Series Talk: ECQF: Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs (Series Tied 3-3)

[Soul Assumption]

Will at least one of Tavares/Marner/Matthews/Nylander be able to outscore Lyubushkin by the end of the series? Well, let's wait and we'll find out!

 

[ponder]

Nylander pretty meh in the playoffs so far

TBF he's only played 2 games, and is probably well off 100%.

But he also had a weak end to the regular season. I like the "3 dangerous lines" approach, but I think Keefe has it wrong with trying to have Nylander carry line 3. Nylander is very talented, but I don't think he's a "carry a line on his own" type, he needs at least 1 other fairly skilled player to work with. Matthews and Marner are more able to carry a line and still produce with 2 grinders.

If Matthews is back for game 6, I'd like to see:

Bert - AM - Domi
Knies - JT - Nylander
Jarnkrok - Holmberg - Marner
Dewar - Kampf - Reaves

Best chance to get production out of both the 2nd and 3rd lines IMO.

 

[Joe Sakic]

Bruh. Your hockey club has over 100 years of history and only 6 gd cups.

Let that sink in.

While I get that's it's funny that the Leafs havn't won a cup since the league had only 6 teams. In that same 6 team league for 60 YEARS, Boston could only win it 3 times.

3.

That's how dog shit Boston's history is.

Right now you have 6 cup wins in 100 years of playing in the NHL. If we gave you another 100 years to win another 6, you STILL won't have the same amount of cups as the Leafs.

These two clubs are not even comparable in accomplishments. Never forget that.

That said, this year? Boston wins it in 6 as I predicted.
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Go off King!

 

[Coach Parker]

Boy, don't we all just hate our teams right now?

Let's merge them and let that merged team take on Florida, okay?

 

[Leaf Fans]

Boy, don't we all just hate our teams right now?

Let's merge them and let that merged team take on Florida, okay?

I don't hate either team. I am cheering for the Leafs though.

 

[Coach Parker]

Boston is looking a bit wobbly after that loss.

The leafs are going to be feeling confident and the bruins are really banking on the leafs imploding to win. In gm5 the leafs didn't break and that could be a bad sign for the bruins. If Matthews comes back for gm6 I think gm7 happens.

Just cut and paste this from the game 5 thread of these teams in the past decade and it'll apply.

I am shocked any betting apps let you bet on the Leafs as it's a slam dunk they win Thursday.

In fact, I logged in, created an account and bet $50 on the Bruins to win game 7 and $50 on the Leafs to win game 7 after the Bruins won to be up 3-1.

Why?

Because these teams torture their fans and this was always going to go to 7 games. It is night and day from any other series. Tonight I watched games in the other playoff series' where both teams worked hard and put it all out there and one team came out on top.

In the Boston / Toronto series, it is more of 'which team is going to play a terrible game more' and the other team is gifted a win. Neither team seems to have to work for a win, it's the other team shitting the bed that night and handing the win to the opponent.

Frustrating for both fanbases as the losses you can't simply walk away from and say 'we were outplayed' you end up saying 'we were absolute trash and didn't want to play hockey tonight' which causes fan hostility and resentment towards their own team.

 

[Coach Parker]

I don't hate either team. I am cheering for the Leafs though.

I do right now for what they are doing to my lifespan. Making me think this was actually going to be different this year. Nope.

 

[serp]

Until proven otherwise the script for this series from the start was this is going 7 games and in game 7 the Leafs blow it. As is Leafs tradition .

 

[Nogatco Rd]

When is the last time a team choked away a 3-1 series lead, in the first round, in back to back years?

 

[danny90]

Just throw Marner with Matthews again they are dominant at 5v5 just need to figure out how to turn xGF into actual goals

 

[Cleatus]

Even if he wins the Cup and Conn Smythe, Marchand is an absolute loser of a captain, and Bruins fans should feel ashamed (from Chara to Bergeron, then this? Your team's culture has reached incredibly cowardly lows, win or lose).

 

[theMajor]

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Even if he wins the Cup and Conn Smythe, Marchand is an absolute loser of a captain, and Bruins fans should feel ashamed (from Chara to Bergeron, then this? Your team's culture has reached incredibly cowardly lows, win or lose).

LOL, the ref slewfooting marchand is one of the top 5 funniest things ive seen watching hockey.

kudos to the leafs for gutting it out, this series just got a lot more interesting

 

[Cleatus]

LOL, the ref slewfooting marchand is one of the top 5 funniest things ive seen watching hockey.

kudos to the leafs for gutting it out, this series just got a lot more interesting

Marchand obviously thought a Leaf player touched him, and pulled off an Olympic level dive (maybe the finest one of his career).

Too bad you can't call penalties against refs.

 

[Panthers Propaganda]

Leafs force game 7 and you have to think some seeds of doubt start sprouting in Bostons minds.

2 years back to back blown 3-1 series leads would be astonishing.

 

[Oscar The Grouch]

Until proven otherwise the script for this series from the start was this is going 7 games and in game 7 the Leafs blow it. As is Leafs tradition .

Yup. False hope and then the ability to build a narrative about just falling short despite battling back + "injuries" etc.

That narrative leads to the decision to "run it back" for another year, and collective relief by all the other teams in the conference.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I think the Leafs will come out firing in game 6. It's more than just pushing the series, they probably feel like they owe their fans one and for an offensive team like this you'd think an outburst is due.

I was just thinking yesterday morning if they can win this game in OT that could carry them to a big performance in the next one. Get Matthews back fresh too hopefully.

Then again it's Toronto in the playoffs so I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Zalos]

This series is so weird. Most of the superstars around the league are putting up a ton of points in this first round, but Pastrnak, Marner, Nylander, and Matthews have all been very quiet. They will explode eventually, right?

It's just a very low scoring matchup, which I didn't actually expect.

 

[BLNY]

Boston played their worst game of the series on the same night the Leafs played their best.

 

[Drytoast]

Wait you can accuse him of choking offensively for sure (that's what it looks like to me) but he is absolutely not a defensive liability, the stats show he has been excellent at suppressing offensive chances for many years now in the playoffs

Has shut down Pasta as well

Uhh. He won't go into the corners to retrieve 50/50 pucks. Yes. He is a defensive liability

 

[Drytoast]

Go off King!

All that being said...this is Montreal's league lol.

 

[nasero]

I just don't understand why Montgomery would tweak the lines from what has been working and put back in players (Gryz) that have been terrible.

 

[bobholly39]

Matthews has a steep hill to climb if he's going to lead playoffs in goals after round 1.

And he will.

Minimum 7 more goals for him to score. Boston is toast.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

the leafiest thing that could happen if we win Game 6 and then not show up at all for 7.
I can live with a loss if they try and make it look like they wanna win. still want changes no matter what happens

 

[Jakub97]

I think the Leafs will come out firing in game 6. It's more than just pushing the series, they probably feel like they owe their fans one and for an offensive team like this you'd think an outburst is due.

I was just thinking yesterday morning if they can win this game in OT that could carry them to a big performance in the next one. Get Matthews back fresh too hopefully.

Then again it's Toronto in the playoffs so I'm not holding my breath.

The hockey God has a master plan. Once again, this series will have game No. 7.

I also feel like I know what will happen in that game, however, I would be SO GLAD to be wrong.

Go Leafs Go!

 

[Peasy]

the leafiest thing that could happen if we win Game 6 and then not show up at all for 7.
I can live with a loss if they try and make it look like they wanna win. still want changes no matter what happens

Losing game 6 at home, going 0-3 at home this year, and making Keefe's already like 4-12 playoff home record worse would also be pretty leafy.

But I agree, a loss in game 7 is more fitting at this point.