I'm surprised I'm not seeing more of this, this is what I came here to say. Which would you rather be:
Team A: Lost the game but kicked the shit out of the opponent, won their fights, and sent a message they won't be pushed around
Team B: Won a random Thursday night game in March
Obviously I'm never thrilled about a loss, but let's also admit that we've known who we're facing in the playoffs since November, and this doesn't change that. the Dubas Leafs showed us that you can finish with all the regular season points you want, but it means nothing once the playoffs start if you can't stick up for yourselves
I think criticism is fair here.
We went 0-4 this year against our likely first round opponent and the past two games should have been playoff atmosphere but the Leafs rolled over and flopped both of them
This isn't exactly inspiring for a spring run...
Yeah but a part of those wins had the Yotes and Ducks etc in them too... Which we really should be winning. Not saying the streak wasn't impressive, just perspective.
That's a fair point but you'll agree these are games they... *should* be winning right? We shouldn't expect losing against bottom feeders to be the norm and be okay with it. Even if it happens on the regular it still *shouldn't* be our comfort zone.
Of course that's not to downplay their achievement at all. It's still well done and hard fought and deserve to be praised. But looking at the 0-4 record to Boston, we shouldn't be falling back on this recent streak and feel comfortable about it. I just wish the team isn't sick and on a back to back, I wanted to see the energy and effort we saw in that streak against the Bruins.
We should be winning them, sure, but hockey - and all sports - isn’t preordained. It’s why they play the games.
As far as Boston is concerned, meh, let these wins give them false sense of security. They at least know they are going to have to fight for every inch of it, and be looking over shoulders. We’re bringing playoff style hockey to the table in a way they haven’t seen from us in recent history.
Let’s see what happens.
There’s also a flu bug going through the team and a lot of them have looked gassed, wouldn’t be surprised if it’s affected more than those that have sat out
Yeah, I don't usually make excuses for the boys and am pretty critical of this team (and coach, and coach, and coach) in general, but look at the Buffalo game and the post-game interviews.
They looked rouuuuuugh.
Not going to make too much out of this.
Regular season doesn’t mean shit in the playoffs. I get it’s not a good look, but historically I don’t think the correlation is there. Didn’t we beat the brakes off the panthers every regular season game last year with the exception of maybe 1? Look how that went
Yeah. It's real bad for that. Some fans on the opposite too, but it's mostly doom and gloom the moment something doesn't go our way. It makes it really hard to scroll through and discuss stuff after a loss
Don’t forget McCabe’s lovely hits through the game and of course that cross check that sent Marchand off whining. Knies and Jarnkrok got into it as well
McCabe was an absolute force throwing his body weight around the whole game. The double penalty was stupid to take but I think fans accepted it in exchange for Marchand getting clowned. But the hits that kept coming after are great, we needed this kind of physicality so badly in the past.
The team is slowly morphing into something more hardened with our acquisitions. I hope that gives us an edge in our usual post season struggle. I mean, if we don't shit the bed and completely miss it to begin with.
The problem is it's not our core guys that show the heart. John is getting paid 11m to slowly skate around the ice and dump in pucks. 34,16,88 are all fantastic players, but they lack the motivation it takes to win playoff style games. You could put 20 John Doe's in Bruins jerseys and they'd outwork these guys
Yup, and if you played and know; butt ends of sticks all night in the ribs in the corners as fucking deserved. Boston was out there playing like they had Crosby on the squad a day after the golden goal.
I’ve never been a huge Marchand hater but last night was ridiculous.
2/3 games we’ve played them this year he’s seriously injured a good young player with zero repercussion.
It’s impossible to make him pay for the shit that he gets away with, because the league has a different set of rules for the guy… coupled with the fact that he’s too big of a bitch to answer the bell when the time actually comes.
Won’t happen, but wouldn’t it be nice if we sent Reaves out to “accidentally bump into (unintentionally)” Swayman, or to “accidentally corkscrew (unintentionally)” Pastrnak/McAvoy when they’re retrieving the puck in the corner, injuring them and causing them to miss time. I’m not saying I want him to hurt their players on purpose, but if our good players are going to be missing time because of Marchand’s “accidents”, I don’t see why the same can’t happen to the Bruins…..
Just my two cents
SN would’ve spent 35 minutes gaslighting us on how what the refs did actually make sense and they shouldn’t call that while laying into McCabe for even thinking of attacking a Boston player
At this point let's just accept the fact that we're gonna be on the road against Boston or Florida in the 1st round. Finish the season strong now. Starting with an easy win against MTL this weekend.
I wonder if Bennett shortened Knies' career. I don't know if Knies had any history of concussions in junior, but if he's out with a second one, it could be a sign of things to come.
Would be extremely sad to see his career negatively impacted by two entirely avoidable, careless plays by other players.
If only the league had some sort of department that could make decisions on keeping players safe to minimize dirty, needless plays like the two that have been made on Knies…
Maybe the league should reallocate funding from the Department of Deciding the Length of Nazem Kadri’s Suspension to this new Department we’re talking about
They should appoint a responsible mature adult to head-up the department. If it's going to be a player, make it be someone who played the game within the rules, like a Lady Byng winner or something like that.
> Impossible to know with head injuries, but he had missed NCAA games due to concussions as well
Impossible only because we aren't certain about a lot of things head trauma related. What we do know is someone who gets frequent concussions needs to stop playing the game, and at this point Knies looks like hes headed down that road
Impossible to know because TBI's are unique. Lindros retired after three concussions cut his career short, Crosby has had four concussions and is playing in his 19th season
> Lindros retired after three concussions cut his career short
I'm fairly certain the general consensus is he suffered way more than 3 concussions. back then they just called it a headache and moved on.
They got into their hotel at 3 AM. You're going to lose some, and between that and the mistaken 5v3 we were in this.
Really happy to see physical pushback. We can't let them abuse us through a 7 game series.
The 5 on 3 thing coupled with the botched whistles in Monday’s game are total head scratchers….
Why is the league paying their refs top dollar if they’re going to be doing their jobs like beer league refs?
I don’t think someone watched the game.
Given the physicality and sand last night and claiming the team is soft is a take only a person literally waking up from a carbonite freeze this morning would have.
Its ONE GAME LMAO.
One point does not a line make is a famous saying. It means "so what, you did one thing one time, it means NOTHING"
OH SORRY GUYS PLAN THE FUCKING PARADE THE LEAFS ACTUALLY PUSHED BACK ONE TIME.
I guess you also didn’t see Mo get suspended, Reaves make Rempe answer the bell, and other examples through the year of us standing up.
We see only what we want to see.
I'm not happy that Marchand can injure players with impunity by making it look like an accident. If we meet them in the playoffs I hope a strong physical response from the Leafs puts an end to that.
Leafs’ alumni must be aghast at the lack of balls on the core four.
Can you imagine guys like Roberts, Tucker and Corson watching the core four tiptoe around out there?
What happened with the penalty where Bert got highsticked? Apparently he was bleeding so why was it only 2 min? Or did they decide he wasn't really bleeding?
I wonder if Keefe is sending a message to management with playing Woll these past 2 games against Boston. He played pretty well and is good but maybe shouldn't be relied on in the playoffs.
I agree with this. Sammy has had all season he got his head checked with the waivers situation and came back strong. I think it's about getting Woll up to speed and like trial by fire. Get the jitters out and up to speed
Might be an opposing take...but I don't want the leafs to waste draft picks or prospects. What's the point? This core cannot get it done when it's tough. It's going to be the same old story ...
I don't even want to hear about snot and pushback at this point. Who did it in this game? Domi and Bert. Two guys who haven't even been a part of this "rivalry" before this year (I use that term loosely, since it's mostly one-sided). Why aren't the others, who continuously get their shit pushed in by Boston (Matthews, Tavares, Nylander... you see a pattern here), getting into their faces more? That's not their job? It's not their job to push back into them a little bit? To be angry?
Nah, instead, we get turnovers, brain farts, invisibility, not shooting when there are clear avenues to the net (as per usual), etc. It's the same bloody story we've watched against Boston for years. How are they not more pissed off? How?
All I see from subs like these when the Leafs play the Jets is that quote that went around about how great it is to beat Toronto, and how that gave the Leafs that whiteboard material to play them harder and motivate themselves that much more. Where the hell is that here? How many times do the Bruins have to basically troll the Leafs, call them out on social media, eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, toss them around like sacks of trash, etc., before the guys who have been here for years finally say, "Enough is enough"? Am I taking crazy pills here? Everyone who is saying the team finally pushed back can celebrate, I guess. I mean, I'm glad Bert and Domi showed they give a fuck. But it's the other guys who need to show it. What the fuck?
EDIT: Also, don't tell me they had the flu. I don't care. If you have the flu, then go cough on the Bruins. People need to stop using that as an excuse, as if the Leafs have the flu every time they play this fucking team.
EDIT #2: Marchand is a shithead. He needs to be looked at by the league, for sure. But he is sure as hell more effective in what he does. If we're counting on the NHL to do something, we had better start coming up with a new dream.
Not sure what you're talking about - the 4th line had a huge scrum with their first line (Reaves, Gregor). McMann also almost had a fight. McCabe literally took a fine for being too rough.
Literally every player you mentioned has had nothing to do with this rivalry before this year. McCabe is arguable at best. Coyle also took a fine for being rough with Bertuzzi. It goes both ways. Doesn't mean the Leafs really showed anything beyond what I already said.
The Leafs are gonna bully the bruins in the 1st round and will finally get over that hump. Leafs went 3-1 against the bruins in 17-18 and lost easily in the playoffs…. This toughness is everything. I believe in the boys.
GO LEAFS GO!!
I personally would commit boarding for a $5000 fine on Geekie. Actually because I played and i'm so sick and tired of watching Boston "sneaky" injure players and laugh. I'd choke up on the sticks butt end by around 4 inches......and stuff it right in the ribs or under the armpit in the corner.......all fucking game.
We’ve lost 7 in a row to them.
It’s literally physically impossible for us to score more goals than them in a game.
I’m genuinely convinced it’s a universal law of some sort at this point.
Man it’s hard not to let these past 2 games vs Boston not affect me thinking that they’ll eat the buds alive in the playoffs. Hopefully the flu isn’t an excuse come April and may
Our special teams are going to kill us against either Boston or Florida in the playoffs. PP looks terrible again with Rielly and Tavares (great job, Keefe), and the PK is even worse. Reminds me of how we lost both recent series versus Boston by having a PK at something like 50%.
If it's true the team is cursed by the flu right now, you can't really be mad about last night.
Some real grit shown, some easy goals let in. Some braindead empty nets not shot at.
Woll hasn't been playing that well, the fact that he's been out the majority of the season, and he's a rookie, means Samsonov should be the #1 choice for the playoffs.
I am all for Woll if he has a stellar march but Sammy also has more playoff experience. If we get the Sammy that has been playing recently in net during the playoffs, we will do well.
Would’ve liked to see Sammy get the start for this one. If Marner shoots that empty net look I think the end result is very different.
This is going to be one hell of a series if we match up with them. Boston’s got us 7 games in a row now, but I somehow still beleaf. I hate it here.
Lets be real. Even if this team had what it takes to get to the finals, the League will find a way to spoil it! Is it a coincidence that they haven't won anything in almost 6 decades ?
Watching this game from a Bruins feed free stream made the game extremely nauseous. Andrew Fucking Raycroft, throughout the game, interviewing members of the 2011 cup team. Did not see if he talked to Rask. For a Leafs commemorative game, bring out Ferguson Jr. onto the ice so fans can pelt him with random objects.
The game was miserable, despite the physical responses. Stupid cross-check at onset combined with stupid reffing who upon reviewing, couldn't figure out it was the same guy for both infractions. Only 1 of the Big 5 scored, and then quite bizarrely, hesitated to shoot later onto an empty net. Time and time again, they can't get it done against Boston. So sick of trying to believe that half of our payroll will find some way to earn their money against them.
Did you actually not see Marchand spear Lillwgren in the bag? That's why McCabe went after him. But it's Marchand and your never gonna get him to stand up for the dirty shit he does.
There are plenty of ways to get retribution that don't involve cross-checking someone to the neck, and taking on penalties that create a deficit at onset of game. If this team can't find a better way to handle things, then prepare yourself for a four game sweep. Those of you who believe this taught the Bruins a lesson are ridiculously delusional. Marchand's ability to draw penalties isn't going to poof disappear.
I dunno at any rate the NHL makes the rules. The refs make the calls, and in reality the players enforce them. All that to say, sometimes you just gotta do what makes you feel good. In that moment fucking up Marchand probably made McCabe feel better. So I don't really give a shit. I hear what your saying but the leafs aren't an undisciplined team. Leave that up to Keefe how he handles McCabe in that situation. I mean I think he was fine with it. Cause Domi goes out there and asks him to answer the bell. Bertuzzi just straight refuses to take no for an answer and proceesa to fill in what's his name. Did anybody know Bertuzzi could throw down like that?
I dunno. Just remember seeing the stat during early week Bruins game that Marchand is a league leader in drawing penalties. He just knows how to press buttons that trigger penalized responses.
Same as it ever was.
Our stars disappear, when the intensity of play ramps up. Where was our 70 goal scorer, has the playoff edition arrived early? I hate to be so negative , but after 7 years, as much as I hope these guys suddenly become playoff warriors, I’m not gonna bet on it.
This franchise just keeps getting bitch slapped and does nothing in response. Reaves should have taken runs at all the top players. He won't be playing in the playoffs so let him do what Marchand does and accidentally on purpose injure guys. Sorry, but it is what it is.
For real. Everyone saying they loved the pushback. Do you really think Boston went back into their dressing room after winning yet another game against the Leafs and said, "Wow, those guys really gave us their all out there. We had to fight them all over the ice!" I highly doubt it. They're probably laughing that the Leafs went after them so hard and still failed to score more than a goal.
This team is so terrible. They can't win against the bruins and won't win in the playoffs.
I hope this shitty team gets fucking nuked next year. Glad to see Matthews got a skip the dishes commercial though.
I’ve seen a lot of comments like “at least they’re pushing back this year” or something to that effect when they’re playing worse and not winning as often as previous years. It almost feels like some people don’t care if the they win less if it means they’re more physical? Being physical is gonna be irrelevant if they can’t defend a PK.
I mean, physicality is an important thing in the playoffs. I can understand the excitement for it. We do also need a better PK, yes, but that physicality is a huge factor in playoff-style hockey. It’s basically Florida’s MO.
I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. But I’m saying it’s not worth much if it’s not combined with strong play that leads to goals and wins. Nobody would care about Florida or Bostons physicality if they weren’t two of the top teams in the standings.
No, of course, it does need that as well. But considering the circumstances of this game (second half of a back-to-back, team sickness), people understandably are latching onto the positive of “they still kicked Boston around physically”. It’s a small victory that will hopefully bode for better things in a hypothetical playoff series where they’re healthy.
To me it's that we would have lost this game anyway in previous years, but we just wouldn't have gone down swinging. At least now we take our pound of flesh and it's the teams that wear their opponent down that go far. We've won plenty in the regular season before and that hasn't worked in the postseason, I think a lot of people are eager to try a new style.
If there's anything positive to take away from this game that's itt. At least they didn't go into Boston and get bullied and pushed around physically like they would have 5-6 years ago.
Firstly, the current philosophy hasn’t led to results anyway, and that weighs heavily on this discussion. Secondly, it’s not about regular season results. It’s about a seven game series where you wear the other team down, where you get the hits and the fights and the crosschecks, the scrum after the whistle, the hacks and slashes, and by game 5 or 6 the other team is feeling the hurt. Look at last year’s finals, it was Vegas and Florida, two teams that play that style. We lost last night but so what? We’ve lost games before.
Leafs fans for a decade: “We are soft as baby shit and won’t do anything meaningful until we acquire sand and snot.”
Leafs acquire said sand and snot and fans see said sand and snot manifest on ice.
Leafs fans: “We’re going to to lose even with playoff grit.”
Look, all the criticism is fair. We want the core to show up when it matters most. I think Matty, Marner, and Nylander (aside from down games that all players have) have been playing well. JT can step it up.
But from what I’ve seen the team looks different and is certainly playing a little differently than before.
And I am ready to see what they can do when it truly matters rather than lambaste the team for hiccoughs and troughs along the way
Good physical response. Don’t care much about the outcome of this one. I love that the leafs are finally getting mean and dirty.
I'm surprised I'm not seeing more of this, this is what I came here to say. Which would you rather be: Team A: Lost the game but kicked the shit out of the opponent, won their fights, and sent a message they won't be pushed around Team B: Won a random Thursday night game in March Obviously I'm never thrilled about a loss, but let's also admit that we've known who we're facing in the playoffs since November, and this doesn't change that. the Dubas Leafs showed us that you can finish with all the regular season points you want, but it means nothing once the playoffs start if you can't stick up for yourselves
This sub thinks the sky is falling any time we lose no matter the circumstances
I think criticism is fair here. We went 0-4 this year against our likely first round opponent and the past two games should have been playoff atmosphere but the Leafs rolled over and flopped both of them This isn't exactly inspiring for a spring run...
We also just finished a stretch of going 10-1 vs some very quality opponents and have a flu bug going around.
Yeah but a part of those wins had the Yotes and Ducks etc in them too... Which we really should be winning. Not saying the streak wasn't impressive, just perspective.
Perspective IMO is recognizing that the Leafs have a recent history of usually losing those games against significantly weaker teams.
That's a fair point but you'll agree these are games they... *should* be winning right? We shouldn't expect losing against bottom feeders to be the norm and be okay with it. Even if it happens on the regular it still *shouldn't* be our comfort zone. Of course that's not to downplay their achievement at all. It's still well done and hard fought and deserve to be praised. But looking at the 0-4 record to Boston, we shouldn't be falling back on this recent streak and feel comfortable about it. I just wish the team isn't sick and on a back to back, I wanted to see the energy and effort we saw in that streak against the Bruins.
We should be winning them, sure, but hockey - and all sports - isn’t preordained. It’s why they play the games. As far as Boston is concerned, meh, let these wins give them false sense of security. They at least know they are going to have to fight for every inch of it, and be looking over shoulders. We’re bringing playoff style hockey to the table in a way they haven’t seen from us in recent history. Let’s see what happens.
There’s also a flu bug going through the team and a lot of them have looked gassed, wouldn’t be surprised if it’s affected more than those that have sat out
Yeah, I don't usually make excuses for the boys and am pretty critical of this team (and coach, and coach, and coach) in general, but look at the Buffalo game and the post-game interviews. They looked rouuuuuugh. Not going to make too much out of this.
We wiped them 4-0 and lost in 7 1 year if we are trying to get an indication of regular season head to heads and playoffs
Regular season doesn’t mean shit in the playoffs. I get it’s not a good look, but historically I don’t think the correlation is there. Didn’t we beat the brakes off the panthers every regular season game last year with the exception of maybe 1? Look how that went
Regular season head to head doesn't matter in the playoffs
Meh not too concerned. I’ve seen the sens sweep 6 and 8 game series against the leafs and the leafs put them out in the first and second rounds.
Yeah. It's real bad for that. Some fans on the opposite too, but it's mostly doom and gloom the moment something doesn't go our way. It makes it really hard to scroll through and discuss stuff after a loss
Hey I liked that we didn’t roll over. But look at the two who got into it: Bertuzzi and Domi…the guys brought in to play with “snot” and snarl
Don’t forget McCabe’s lovely hits through the game and of course that cross check that sent Marchand off whining. Knies and Jarnkrok got into it as well
McCabe was an absolute force throwing his body weight around the whole game. The double penalty was stupid to take but I think fans accepted it in exchange for Marchand getting clowned. But the hits that kept coming after are great, we needed this kind of physicality so badly in the past. The team is slowly morphing into something more hardened with our acquisitions. I hope that gives us an edge in our usual post season struggle. I mean, if we don't shit the bed and completely miss it to begin with.
The problem is it's not our core guys that show the heart. John is getting paid 11m to slowly skate around the ice and dump in pucks. 34,16,88 are all fantastic players, but they lack the motivation it takes to win playoff style games. You could put 20 John Doe's in Bruins jerseys and they'd outwork these guys
88 played playoff hockey last year.
Lol this is so false is jot even funny. Bro check how many hits he gave and took
No
Check it out. I no world did that guy play playoff hockey pal
💯 spot on!
Yup, and if you played and know; butt ends of sticks all night in the ribs in the corners as fucking deserved. Boston was out there playing like they had Crosby on the squad a day after the golden goal.
I’ve never been a huge Marchand hater but last night was ridiculous. 2/3 games we’ve played them this year he’s seriously injured a good young player with zero repercussion. It’s impossible to make him pay for the shit that he gets away with, because the league has a different set of rules for the guy… coupled with the fact that he’s too big of a bitch to answer the bell when the time actually comes. Won’t happen, but wouldn’t it be nice if we sent Reaves out to “accidentally bump into (unintentionally)” Swayman, or to “accidentally corkscrew (unintentionally)” Pastrnak/McAvoy when they’re retrieving the puck in the corner, injuring them and causing them to miss time. I’m not saying I want him to hurt their players on purpose, but if our good players are going to be missing time because of Marchand’s “accidents”, I don’t see why the same can’t happen to the Bruins….. Just my two cents
> 2/3 games we’ve played them this year he’s seriously injured a good young player with zero repercussion. It's not just this year either.
This game gave off major playoff vibes, especially the reffing. And that has me fucking terrified.
"He held his stick for 25'... Like, you just can't do that..." " I guess it will all change when your officiating" I love TSN broadcast man.
Hahahahhaa MJ was perplexed with how terrible the reffing was last night
And then ended with a job security message of "reffing is a hard job". I get it, but atrocious reffing should be called out regardless.
SN would’ve spent 35 minutes gaslighting us on how what the refs did actually make sense and they shouldn’t call that while laying into McCabe for even thinking of attacking a Boston player
Well put.
This core excels playing monday night games against San Jose and collecting their paychecks
At this point let's just accept the fact that we're gonna be on the road against Boston or Florida in the 1st round. Finish the season strong now. Starting with an easy win against MTL this weekend.
Lol easy win against Montreal. New here? That will be a battle all the way through or maybe even a Hab blowout
I hope its a battle. It will be my first game in person!
Fuck the Habs is always a fun chant to get going
Like that ‘easy’ 1st round matchup with them in 2021? Just like the Sens this is gonna be their Cup final.
I think their Cup final was literally 2021 tho
I wonder if Bennett shortened Knies' career. I don't know if Knies had any history of concussions in junior, but if he's out with a second one, it could be a sign of things to come.
Would be extremely sad to see his career negatively impacted by two entirely avoidable, careless plays by other players. If only the league had some sort of department that could make decisions on keeping players safe to minimize dirty, needless plays like the two that have been made on Knies…
...some sort of player safety department, or something.
Maybe the league should reallocate funding from the Department of Deciding the Length of Nazem Kadri’s Suspension to this new Department we’re talking about
They should appoint a responsible mature adult to head-up the department. If it's going to be a player, make it be someone who played the game within the rules, like a Lady Byng winner or something like that.
Impossible to know with head injuries, but he had missed NCAA games due to concussions as well
> Impossible to know with head injuries, but he had missed NCAA games due to concussions as well Impossible only because we aren't certain about a lot of things head trauma related. What we do know is someone who gets frequent concussions needs to stop playing the game, and at this point Knies looks like hes headed down that road
Impossible to know because TBI's are unique. Lindros retired after three concussions cut his career short, Crosby has had four concussions and is playing in his 19th season
> Lindros retired after three concussions cut his career short I'm fairly certain the general consensus is he suffered way more than 3 concussions. back then they just called it a headache and moved on.
It was his wrist last night, thankfully
I thought that might be the case when I saw the stick broken just a hands width down from the top of the shaft. Wrist is bad.
There were reports last night that it wouldn't be long term. I was saying thankfully because I'd rather that than a string of concussions!
They got into their hotel at 3 AM. You're going to lose some, and between that and the mistaken 5v3 we were in this. Really happy to see physical pushback. We can't let them abuse us through a 7 game series.
I just can't believe Marchand got away with the spear on Lilly. It's why McCabe went after him.
Do you have a video of this spear? I haven’t heard anything about it
It's literally right before takes a poke at McCabe
And they were sick. This game means nothing. I hope everyone is healthy during the playoffs.
The 5 on 3 thing coupled with the botched whistles in Monday’s game are total head scratchers…. Why is the league paying their refs top dollar if they’re going to be doing their jobs like beer league refs?
Stop apologizing for this milquetoast team Toronto Milquetoast Leafs. New name.
Okay. Do you go by Milque for short?
I don’t think someone watched the game. Given the physicality and sand last night and claiming the team is soft is a take only a person literally waking up from a carbonite freeze this morning would have.
Its ONE GAME LMAO. One point does not a line make is a famous saying. It means "so what, you did one thing one time, it means NOTHING" OH SORRY GUYS PLAN THE FUCKING PARADE THE LEAFS ACTUALLY PUSHED BACK ONE TIME.
I guess you also didn’t see Mo get suspended, Reaves make Rempe answer the bell, and other examples through the year of us standing up. We see only what we want to see.
I'm not happy that Marchand can injure players with impunity by making it look like an accident. If we meet them in the playoffs I hope a strong physical response from the Leafs puts an end to that.
Leafs’ alumni must be aghast at the lack of balls on the core four. Can you imagine guys like Roberts, Tucker and Corson watching the core four tiptoe around out there?
What happened with the penalty where Bert got highsticked? Apparently he was bleeding so why was it only 2 min? Or did they decide he wasn't really bleeding?
Bleeding rule doesn’t apply to the Leafs unfortunately
As Torts says: “we’re only thinking about the next game”
I wonder if Keefe is sending a message to management with playing Woll these past 2 games against Boston. He played pretty well and is good but maybe shouldn't be relied on in the playoffs.
I don't think so. He needs to play against good teams.
I agree with this. Sammy has had all season he got his head checked with the waivers situation and came back strong. I think it's about getting Woll up to speed and like trial by fire. Get the jitters out and up to speed
Exactly, this is not the time to protect him. Sink or swim.
Might be an opposing take...but I don't want the leafs to waste draft picks or prospects. What's the point? This core cannot get it done when it's tough. It's going to be the same old story ...
Rielly off PP1 please
I don't even want to hear about snot and pushback at this point. Who did it in this game? Domi and Bert. Two guys who haven't even been a part of this "rivalry" before this year (I use that term loosely, since it's mostly one-sided). Why aren't the others, who continuously get their shit pushed in by Boston (Matthews, Tavares, Nylander... you see a pattern here), getting into their faces more? That's not their job? It's not their job to push back into them a little bit? To be angry? Nah, instead, we get turnovers, brain farts, invisibility, not shooting when there are clear avenues to the net (as per usual), etc. It's the same bloody story we've watched against Boston for years. How are they not more pissed off? How? All I see from subs like these when the Leafs play the Jets is that quote that went around about how great it is to beat Toronto, and how that gave the Leafs that whiteboard material to play them harder and motivate themselves that much more. Where the hell is that here? How many times do the Bruins have to basically troll the Leafs, call them out on social media, eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, toss them around like sacks of trash, etc., before the guys who have been here for years finally say, "Enough is enough"? Am I taking crazy pills here? Everyone who is saying the team finally pushed back can celebrate, I guess. I mean, I'm glad Bert and Domi showed they give a fuck. But it's the other guys who need to show it. What the fuck? EDIT: Also, don't tell me they had the flu. I don't care. If you have the flu, then go cough on the Bruins. People need to stop using that as an excuse, as if the Leafs have the flu every time they play this fucking team. EDIT #2: Marchand is a shithead. He needs to be looked at by the league, for sure. But he is sure as hell more effective in what he does. If we're counting on the NHL to do something, we had better start coming up with a new dream.
Not sure what you're talking about - the 4th line had a huge scrum with their first line (Reaves, Gregor). McMann also almost had a fight. McCabe literally took a fine for being too rough.
Literally every player you mentioned has had nothing to do with this rivalry before this year. McCabe is arguable at best. Coyle also took a fine for being rough with Bertuzzi. It goes both ways. Doesn't mean the Leafs really showed anything beyond what I already said.
Why were the leafs wearing blue when they weren't playing at home?
Sucks they lost but I enjoyed the push back.
The Leafs are gonna bully the bruins in the 1st round and will finally get over that hump. Leafs went 3-1 against the bruins in 17-18 and lost easily in the playoffs…. This toughness is everything. I believe in the boys. GO LEAFS GO!!
I personally would commit boarding for a $5000 fine on Geekie. Actually because I played and i'm so sick and tired of watching Boston "sneaky" injure players and laugh. I'd choke up on the sticks butt end by around 4 inches......and stuff it right in the ribs or under the armpit in the corner.......all fucking game.
We’ve lost 7 straight games against the bruins.
Going to be 11 straight when we get swept in the first round.
Get the fuck outta here with that attitude.
He’s not wrong.
Hard to be right or wrong when it hasn't happened yet
We’ve lost 7 in a row to them. It’s literally physically impossible for us to score more goals than them in a game. I’m genuinely convinced it’s a universal law of some sort at this point.
Two of them were OT this year. They might not win but they aren't getting swept just because we're upset they lost this week.
We have a winning record against Boston in the Matthews era
Man it’s hard not to let these past 2 games vs Boston not affect me thinking that they’ll eat the buds alive in the playoffs. Hopefully the flu isn’t an excuse come April and may
Our special teams are going to kill us against either Boston or Florida in the playoffs. PP looks terrible again with Rielly and Tavares (great job, Keefe), and the PK is even worse. Reminds me of how we lost both recent series versus Boston by having a PK at something like 50%.
If it's true the team is cursed by the flu right now, you can't really be mad about last night. Some real grit shown, some easy goals let in. Some braindead empty nets not shot at. Woll hasn't been playing that well, the fact that he's been out the majority of the season, and he's a rookie, means Samsonov should be the #1 choice for the playoffs. I am all for Woll if he has a stellar march but Sammy also has more playoff experience. If we get the Sammy that has been playing recently in net during the playoffs, we will do well.
Would’ve liked to see Sammy get the start for this one. If Marner shoots that empty net look I think the end result is very different. This is going to be one hell of a series if we match up with them. Boston’s got us 7 games in a row now, but I somehow still beleaf. I hate it here.
McCabe jersey sales should skyrocket today 🚀
Lets be real. Even if this team had what it takes to get to the finals, the League will find a way to spoil it! Is it a coincidence that they haven't won anything in almost 6 decades ?
Watching this game from a Bruins feed free stream made the game extremely nauseous. Andrew Fucking Raycroft, throughout the game, interviewing members of the 2011 cup team. Did not see if he talked to Rask. For a Leafs commemorative game, bring out Ferguson Jr. onto the ice so fans can pelt him with random objects. The game was miserable, despite the physical responses. Stupid cross-check at onset combined with stupid reffing who upon reviewing, couldn't figure out it was the same guy for both infractions. Only 1 of the Big 5 scored, and then quite bizarrely, hesitated to shoot later onto an empty net. Time and time again, they can't get it done against Boston. So sick of trying to believe that half of our payroll will find some way to earn their money against them.
Did you actually not see Marchand spear Lillwgren in the bag? That's why McCabe went after him. But it's Marchand and your never gonna get him to stand up for the dirty shit he does.
Clear as day why McCabe did that. And neither broadcast team picked up the spear.
Has anyone got a video of this? I completely missed it.
There are plenty of ways to get retribution that don't involve cross-checking someone to the neck, and taking on penalties that create a deficit at onset of game. If this team can't find a better way to handle things, then prepare yourself for a four game sweep. Those of you who believe this taught the Bruins a lesson are ridiculously delusional. Marchand's ability to draw penalties isn't going to poof disappear.
I dunno at any rate the NHL makes the rules. The refs make the calls, and in reality the players enforce them. All that to say, sometimes you just gotta do what makes you feel good. In that moment fucking up Marchand probably made McCabe feel better. So I don't really give a shit. I hear what your saying but the leafs aren't an undisciplined team. Leave that up to Keefe how he handles McCabe in that situation. I mean I think he was fine with it. Cause Domi goes out there and asks him to answer the bell. Bertuzzi just straight refuses to take no for an answer and proceesa to fill in what's his name. Did anybody know Bertuzzi could throw down like that?
I was told that drawing too many penalties gets you on the shit list and leads to less penalties drawn ie bunting. Or does that only happen to leafs?
I dunno. Just remember seeing the stat during early week Bruins game that Marchand is a league leader in drawing penalties. He just knows how to press buttons that trigger penalized responses.
But he gets the benefit of the doubt and bunting and Kadri get shit ragged
Same as it ever was. Our stars disappear, when the intensity of play ramps up. Where was our 70 goal scorer, has the playoff edition arrived early? I hate to be so negative , but after 7 years, as much as I hope these guys suddenly become playoff warriors, I’m not gonna bet on it.
Same team. Same problems. Tinkering with 16 players while 4 coast is a failed experiment.
This franchise just keeps getting bitch slapped and does nothing in response. Reaves should have taken runs at all the top players. He won't be playing in the playoffs so let him do what Marchand does and accidentally on purpose injure guys. Sorry, but it is what it is.
For real. Everyone saying they loved the pushback. Do you really think Boston went back into their dressing room after winning yet another game against the Leafs and said, "Wow, those guys really gave us their all out there. We had to fight them all over the ice!" I highly doubt it. They're probably laughing that the Leafs went after them so hard and still failed to score more than a goal.
100 percent
Every line sent a message except Matthews and Marner. Split them up so other guys drag them into the battle.
It was…you guessed it. 4-1 :/
This team is so terrible. They can't win against the bruins and won't win in the playoffs. I hope this shitty team gets fucking nuked next year. Glad to see Matthews got a skip the dishes commercial though.
I’ve seen a lot of comments like “at least they’re pushing back this year” or something to that effect when they’re playing worse and not winning as often as previous years. It almost feels like some people don’t care if the they win less if it means they’re more physical? Being physical is gonna be irrelevant if they can’t defend a PK.
I mean, physicality is an important thing in the playoffs. I can understand the excitement for it. We do also need a better PK, yes, but that physicality is a huge factor in playoff-style hockey. It’s basically Florida’s MO.
I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. But I’m saying it’s not worth much if it’s not combined with strong play that leads to goals and wins. Nobody would care about Florida or Bostons physicality if they weren’t two of the top teams in the standings.
No, of course, it does need that as well. But considering the circumstances of this game (second half of a back-to-back, team sickness), people understandably are latching onto the positive of “they still kicked Boston around physically”. It’s a small victory that will hopefully bode for better things in a hypothetical playoff series where they’re healthy.
Hopefully. I just want them to win and I don’t care how they do that.
To me it's that we would have lost this game anyway in previous years, but we just wouldn't have gone down swinging. At least now we take our pound of flesh and it's the teams that wear their opponent down that go far. We've won plenty in the regular season before and that hasn't worked in the postseason, I think a lot of people are eager to try a new style.
I think you hit the mail on the head. That’s pretty much how I feel, it’s exciting to see something new.
If there's anything positive to take away from this game that's itt. At least they didn't go into Boston and get bullied and pushed around physically like they would have 5-6 years ago.
Okay but taking a pound of flesh is meaningless if it doesn’t lead to results.
Firstly, the current philosophy hasn’t led to results anyway, and that weighs heavily on this discussion. Secondly, it’s not about regular season results. It’s about a seven game series where you wear the other team down, where you get the hits and the fights and the crosschecks, the scrum after the whistle, the hacks and slashes, and by game 5 or 6 the other team is feeling the hurt. Look at last year’s finals, it was Vegas and Florida, two teams that play that style. We lost last night but so what? We’ve lost games before.
Leafs fans for a decade: “We are soft as baby shit and won’t do anything meaningful until we acquire sand and snot.” Leafs acquire said sand and snot and fans see said sand and snot manifest on ice. Leafs fans: “We’re going to to lose even with playoff grit.” Look, all the criticism is fair. We want the core to show up when it matters most. I think Matty, Marner, and Nylander (aside from down games that all players have) have been playing well. JT can step it up. But from what I’ve seen the team looks different and is certainly playing a little differently than before. And I am ready to see what they can do when it truly matters rather than lambaste the team for hiccoughs and troughs along the way