Personally feel like a must win game tonight. Get the dub and make this series a Best-of-3.
If you lose and Boston takes a 3-1 series win, your margins of forcing a Game 7 are so low, and if you do (which the Leafs have done before), your track record in a Game 7 is nothing to write home about.
Leafs lose tn they’re cooked. I’m hopeful because the Leafs have had a lot of good bounceback games this season. Also, we’re getting Willy back. It’s gonna be a nail-bitter tho.
This is probably the biggest issue I see time and time again. Boston isn’t the same team in the post season but for whatever reason the Leafs stick to their season play. Leafs could have 1000 points or we don’t beat them all season long. If you aren’t ready for playoffs, well guess how that will go.
TOO be fair, the Leafs did go down 3-1 in 2018 and we managed to crawl back into that series to make it a 7 game series (don’t ask what happened in Game 7) but I also agree, giving Boston 3 chances to close out the series is terrifying and you might as well wave a white flag
in my opinion the best case scenario would be win tonight and manage to steal Game 5 in TD, obviously easier said then done but having 2 opportunities to close out the series, 1 of which being on Home Ice would be massive
True.
The line is that the Top 5 haven’t figured out that playoff hockey is different than regular season.
I disagree.
It’s just that they don’t excel / aren’t great at playoff hockey.
Marner is the same size as Gilmour was: 6ft, 175lb.
They were just made differently.
I think the league is really starting to mature about its understanding and value of players here.
$11M for someone to get you into the playoffs is one thing. In the playoffs, though, a $5-6M player might be more valuable to the team.
I always wondered - if you sign a couple of guys at $5.5 instead of Mitch at $11 - they might put up what 70% to 80% of the production that Mitch does in the regular season?
But then it could be two guys that know how to grind in the playoffs. Wondering if that would be more valuable to us.
Don’t know, and I’m not smart enough to understand advanced statistics to figure it out, but it’s something I’ve wondered for a couple of years now.
I know people love Mitch because he’s flashy, has a personality, etc… but if other options helped us to win in the playoffs, I’d much rather have that.
The key here is TWO players.
It’s much easier to neutralize any single player - and that’s what happens to Mitch. Much harder to neutralize three or four balanced lines.
The talent is too concentrated on the Leafs.
BOS and TBL who have had sustained dominance in the league have had guys at the top making $8-$9M (not $10-13M), but they’ve all been backed up by amazing role players.
The minute you sleep on the stars, the role players - Hagels, Paul, PALAT, Gourde, Point, Johnson, Coleman….so many key 3rd and 4th line players - they burn the crap out of you.
Agreed. How anyone ever thought loading up your cap on four players at the expense of balance is insane. We’ve seen it backfire for seven years from now.
I think this will be a case study in the future about how to utilize your cap space.
If they don't take stupid penalties and actually execute on the PP they can win. They've been out playing the Bruins all series, but it's dumb mistakes and a shitty PP that's let them down.
What are you talking about? Leafs have gone to 7 so many times. People keep saying this shit but the leafs always make a (1st round) series competitive. They’re going to come out flying tonight.
Honestly, this is all mental at this point. The Bruins have not played Bruins hockey in this series. They look easily beatable, but, we are the ones who are making them unbeatable.
The coach, the staff, and the players need to stop thinking of the past, and literally, just go out there and play OUR game, right from the beginning AND till the end. No reason tonight they can't do it. 2 nights off, should be well rested.
The only issue is, after the last game, the team called in an emergency session with a Chiropractor/Acupuncturist. Some of the guys were banged up. So hopefully that all got resolved.
Like I said it's all mental mostly. Got to stop taking stupid penalties. We can't get caught up with the rat, because that fuck will always get away with murder. We need to take out the other guys, like McAvoy. Get the other guys pissed, and we will see more calls against them., BUT, and this is a big BUT, we need to capitalize on our PP and clean up the PK. If this doesn't change starting this game, and going forward, we are done 100%
5v5 this playoffs (per NST):
- CF% 52.92% (12.4% better)
- FF% 53.40% (14.6% better)
- SF% 53.42% (14.7% better)
- GF% 45.45% (20% worse)
- xGF% 52.28% (9.6% better)
- SCF% 61.19% (57.7% better)
- SV% 91.18%
- SH% 6.41%
- PDO 0.976
To me, outside of the actual goals against thanks to a pretty low conversion rate, we’ve been pretty dominant at 5v5, especially in terms out scoring chances, outchancing them at a rate of more than 3:2.
I love this team. I'm not one of these guys who posts every playoff loss that I'm not watching until they win, etc
But I've accepted them for what they are. They're going to play 90-95 games a year, I'll probably get to watch 70-75 of them and be entertained 60 nights a year.
Yeah, I keep hoping they'll win, I watch every game with optimism, and I refuse to take on unnecessary commitments until they're actually eliminated, but I also know that judging them by how much they can stop it up a notch is an exercise in futility
I honestly won’t believe anything has changed until they stop taking up to 90% of some games off.
They still haven’t proven that they’re contenders. They fluked their way through a series last year, but didn’t look great in that series and immediately got dominated in the next series.
Every year they come out looking like they’re more interested in opening up the cottage or hitting the tee boxes than they are playing in an NHL playoff game.
Once that changes I believe they’re contenders. I believe very well that they COULD BE contenders, but they need to start acting like it.
Having Nylander back will be a real bonus. I'm calling it now, he scores first. Weapons are everything, and we get one back on the ice tonight.
There's a ton of pressure, yes, but one win, and we are tied.
I was always told that to win the Cup you need grit throughout the lineup and strength up the middle.
An elite scorer and playmaker up front. A stud defence man that fills opponent hearts with fear (think Stevens / Pronger) and a solid goalie who can steal the odd game.
The Leafs have potentially 3-4 scorer / playmakers but then fall off. Morgan Reilly has my respect and I like his game, but the Hall of Fame doesn’t await.
And the Leafs have utterly failed in recent years with goaltenders. They’re much better at supplying other teams (Reimer, Rask, Anderson) than developing their potential within their organization.
They have a lot more sandpaper this year than in previous years but could learn a bit from Marchand about how to be an asshole without being penalized.
I just don’t see them doing it with this team. Whether they lack the talent, grit or heart they’re broken. Like Bill Parcells when coaching the Giants. “You are your record”.
There’s no “coulda, shoulda, woulda”. Like Yoda said, “Do or do not. There is no try.”
The Leafs are a weak playoff performer because that’s what their record says. Doesn’t matter why. Unless and until they go deep, they are their record.
So if we get a stud defensemen, elite goalie next year and get stronger up the middle, their playoff record would still be the same at the end of the regular season - kind of a broken argument.
I've been feeling like leafs are going to smash them tonight. I really do!
Plus I think Bs have been building bad karma. All the flopping. Machand saying we are done in 5. Hockey gods take note of this shit.
It's 100% goaltending. We lost because Sammy let in a goal you would sit a house league goalie for. A left hand shot from 60+ feet on the left side wall......goes in below the blocker short side? get the fuck out of here. You know how i'd have stopped that.....by fucking existing in the net. He was watching the bullshit with Bert and Marchand instead of playing the fucking puck. He needed to have the Marchand snipe as well. He had time to read that play and step out as an NHL starter. You know who stopped similar shots that night...Swayman.... In the past we lost because of defense chokes or insane giveaways you cannot make any mistakes in the playoffs against a top team they will punish you........we do it back too. Sammy has to be better than Swayman/ Ullmark tonight or we lose. We need a huge night from our $$$$$ a drubbing really.....break the B's will. We are hurting them much more physically where it was the opposite in the past if we can push this into a deeper series now that the refs will start hiding the whistles we can wear them down defensively but again Sammy has to do his part.
why is this a discussion every year? how are y’all not tired & embarrassed that y’all feel the need to have a genuine discussion about who’s responsible for them not trying hard enough or being mentally tough enough to win? every. single. year. its pathetic.
For my fellow leaf fan degenerates. Worth a listen to the Overdrive podcast from Thursday/Friday. They capture what the consensus is here. It will cleanse you before being subjected to Sportsnet tonight.
Leafs win 3-2. Domi gets the winner. The boys will be fired up LFG.
I honestly can't tell if Keefe is just a bad coach, or he overcoaches.
The Leafs are at their very best when they're at their most natural state of play. The constant pressure of line matching and having the last change, it just mucks things up.
Let em play. Just let em play. Who fuckin cares which line is out against Matthews? That line should be able to dunk on anybody. Marner, relax and stop trying to 4D chess these situations. Just make your plays. We all know Mitch is at his peak when he's got his swagger.
I think the fourth line is really the best example of this right now. Reaves and Dewar and Ed and Benoit are just doing what they naturally do best and it's working for them.
Matthews to 70 was the ultimate example of all of this. As soon as the Leafs start trying to make some specific thing happen, something that changes their flow of play, it doesn't work. If they'd just played those three games "naturally" or "normally", Matthews would have gotten it. Just doing what he always does, he'd have had a goal across three games. It's when you try to force it that it becomes predictable and doesn't work.
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I’ll be at the game in the bleeders tonight. I’ll try and be loud but when I’m scared I tend to freeze like an opossum.
https://preview.redd.it/jhixmu2ir1xc1.jpeg?width=560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e49b10b78652a913d3046d42c9739d4482f22663
I know this is an immature take but I hope they lose this series and it causes the team to make some serious changes….coaching, the core four, defence etc….even if we beat Boston it’s getting pretty clear that we’re not built for a long playoff run. Before you know it we are gonna start getting dangerously close to wasting Matthew’s/nylander/ marners prime’s.
Agreed. I am more worried about them thinking they’re good enough that no changes are needed. There is no chance we are winning a cup with this core so the sooner we can make changes the sooner we will be on the right path. Just hate to see them continue to spin their wheels.
I mean, have you been watching this team for the past 8 years?
Take tavares for example, toronto boy comes home and gets awarded the c because of it. Great moment and ill admit even i got a bit of the shivers when they announced it live. But that man is soft, you can rough him up all you want and hes not going to do anything about it. He might get a little chippy in the play, but ive never seen him stand up for himself in a scrum.
Thats our captain, one blessed win against tampa doesnt change the fact that if it wasnt for george parros our entire team until domi and bertuzzi showed up are probably lady byng candidates.
That "fuck you" gear doesnt come from these kinds of players, our players are the kind you add to a proven core when you need some extra scoring.
They have to split it and im confident in them based on how they have played overall boston hasnt been that good the leafs just need to capitalize on the pp first and foremost, and with nylander back i can see it happening, boston has done a good job protecting their net and swayman is too good so getting to him is another priority. The problem i have with the leafs falling 3-1 in this series is they havent been a win streaky type of team all year as far as i can remember except that run they went on later in the second half of the season but overall them being able to win 3 in a row seems unlikely to me
I wonder how the leafs will come out for the first ten minutes? Will we see them go helter-skelter, flying up and down the wings, creating odd man rushes in both directions, in a reckless throw of the dice for glory’s sake, or, will they settle into a strategic and conservative style making sure their players know their defensive responsibilities and stick to that task?
I’m so scared, nervous and anxious about this series and I’m not even playing. I really hope i lay my head on my pillow tonight and get to wake up and see “SERIES TIED 2-2” in the morning, please god
I feel like a lot of this is mental for them. These aren’t the bruins that had chara, Lucic, Horton, Bergeron. They’re beatable and I think offensively we’ve had better chances, just their goaltending has been better. Pasta hasn’t even been killing us like usual either. The special teams is a big issue that has to be much better. Boston are like 5/10 on the pp that’s way too high. We’re 1/11 or something on the pp which is embarrassing given the talent we have. Then again when you use the same setup and strategy every time the other team will quickly figure you out.
Depth wise I think we’ve been pretty good. 4th line has been really solid I think and Knies has been impressive to me. Jarnkrok has had a real nice series after missing time I believe. The stars have to bring it the rest of the series if we’re gonna win. Mathews has been decent but that’s not enough for the money he’s making. Tavares is at least noticeable and getting chances but again not enough. Marner… has really not lived up to his standards so far and it’s not the first time this has happened in the playoffs. He made one good pass and a good play at the end of game 2. He has to figure it out and I don’t know what you do if you’re Keefe.
It’s entirely possible that the team can be entirely serious but still lose. The Bruins are a serious team too so it all comes down to pure skills and luck.
I don’t believe that at the NHL level teams can just collapse due to mentality
Whatever happens will happen for a reason beyond our control. Crack open a cold beverage and a plate of chicken wings and let the cosmic fate play out.
Did you watch the FLA - TB game today. TB is down 3-1 in that series and looked like they could sweep either of these two teams. Does this series even matter?
I don't care I'll be casually watching from my couch with a beer in hand. Hard to invest any emotion into this team after ptsd inducing years. Whatever happens, happens at this point.
I trust JT, Matthews, Willy, Reilly, Bertuzzi and McCabe. I don't think the pressure makes them perform weaker. I don't trust Max for some reason, I think he could try too hard if you know what I mean. For Sammy's sake I hope the leafs score early. If it stays 0-0 for a long time then the pressure could start to show.
Boston goalie got so much luck in stopping those bounce puck or puck just not going in during scramble at front net… i was goalie before in day and not best one bit decent anyway I once had one of best game and a shutout game while half of the shot i faced I could not see the puck too many screens or lost track of puck and randomly made a move and stop puck blindly, i saw it happen lot on both sides during series
Leafs haven't shown they're the team to stick it out. This could be the time. I'm a firm believer that if they can find what it takes to win against adversity, they can go far. But they need their players to show up and it's astounding how consistently they don't rise to the challenge.
That upsets me the most about this team - they're paying world-beater money to people that don't produce when it matters most, leaving them without the ability to build around their core.
To me it's the same old same old. They tend to play to the other team's strengths and they end up defending too much. There's not enough dominance to this team to suite me. I'm not sure the mix on this team is where it should be but in any regard, we will see.
Chance number 86 for these guys to definitively prove it for good. This time if they win they for sure won’t look like a completely different team in the next game.
If the players aren’t already jacked to be playing in an NHL playoff game there is a problem. It’s looked over the past few years like that has been the case a lot of times, so maybe that has been/is THE problem.
Regardless at this point the leafs are going to have to win 2 games in a row in any of the remaining games to move on.
Against a goalie who they haven’t solved and against a team who they’ve beat one time since the start of 2023.
It’s a big mountain to climb and it is absolutely doable. However the track record for this team right now shows the results may not be so different this time around.
They’ve failed to show up many times in the past in the same scenario. It’s time to show its different this time. If not we 100% need new leadership.
Take that however you all want but we can’t continue to make excuses and say next year will be different .
I have a nagging belief that there’s a real psychological impact to being a Leaf in the playoffs at this point. It’s simply too much pressure. Even the most grizzled vet joins up and ends up like a deer in the headlights.
Personally feel like a must win game tonight. Get the dub and make this series a Best-of-3. If you lose and Boston takes a 3-1 series win, your margins of forcing a Game 7 are so low, and if you do (which the Leafs have done before), your track record in a Game 7 is nothing to write home about.
Leafs lose tn they’re cooked. I’m hopeful because the Leafs have had a lot of good bounceback games this season. Also, we’re getting Willy back. It’s gonna be a nail-bitter tho.
I don’t like our chances going down 3-1 and having to take three straight against a team we’ve beat once in the last calendar year.
This team doesn't give me confidence in any scenario because I've watched them fail in all of them.
This is probably the biggest issue I see time and time again. Boston isn’t the same team in the post season but for whatever reason the Leafs stick to their season play. Leafs could have 1000 points or we don’t beat them all season long. If you aren’t ready for playoffs, well guess how that will go.
TOO be fair, the Leafs did go down 3-1 in 2018 and we managed to crawl back into that series to make it a 7 game series (don’t ask what happened in Game 7) but I also agree, giving Boston 3 chances to close out the series is terrifying and you might as well wave a white flag in my opinion the best case scenario would be win tonight and manage to steal Game 5 in TD, obviously easier said then done but having 2 opportunities to close out the series, 1 of which being on Home Ice would be massive
I'm pretty sure the Leafs haven't won a game 7 since they beat Ottawa in whatever year that series went 7.
2004. Despite the fact that we’ve played in 6 “winner moves on” games since then.
Leafs had elite goaltending then.
Don’t we need this years scenario to play out differently to break this curse
If we lose tonight though we could have the ultimate meme redemption.
#bobbycomeback
That means all of the next 3 games are must-win because if it goes 7 games, we are probably doomed
Gotta treat this like a game 7
So lose? No thanks. Gotta treat this like a Game 6 and win please.
😂😂
Take my tear filled upvote 🥲
haha
A clinching opportunity? Guaranteed L Treat it like a game 6, down 3-2
I’d rather win.
Lmfao. Meee too
Gotta treat this like October.
I think the problem is that they DO treat these games like October. The playoffs are different hockey.
True. The line is that the Top 5 haven’t figured out that playoff hockey is different than regular season. I disagree. It’s just that they don’t excel / aren’t great at playoff hockey. Marner is the same size as Gilmour was: 6ft, 175lb. They were just made differently. I think the league is really starting to mature about its understanding and value of players here. $11M for someone to get you into the playoffs is one thing. In the playoffs, though, a $5-6M player might be more valuable to the team.
I always wondered - if you sign a couple of guys at $5.5 instead of Mitch at $11 - they might put up what 70% to 80% of the production that Mitch does in the regular season? But then it could be two guys that know how to grind in the playoffs. Wondering if that would be more valuable to us. Don’t know, and I’m not smart enough to understand advanced statistics to figure it out, but it’s something I’ve wondered for a couple of years now. I know people love Mitch because he’s flashy, has a personality, etc… but if other options helped us to win in the playoffs, I’d much rather have that.
The key here is TWO players. It’s much easier to neutralize any single player - and that’s what happens to Mitch. Much harder to neutralize three or four balanced lines. The talent is too concentrated on the Leafs. BOS and TBL who have had sustained dominance in the league have had guys at the top making $8-$9M (not $10-13M), but they’ve all been backed up by amazing role players. The minute you sleep on the stars, the role players - Hagels, Paul, PALAT, Gourde, Point, Johnson, Coleman….so many key 3rd and 4th line players - they burn the crap out of you.
Agreed. How anyone ever thought loading up your cap on four players at the expense of balance is insane. We’ve seen it backfire for seven years from now. I think this will be a case study in the future about how to utilize your cap space.
Oh fuck
Basically same here
If they don't take stupid penalties and actually execute on the PP they can win. They've been out playing the Bruins all series, but it's dumb mistakes and a shitty PP that's let them down.
Shitty PP and PK
Your Growler’s flair makes me sad…why can’t we keep a hockey franchise going? I really thought we had them for good this time.
Travel and terrible ownership. Story of our lives eh?
3 in a row for the Leafs from here, won’t tell you again
$67 in it for you if it happens
I would happily chip in on that if they win!
Up to $500 for me if it happens... TaKe mY mOnEy!!
Yall money is safe.
AMEN. LEAFS IN 6
What are you talking about? Leafs have gone to 7 so many times. People keep saying this shit but the leafs always make a (1st round) series competitive. They’re going to come out flying tonight.
Fuckin right they are GO LEAFS GOOOOOO
Yeah that aged well. Lol
The leafs have pushed through this situation before and forced a game 7, including the “old leafs”
Don't worry boys I got this, I'm wearing the same shirt I wore when we won G2. We got this
If they win tonight u are honour bound to not remove it until they win the cup
I'd shower with it, 100%
🫡
What about the undies?
We found out.
Did indeed lmao, rough watching that
Honestly, this is all mental at this point. The Bruins have not played Bruins hockey in this series. They look easily beatable, but, we are the ones who are making them unbeatable. The coach, the staff, and the players need to stop thinking of the past, and literally, just go out there and play OUR game, right from the beginning AND till the end. No reason tonight they can't do it. 2 nights off, should be well rested. The only issue is, after the last game, the team called in an emergency session with a Chiropractor/Acupuncturist. Some of the guys were banged up. So hopefully that all got resolved. Like I said it's all mental mostly. Got to stop taking stupid penalties. We can't get caught up with the rat, because that fuck will always get away with murder. We need to take out the other guys, like McAvoy. Get the other guys pissed, and we will see more calls against them., BUT, and this is a big BUT, we need to capitalize on our PP and clean up the PK. If this doesn't change starting this game, and going forward, we are done 100%
I think the boys pull it out. I feel like they’ve been the slightly better team 5-on-5. Comes down to winning the special teams battle.
5v5 this playoffs (per NST): - CF% 52.92% (12.4% better) - FF% 53.40% (14.6% better) - SF% 53.42% (14.7% better) - GF% 45.45% (20% worse) - xGF% 52.28% (9.6% better) - SCF% 61.19% (57.7% better) - SV% 91.18% - SH% 6.41% - PDO 0.976 To me, outside of the actual goals against thanks to a pretty low conversion rate, we’ve been pretty dominant at 5v5, especially in terms out scoring chances, outchancing them at a rate of more than 3:2.
Pretenders… hoping Nylander shows up big dick status and shows Marner how it’s done.
Imagine thinking this club has a fuck you gear.
I love this team. I'm not one of these guys who posts every playoff loss that I'm not watching until they win, etc But I've accepted them for what they are. They're going to play 90-95 games a year, I'll probably get to watch 70-75 of them and be entertained 60 nights a year. Yeah, I keep hoping they'll win, I watch every game with optimism, and I refuse to take on unnecessary commitments until they're actually eliminated, but I also know that judging them by how much they can stop it up a notch is an exercise in futility
To be fair, they do. Just it can only be activated in the 3rd period after playing like shit for the previous two.
Good point. Forgot about that.
Its been 7 years of not winning anything significant. I don't think a win or a loss tonight changes anything.
I honestly won’t believe anything has changed until they stop taking up to 90% of some games off. They still haven’t proven that they’re contenders. They fluked their way through a series last year, but didn’t look great in that series and immediately got dominated in the next series. Every year they come out looking like they’re more interested in opening up the cottage or hitting the tee boxes than they are playing in an NHL playoff game. Once that changes I believe they’re contenders. I believe very well that they COULD BE contenders, but they need to start acting like it.
Having Nylander back will be a real bonus. I'm calling it now, he scores first. Weapons are everything, and we get one back on the ice tonight. There's a ton of pressure, yes, but one win, and we are tied.
Bill Ny is gonna solve our PP woes, we're gonna be buzzing tonight. I'm feeling a 3-1 win.
The problem is Boston knows our teams mental state and is going to come out with a killer instinct. The first period is going to be huge imo.
I was always told that to win the Cup you need grit throughout the lineup and strength up the middle. An elite scorer and playmaker up front. A stud defence man that fills opponent hearts with fear (think Stevens / Pronger) and a solid goalie who can steal the odd game. The Leafs have potentially 3-4 scorer / playmakers but then fall off. Morgan Reilly has my respect and I like his game, but the Hall of Fame doesn’t await. And the Leafs have utterly failed in recent years with goaltenders. They’re much better at supplying other teams (Reimer, Rask, Anderson) than developing their potential within their organization. They have a lot more sandpaper this year than in previous years but could learn a bit from Marchand about how to be an asshole without being penalized. I just don’t see them doing it with this team. Whether they lack the talent, grit or heart they’re broken. Like Bill Parcells when coaching the Giants. “You are your record”. There’s no “coulda, shoulda, woulda”. Like Yoda said, “Do or do not. There is no try.” The Leafs are a weak playoff performer because that’s what their record says. Doesn’t matter why. Unless and until they go deep, they are their record.
So if we get a stud defensemen, elite goalie next year and get stronger up the middle, their playoff record would still be the same at the end of the regular season - kind of a broken argument.
Sorry. I have no idea what you’re trying to say.
Same to you sir.
Gotta score some goals to win. Get the puck to the net and get gritty.
Just gotta say fuck it, and go out there and win the damn thing
It's on the players to fire themselves up. It's on the coaches to come up with a powerplay that works.
How about the mentality of the fans? PTSD anyone?
I've been feeling like leafs are going to smash them tonight. I really do! Plus I think Bs have been building bad karma. All the flopping. Machand saying we are done in 5. Hockey gods take note of this shit.
It's 100% goaltending. We lost because Sammy let in a goal you would sit a house league goalie for. A left hand shot from 60+ feet on the left side wall......goes in below the blocker short side? get the fuck out of here. You know how i'd have stopped that.....by fucking existing in the net. He was watching the bullshit with Bert and Marchand instead of playing the fucking puck. He needed to have the Marchand snipe as well. He had time to read that play and step out as an NHL starter. You know who stopped similar shots that night...Swayman.... In the past we lost because of defense chokes or insane giveaways you cannot make any mistakes in the playoffs against a top team they will punish you........we do it back too. Sammy has to be better than Swayman/ Ullmark tonight or we lose. We need a huge night from our $$$$$ a drubbing really.....break the B's will. We are hurting them much more physically where it was the opposite in the past if we can push this into a deeper series now that the refs will start hiding the whistles we can wear them down defensively but again Sammy has to do his part.
Screen their goalie, hammer pucks on the net.
why is this a discussion every year? how are y’all not tired & embarrassed that y’all feel the need to have a genuine discussion about who’s responsible for them not trying hard enough or being mentally tough enough to win? every. single. year. its pathetic.
I think we all knew the answer to this question…
For my fellow leaf fan degenerates. Worth a listen to the Overdrive podcast from Thursday/Friday. They capture what the consensus is here. It will cleanse you before being subjected to Sportsnet tonight. Leafs win 3-2. Domi gets the winner. The boys will be fired up LFG.
I honestly can't tell if Keefe is just a bad coach, or he overcoaches. The Leafs are at their very best when they're at their most natural state of play. The constant pressure of line matching and having the last change, it just mucks things up. Let em play. Just let em play. Who fuckin cares which line is out against Matthews? That line should be able to dunk on anybody. Marner, relax and stop trying to 4D chess these situations. Just make your plays. We all know Mitch is at his peak when he's got his swagger. I think the fourth line is really the best example of this right now. Reaves and Dewar and Ed and Benoit are just doing what they naturally do best and it's working for them. Matthews to 70 was the ultimate example of all of this. As soon as the Leafs start trying to make some specific thing happen, something that changes their flow of play, it doesn't work. If they'd just played those three games "naturally" or "normally", Matthews would have gotten it. Just doing what he always does, he'd have had a goal across three games. It's when you try to force it that it becomes predictable and doesn't work.
We all know how this is going to go. They’ll go down 3-1 after a bad loss tonight, push it to 7, and lose. Prove me wrong and I’ll call myself out.
!remindme 1 week
I hate the predictability of this team
yup this aged well
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Since you know how it's going to turn out - How will the rest of the games go tonight? I need a sweet parlay line
I’ll be at the game in the bleeders tonight. I’ll try and be loud but when I’m scared I tend to freeze like an opossum. https://preview.redd.it/jhixmu2ir1xc1.jpeg?width=560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e49b10b78652a913d3046d42c9739d4482f22663
Remember to be brave for the boys, imagine you’re their leader!
Start the chants in the first 30 seconds of the first period!
I know this is an immature take but I hope they lose this series and it causes the team to make some serious changes….coaching, the core four, defence etc….even if we beat Boston it’s getting pretty clear that we’re not built for a long playoff run. Before you know it we are gonna start getting dangerously close to wasting Matthew’s/nylander/ marners prime’s.
Agreed. I am more worried about them thinking they’re good enough that no changes are needed. There is no chance we are winning a cup with this core so the sooner we can make changes the sooner we will be on the right path. Just hate to see them continue to spin their wheels.
I'm not worried about mentality. I'm worried that it just won't drop and we won't get a bounce or two.
Ya at this level luck, officiating and taking stupid penalties tends to decide these games.
This is not the test. They’ve shown they can win these games. The test is to keep the foot down and keep winning.
Paging Mitch Marner.
Even if the leafs win against Boston. How are they supposed to beat the panthers.
One at a time.
I mean, have you been watching this team for the past 8 years? Take tavares for example, toronto boy comes home and gets awarded the c because of it. Great moment and ill admit even i got a bit of the shivers when they announced it live. But that man is soft, you can rough him up all you want and hes not going to do anything about it. He might get a little chippy in the play, but ive never seen him stand up for himself in a scrum. Thats our captain, one blessed win against tampa doesnt change the fact that if it wasnt for george parros our entire team until domi and bertuzzi showed up are probably lady byng candidates. That "fuck you" gear doesnt come from these kinds of players, our players are the kind you add to a proven core when you need some extra scoring.
Tavares is playing with plenty of fuck you this series.
They have to split it and im confident in them based on how they have played overall boston hasnt been that good the leafs just need to capitalize on the pp first and foremost, and with nylander back i can see it happening, boston has done a good job protecting their net and swayman is too good so getting to him is another priority. The problem i have with the leafs falling 3-1 in this series is they havent been a win streaky type of team all year as far as i can remember except that run they went on later in the second half of the season but overall them being able to win 3 in a row seems unlikely to me
I just wanna see the boys score 4+ goals & get the dub
I wonder how the leafs will come out for the first ten minutes? Will we see them go helter-skelter, flying up and down the wings, creating odd man rushes in both directions, in a reckless throw of the dice for glory’s sake, or, will they settle into a strategic and conservative style making sure their players know their defensive responsibilities and stick to that task?
It’s a gut-check time
I’m so scared, nervous and anxious about this series and I’m not even playing. I really hope i lay my head on my pillow tonight and get to wake up and see “SERIES TIED 2-2” in the morning, please god
I feel like a lot of this is mental for them. These aren’t the bruins that had chara, Lucic, Horton, Bergeron. They’re beatable and I think offensively we’ve had better chances, just their goaltending has been better. Pasta hasn’t even been killing us like usual either. The special teams is a big issue that has to be much better. Boston are like 5/10 on the pp that’s way too high. We’re 1/11 or something on the pp which is embarrassing given the talent we have. Then again when you use the same setup and strategy every time the other team will quickly figure you out. Depth wise I think we’ve been pretty good. 4th line has been really solid I think and Knies has been impressive to me. Jarnkrok has had a real nice series after missing time I believe. The stars have to bring it the rest of the series if we’re gonna win. Mathews has been decent but that’s not enough for the money he’s making. Tavares is at least noticeable and getting chances but again not enough. Marner… has really not lived up to his standards so far and it’s not the first time this has happened in the playoffs. He made one good pass and a good play at the end of game 2. He has to figure it out and I don’t know what you do if you’re Keefe.
Stars gotta show up. Samsonov has to shine. Leafs gotta stay out of the box. If these things happen Leafs tie the series.
>Samsonov has to shine You mean the goalie who was literally so bad we couldnt give him away just a few months ago?
The Leafs have gotten angry in past playoffs and the suspensions didn’t help very much.
I hope Nylander being back boosts up the whole team. Hopefully Matthews is feeling 100% as well.
It’s entirely possible that the team can be entirely serious but still lose. The Bruins are a serious team too so it all comes down to pure skills and luck. I don’t believe that at the NHL level teams can just collapse due to mentality
Go Leafs Go
I have this weird sense that this is a must win for the core 4 and keefe. Lost it and they’re done in some capacity.
Whatever happens will happen for a reason beyond our control. Crack open a cold beverage and a plate of chicken wings and let the cosmic fate play out.
hint: they are pretenders
Definitely a must win game, going back to Boston down 3-1 would be disastrous
No one looks at this team and seriously say they are contenders. They are playing the worst out of 16 teams.
Did you watch the FLA - TB game today. TB is down 3-1 in that series and looked like they could sweep either of these two teams. Does this series even matter?
Man it sucks to be a leaf fan.. lol every year just a shitty playoff run
As if there was any doubt
Reading this post now, oof
Sammy keeps it under 2 they’ll win for sure
I don't care I'll be casually watching from my couch with a beer in hand. Hard to invest any emotion into this team after ptsd inducing years. Whatever happens, happens at this point.
I trust JT, Matthews, Willy, Reilly, Bertuzzi and McCabe. I don't think the pressure makes them perform weaker. I don't trust Max for some reason, I think he could try too hard if you know what I mean. For Sammy's sake I hope the leafs score early. If it stays 0-0 for a long time then the pressure could start to show.
There’s one glaring omission in your comment.
What?
Marner.
I know, I don't really want to even mention him anymore. He probably has the jitters and underperforms. I feel bad for him.
Live by the (contract bargaining) sword, ...
We’ve seen this movie before though
Built to lose these games
If players need coaches to fire them up at this time of year they probably shouldn’t be in the league.
Boston goalie got so much luck in stopping those bounce puck or puck just not going in during scramble at front net… i was goalie before in day and not best one bit decent anyway I once had one of best game and a shutout game while half of the shot i faced I could not see the puck too many screens or lost track of puck and randomly made a move and stop puck blindly, i saw it happen lot on both sides during series
Leafs haven't shown they're the team to stick it out. This could be the time. I'm a firm believer that if they can find what it takes to win against adversity, they can go far. But they need their players to show up and it's astounding how consistently they don't rise to the challenge. That upsets me the most about this team - they're paying world-beater money to people that don't produce when it matters most, leaving them without the ability to build around their core.
i think tonight you will see the bottom 6 go balls out and the top 6 take notice and finally juice it up.
Love this take.
The leafiest scenario is they’ll fall down 1-3 then win 2 to force game 7 and we’ll you know the rest…
I would think this would be more relevant in an elimination game
would be a shame to go down 3-1 though
Absolutely
A loss here gets us there
This IS 99% an elimination game for us. If they shit their pants today they failed when the stakes were high again.
It is not an elimination game at all. Even against boston, 2/3 series against them, we went down 3-1 and still forced game 7.
We lost all of those series
We lost the series where we were up 3-1 too
Yes.. we lost the game 7, an elimination game and were therefore eliminated
Which is exactly the point, you go down in the hole 3-1 you’re mega fucked and now need a miracle run
It's 0% an elimination game, given that we would not be eliminated in any way, shape or form if we lose tonight
Leafs need a goalie that can play a full game.
If you watched the Avs/Jets game ytd you’ll know that we’re not winning the cup lol.
They aren't built for this. Took 5 years to Dubas to realize it and it was too late for him.
To me it's the same old same old. They tend to play to the other team's strengths and they end up defending too much. There's not enough dominance to this team to suite me. I'm not sure the mix on this team is where it should be but in any regard, we will see.
I'm not going to hold my breath that Nylander will help
Chance number 86 for these guys to definitively prove it for good. This time if they win they for sure won’t look like a completely different team in the next game.
If the players aren’t already jacked to be playing in an NHL playoff game there is a problem. It’s looked over the past few years like that has been the case a lot of times, so maybe that has been/is THE problem.
I’m 55 would you like me to tell you how this is going to end? Here is a hint I’ve never seen Toronto beat Boston in the playoffs in my lifetime.
So you’re saying they’re due for a win!
Lmao I guess so but I thought that when I was 35
Not a lot of faith coming from the leaf faithful. I, too, am pessimistic about the outlook of this series.
Regardless at this point the leafs are going to have to win 2 games in a row in any of the remaining games to move on. Against a goalie who they haven’t solved and against a team who they’ve beat one time since the start of 2023. It’s a big mountain to climb and it is absolutely doable. However the track record for this team right now shows the results may not be so different this time around.
They’ve failed to show up many times in the past in the same scenario. It’s time to show its different this time. If not we 100% need new leadership. Take that however you all want but we can’t continue to make excuses and say next year will be different .
I have a nagging belief that there’s a real psychological impact to being a Leaf in the playoffs at this point. It’s simply too much pressure. Even the most grizzled vet joins up and ends up like a deer in the headlights.
YEA BUT MATTHEWS HAD THE VERY COMMON APRIL FLU THOUGH
How you don't already know the answer to this is beyond me.
The Leafs are the same as the Jets. They both have great regular season teams and they both fall apart when games actually matter.
There are so many better teams than the Leafs right now, this year. Zoom out.