have better than Boston is the top 6 forwards. Bottom 6, defence, goaltending, and coaching is all Boston.

I honestly don't know who to predict in this one
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Really? Their bottom 6 doesn't impress/worry me too much at all outside of Trent Frederic. I think when we potentially have one of Nylander or JT on the third line it pushes our side above theirs, not to mention some of the other pieces we have.
 
Evilhomer said:
I invite you to ask a Boston fan what they think of Ullmark, despite his ridiculous numbers last season, and then consider that despite those ridiculous numbers he still can't win the starter's job on his own team. Boston's goalies benefit from the structure the team plays under. That structure is what the Leafs offense will need to break. If they can't, then Boston's goalies won't really matter because they will have an easy time of things anyway. But if Boston is left to rely on their goalies, I think they will be in trouble, and that would be the case whether they were playing Toronto, Florida or Tampa. It's why they lost to Florida last year and Carolina the year prior.

In other words, the key will be Toronto's ability to pressure Boston's defense to create chances. If they can, I think Toronto will win in relatively short order. If they can't, then it will probably be a series of 2-1 and 3-2 games that end in overtime, which will mostly be a coin flip.
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Can't win the starters net? They're transitioning over to the younger guy, that's typically what happens. And even then they're still damn near rotating every game when both are healthy. They're sticking with what worked.

For over a decade we as Leafs fans have been begging for a goalie that's even half as good as Ullmark. It's not just Boston's system, he was a stud on the dumpster fire that is Buffalo too
 
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honestly at this point if they are going to win or lose in the first round I'd rather it be the Bruins

if they win, theyve beat the bruins and the past demons
if they lose, its hopefully a fitting end to this
 
Evilhomer said:
It's not counting on it. It's more that for now there isn't evidence to suggest that Boston has some monumental goaltending advantage. I think it's basically just a wash.
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The only thing Bruins goalies don't have is proven playoff experience. Samsonov has more playoff series wins than either of them.

Looking at their stats though, it's not even close. Both of them at .915 SV% in a very high scoring year. If either of them had played 60 games instead of 40/40 each, they would win the Vezina.

Our goalies aren't even .900.
 
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JKG33 said:
Can't win the starters net? They're transitioning over to the younger guy, that's typically what happens. And even then they're still damn near rotating every game when both are healthy. They're sticking with what worked.

For over a decade we as Leafs fans have been begging for a goalie that's even half as good as Ullmark. It's not just Boston's system, he was a stud on the dumpster fire that is Buffalo too
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I wonder if it is more that they don't yet trust the younger guy enough to give him the job (although there were rumors that they were trying to trade Ulllmark this season). All I am saying is it won't be a series where Boston's goalies simply steal every game. It will be about Toronto's ability to break Boston's structure, as other teams have done in every recent Bruins playoff failure. Pressure their defense and force turnovers.
 
Evilhomer said:
I invite you to ask a Boston fan what they think of Ullmark, despite his ridiculous numbers last season, and then consider that despite those ridiculous numbers he still can't win the starter's job on his own team. Boston's goalies benefit from the structure the team plays under. That structure is what the Leafs offense will need to break. If they can't, then Boston's goalies won't really matter because they will have an easy time of things anyway. But if Boston is left to rely on their goalies, I think they will be in trouble, and that would be the case whether they were playing Toronto, Florida or Tampa. It's why they lost to Florida last year and Carolina the year prior.

In other words, the key will be Toronto's ability to pressure Boston's defense to create chances. If they can, I think Toronto will win in relatively short order. If they can't, then it will probably be a series of 2-1 and 3-2 games that end in overtime, which will mostly be a coin flip.
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We've been goalied for by every goalie we've seen in the playoffs except for one series where Vasi was a sieve. I think Montgomery learned his lesson last year against Florida when he switched to Swayman too late. I am expecting games to be close and the series a coin flip if our D and G can hold up to the Bruins pressure. If not, it will be Bruins in 5 or 6 IMO.
 
ToneDog said:
We've been goalied for by every goalie we've seen in the playoffs except for one series where Vasi was a sieve. I think Montgomery learned his lesson last year against Florida when he switched to Swayman too late. I am expecting games to be close and the series a coin flip if our D and G can hold up to the Bruins pressure. If not, it will be Bruins in 5 or 6 IMO.
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If Montgomery loses in the first round again I imagine he will be fired. This is one of the few match-ups where the Leafs probably have the better coach, for whatever that is worth.
 
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