Post-Game Talk: The legendary Maple Leafs win! Game 1 vs tampa

[supermann_98]

lol thanks for "giving" us a "freebie" Tampa

Cooper getting his excuses in early

Let them keep that "it's not them, it's us" mentality.

Hopefully in their arrogance they find themselves down a hole they can't dig out of when they finally realize they gotta change some things

 

[mapleleafs34]

Exactly. You know Keefe will put him on the ice again right away though because he’s got his guys that he leans on.

I wouldn’t put him on the ice because the refs will give him absolutely no benefit of the doubt. If it’s close call and he’s involved, it’s a penalty.

Lets hope the league makes the decision for Keefe and suspends him 1-2 games. Then by that time, Bunting should be back and there will be no room for Clifford.

 

[ToneDog]

TB looked tired and uninterested and could barely string 3 consecutive passes together and looked they were a man down while on the PP.

Coach Cooper must have sensed something, because even in his pregame press conference he began his sentences with "If we lose ..." "its a long playoffs..".

His pregame interview sounded more like a post game press conference.

If our Leafs played a game like that I would be thinking playoff series sweep. so its really nice to be landing on the positive side of what TB must have thought was an embarrassing effort and performance all around.

Rather then the Cup champs they looked more like a non playoff team simply playing out the season.

Game #1 - Leafs Awesome & Lightening Brutal

If they are indeed as tired as some insiders have suggested, you gotta skate them into the ice. A couple of those Simmonds and Clifford hits will soften them up and perhaps reduce some of their will to win.

 

[Sypher04]

Credit to Dubas for bringing in these guys this year: Kampf, Kase, Blackwell, Giordano, Boosh, Bunting. Really changed the dynamic of the team i believe.

Not just that, but also sticking to his guns and not moving any of Mikheyev, Engvall or Kerfoot despite mounting pressure to do so. We’ve seen best versions of Mikheyev and Engvall this year but large margins. Hell, Pierre even hits, scrums and gets pissed off out there now which is just a huge progression in his game

 

[notbias]

If you think that Tampa came out with vengeance last night, I have a bridge to sell you. This game was a combination of us playing amazing as well as them playing like shit. Which is why it wasn't close at all.

Fully expect that game two is going to look completely different because this is the 2 time Stanley cup champions. They know how to win and what it takes. I fully expect a message to be sent by them game two.

If they do not do that and it's lopsided again then something is seriously wrong in their locker room.

They also lost a 10 million dollar advantage from last year and we got rid of our 10 million dollar handicap.

Tampa tends to bully teams but none of them seemed like they wanted to push teams around, I think the 8-1 game may have reminded them that the Leafs are only soft by reputation too.

I think we match up really well against Tamp and the only place they are better is in goal.

 

[Zybalto]

Top 5v5 xGF% for forwards in the playoffs 2019-now (min 150 minutes played, 159 forwards total)

REL and on-ice shooting% included

1. Marner: 66.15 (+14.69 REL, 4.64 shooting%)
2. Draisaitl: 64.70 (+12.06 REL, 8.98 shooting%)
3. McDavid: 62.57 (+8.71 REL, 9.62 shooting%)
4. Karlsson: 62.27 (+6.45 REL, 8.92 shooting%)
5. O'Reilly: 62.21 (+24.45 REL, 7.01 shooting%)
6. Tuch: 61.81 (+5.64 REL, 7.45 shooting%)
7. Matthews: 61.48 (+8.32 REL, 4.07 shooting%)
8. Carrier: 61.07 (+3.96 REL, 6.40 shooting%)
9. Landeskog: 60.09 (+8.67 REL, 9.76 shooting%)
10. Bergeron: 59.88 (+9.02 REL, 6.16 shooting%)

Nice to see Marner finally rewarded with some points last night but even then his(and Matthews) shooting % remains way too low compared with where it normally is.

With Matthews wrist obviously working better now, I expect that number to keep rising but with Vasy in net you never know. They both should probably have a ton of more points based on their statistical level of play.

Draisaitl and McDavid are still suffering from poor depth/goaltending problems after game 1 even if they are getting points themselves.

Oh, and O'Reilly's REL number is absolutely insane.

 

[Mess]

If they are indeed as tired as some insiders have suggested, you gotta skate them into the ice. A couple of those Simmonds and Clifford hits will soften them up and perhaps reduce some of their will to win.

Clifford might still get suspended .. But if I were Keefe I wouldn't dress him for another playoff game this year.

Leafs need to continue to hit and finish checks and play physical, but what Clifford did doesn't belong in the game, and he could really have hurt the Leafs, had TB made them pay for that indiscretion, with their 5 minute PP.

 

[fahad203]

Woke up this morning. Leafs won. Oilers lost and im on a flight to Mexico

 

[notbias]

Clifford might still get suspended .. But if I were Keefe I wouldn't dress him for another playoff game this year.

Leafs need to continue to hit and finish checks and play physical, but what Clifford did doesn't belong in the game, and he could really have hurt the Leafs, had TB made them pay for that indiscretion, with their 5 minute PP.

Let him go another game, he is more useful than anyone else we can dress, and if we gave Kadri multiple years to redeem himself, Clifford deserves another game.

I'd also think the 1 game he served is enough.

 

[ToneDog]

Clifford might still get suspended .. But if I were Keefe I wouldn't dress him for another playoff game this year.

Leafs need to continue to hit and finish checks and play physical, but what Clifford did doesn't belong in the game, and he could really have hurt the Leafs, had TB made them pay for that indiscretion, with their 5 minute PP.

Keefe said it was a mistake but from listening to him, I doubt he pulls the plug on him just yet.

As for the suspension, he pretty much missed a playoff game so I'm hoping for a fine (max).

 

[Sypher04]

If they are indeed as tired as some insiders have suggested, you gotta skate them into the ice. A couple of those Simmonds and Clifford hits will soften them up and perhaps reduce some of their will to win.

Calling Tampa tired is such a lazy media narrative designed solely to diminish the Leafs accomplishment should they win this series

There is no excuse for Tampa to be tired.

March 12th, 2020:
Season is paused due to covid

3 1/2 months later they played in the bubble. Lasting 2 months, winning the cup in September 2020.

3 1/2 months later the new season began Jan 13th, 2020. It would only be 56 games. 26 less than usual regular season

They would make the playoffs and win the cup again, playing 23 games from may 16 to July 7th

In other words including regular season and playoffs, still less than a typical 82 game season would have been.

 

[banks]

I think it's worth acknowledging the regular season success that the Leafs had this year, because it got them home-ice advantage. The Atlantic is stacked with power house teams, and the Leafs needed a great year to land 2nd.

Everyone, including Keefe, is talking about the crowd last night, and how they carried the team and the momentum. That's only possible in game 1 because they have home ice in this round. Keeping ahead of Tampa in the regular season has already made a difference.

Credit to the strong season that everyone put together. It's all going to pay off.

 

[ToneDog]

Calling Tampa tired is such a lazy media narrative designed solely to diminish the Leafs accomplishment should they win this series

There is no excuse for Tampa to be tired.

March 12th, 2020:
Season is paused due to covid

3 1/2 months later they played in the bubble. Lasting 2 months, winning the cup in September 2020.

3 1/2 months later the new season began Jan 13th, 2020. It would only be 56 games. 26 less than usual regular season

They would make the playoffs and win the cup again, playing 23 games from may 16 to July 7th

In other words including regular season and playoffs, still less than a typical 82 game season would have been.

Perhaps but it was talked about a week or two before going into the playoffs when they were losing and it was coming from hockey people. Stamkos certainly wasn't tired putting up 2 points per game in his last 10??? Either way skate the hell out of them and hit their dmen like you did last night.

 

[CuuuJooo]

I want to hope.

But I’ve been burned so many times.

1993 still keeps me up at night.

 

[ToneDog]

I want to hope.

But I’ve been burned so many times.

1993 still keeps me up at night.

You might need therapy if 1993 is keeping you up at night

 

[TheShape]

Clifford is in again as long as he isn’t suspended. I was irate with his hit at the time, but if Maroon and Perry are going to continue to goon it up then Simmonds will need some help.

5-0 spotless win, Keefe shouldn’t change anything for game 2 if he doesn’t need to.

 

[3blizzard4]

Maroon going after Rielly and got a few cheap shots in against a top non-fighter player?

Wow.

 

[CuuuJooo]

You might need therapy if 1993 is keeping you up at night

That one really hurt. Freaking Fraser.

The presence of an obnoxious Canadiens fan “friend“ when Gretzky started doing Gretzky things in Game 7 didn’t help.

 

[Twine Tickler]

What a time to save your best game of the year am I right?

Extremely proud of the boys for their effort start to finish. Just a gutsy gutsy W. 13 Mins of PK in the first 35 mins of the game, and I am almost certain we probably commanded the lion share of xGF in that 13 mins. Just outstanding.

You really could not have scripted a more ideal start to this postseason.

-Soup Shutty, and looked sharp
-Marner was our best player by a mile. He broke his 18 game goalless drought and was instrumental in our PK. Maybe one of his best games ever given the pressure TBH. Just an ideal scenario
-Matthews gets 2 bingo's to feel good about himself
-Kase with 2 helpers and looked alive and well
-Liljegren did not look at all like the moment was too big for him.
-As a team I think we blocked more shots yesterday than ever before. Even Willy had a shot block lol. Although I am not convinced Willy actually went all out to block it haha, pretty sure it just kind of hit him. But nonetheless it happend
-The crowd was the best I've seen since the early 2000's. If we can show that support every night, these boys will run with it. Keep that shit up!!!!

This series is far from over as we all know. Great start, but plenty more work to do. Enjoy the win, but it's gotta be all business as of this morning. TB will be better going forward.

GO LEAFS GO!!!!!

 

[Mess]

Let him go another game, he is more useful than anyone else we can dress, and if we gave Kadri multiple years to redeem himself, Clifford deserves another game.

I'd also think the 1 game he served is enough.

If Clifford can't control his own emotions, then there is no need for Leafs dressing a knuckle dragging goon that is out there to injury players, and hurt his own team in the process.

Leafs could no doubt use his physicality to offset TB's 4th line, but I'd rather dress Spezza and hurt them with a potential goal, for then hurt the Leafs with potential goals against.

Had TB lite up the Leafs with a couple of PP goals on that 5 min major, and put Leafs in a deep hole in the 1st 10 minutes, I doubt you would be so willing to give him a second chance.

When Bunting returns there would be no place for Clifford anyways in the starting line-up.

 

[ErnieLeafs]

Cliff has to be back in the first game in Tampa. They’ll try all kinds of nonsense

 

[notbias]

If Clifford can't control his emotions, then there is no need for Leafs dressing a knuckle dragging goon that is out there to injury players, and hurt his own team in the process.

Leafs could no doubt use his physicality to offset TB's 4th line, but I'd rather dress Spezza and hurt them with a potential goal, for then hurt the Leafs with potential goals against.

When Bunting returns there would be no place for Clifford anyways in the starting line-up.

Not sure that Spezza is a threat for potential goals (outside of minimal PP2 time), dress the player who has the biggest impact which is Clifford at this moment.

See how Clifford plays in game 2, but I think there is potential that our lineup looks better with Clifford instead of Blackwell, I think it may keep teams more honest (and Clifford has actually looked okay in the games he's played), so maybe he stays when Bunting gets back

 

[ShaneFalco]

Cliff has to be back in the first game in Tampa. They’ll try all kinds of nonsense

Agreed! he just needs to tone it down a tad.

 

[al secord]

They were one of if not THE hottest team going into the playoffs. They certainly aren't tired.

Having said that, let's step on their necks.

Post automatically merged: May 3, 2022

If Clifford can't control his own emotions, then there is no need for Leafs dressing a knuckle dragging goon that is out there to injury players, and hurt his own team in the process.

Leafs could no doubt use his physicality to offset TB's 4th line, but I'd rather dress Spezza and hurt them with a potential goal, for then hurt the Leafs with potential goals against.

Had TB lite up the Leafs with a couple of PP goals on that 5 min major, and put Leafs in a deep hole in the 1st 10 minutes, I doubt you would be so willing to give him a second chance.

When Bunting returns there would be no place for Clifford anyways in the starting line-up.

Rough night, eh?

 

[frog]

Clifford is the guy that transforms leafs from a soft team to a tough team.. He plays a minor role but makes a big difference. He is a smart player and is experienced enough to avoid those dirty hits most of the time.. Hard to tow that line but he can and will stay within the rules...even if he crossed it this time. Cliff in the lineup is a must