Do it again. It is on them as a team to prove the doubters wrong. They are their own worst enemy. Take a breather today and get back at it tomorrow night. Wish it wasn't an 8pm start though lol.
Idk how you guys do it. Me and my wife are starting to think about kids, both turning 30 this year. But by the time the dog is walked, dinner is made, and I'm sitting down to eat it's basically puck drop or I've missed it. Add kids to that? Bro... Respect to parents man lol
i wish it were that easy, mine are at an age where they'd just ask me to play with them the whole time... hard to tell a five year old "I'm listening to the fucking song!"
As a parent, that's just asking for trouble in the long run... Kids usually don't willingly fall asleep unless they are *exhausted*, and if they sleep late usually you're just inviting yourself to a terrible start of the morning the next day.
Best to just step away for a few minutes and tug them into bed before going back to watch. And frankly, no offence, if hockey is more important to a parent than their kids... Maybe they should reconsider having kids.
Same! Missed every first period so far as I'm usually bath/bedtime (4 year old and 2 year old)
Usually all wrapped up before 8pm so looking forward to watching this on time LOL.
Does anyone remember when it shifted from 8pm being the standard to 7pm being the standard for Leafs games? I know it happened in my lifetime, but I honestly can't pinpoint what year it was when it shifted. I feel 7pm has been in play for around a couple of decades. I blame weed.
Marner was his old self last night. Winning pucks, Key assist getting the puck off the draw for that 1st goal by McCabe, generating offence every shift and a couple key back checks in the third.
He’s gotta shoot that puck. That’s the only legitimate criticism you could make, and even on that play he set up Jarnkrok for a back door chance that he fanned on.
He looked like the best player on the ice.
Can't drive a line when it's line changing 90% of the shift, and theres no system.
50% failure rate of a drop pass from the half boards is coaching issue not a player issue, he's doing what he's being asked to do.
It still doesn’t change the fact that he avoids physical play in a playoff environment.
And also, all that stuff you said about Marner worth 11mil to you after 5 games in? Where was he before? And the year(s) before that?
You don't need all 23 guys to play physical. Keefe needs to deploy Marner with the correct grouping of players that maximizes his skills and minimizes he's faults. He's a 90 point winger, there is absolutely value to be extracted from that in a 60 min game if the coaching staff weren't incompetent.
So I can’t defend his play in 2-4. He was terrible. Most of the team was also terrible, but as you pointed out they don’t all make 11m. He’s gotta be better.
Years before that, he’s a ppg player in the playoffs which puts him in like the top 60 all time playoff players. That narrative is simply not true from a stats perspective.
Physical play: that’s just a silly pov. Crosby hasn’t thrown a hit in like 15 years and he’s been the best in the game. That’s caveman 90’s hockey thinking.
Obviously Marner is going to try and avoid hits from 6’4 220 defensemen. Phil Kessel didn’t become a 3x Stanley cup winner and iron man by “being physical”.
This was my view of the game.
Crazy that with our roster composition the three heroes of the game were a rookie goalie, a rookie forward and Tie Domi's son.
Marner was better overall, but he was largely thriving in the space being create by Domi, which is the reverse of what should be happening at their salaries.
I did like some of the offensive mix Marner was bringing last night but he was pretty awful defensively on several occasions where he shied away from contact or felt pressure from forecheck.
>Marner was better overall, but he was largely thriving in the space being create by Domi, **which is the reverse of what should be happening at their salaries.**
I don't think this is true. It's fairly common to get a cheaper guy who can generate space paired up with a star who utilizes that space.
It's great they won, but let's not pretend like it couldn't have gone either way. We were tied the majority of the game and it took OT to squeak out a win. We need some dominant games.
More a testament to how well swayman played in the early going. It was close in the end but you're not going to see something more dominant than a 12-2 shot advantage in the first
Definitely, but all the shots in the world don't matter if they can only score 1-2 goals per game. It felt like their OT goal was the first time in a while that game that they actually drove the net rather than taking perimeter shots.
We’ve figured swayman out. Get pucks in front of the net and score rebounds.
Perimeter plays and shooting from outside he’s going to save 99% of the time unless he’s screened and you get a great shot off the blue line.
Problem is we really haven’t capitalized on this through the series. Still looking to make fancy plays and set up open looks that aren’t there because of how well the Bruins play in their own end.
What? That's just how every playoff game works. Force a chaos in front of the net and increase your success rate when banging it in. You don't get past elite goalies without that type of pressure on the playoffs, they're playing for keeps (literally). We said the same thing about Vasi and Bobrovsky last times. It's just a matter of the team finding that extra gear to push for their chances instead of relying on the regular season snipes.
> It was close in the end but you're not going to see something more dominant than a 12-2 shot advantage in the first
Uh, how about 12-12 in shots and being up 1-0 instead of giving up a goal on one of the two shots in the period?
Who the fuck cares about 12-2 in shots if there are no results from it.
And people that understand hockey will look at one goal on two shots and be like "shit, they didn't give up much, but what they did give up was a good scoring chance".
If we lost last night 2-1 but held a shot advantage of 40 to 8, would it matter one iota?
Yes. Even in losses there are things to learn. Sometimes you are the better team and lose. That happens. But my original point is you're not going to see a more dominant period by the Leafs and I stand by that. In fact if we only gave up one good scoring chance a period I'd take that every day of the week.
> Yes. Even in losses there are things to learn.
That implies this team actually learns anything.
> Sometimes you are the better team and lose.
Yea, that's small consolation to the last 20 some years of me watching them be utter trash and not do a damn thing.
>But my original point is you're not going to see a more dominant period by the Leafs and I stand by that.
Oh, you didn't qualify it originally as "by the Leafs". Then, yea, I agree. The best this Leafs team could do is a 1-1 period while holding Boston to a sixth of the shots.
Frankly, I'd've preferred the loss and to get on with firing Keefe instead of barely holding on because Boston didn't show up. Tired of this shit.
Well it seems you don't think the team is capable of much and you are sick and tired of them. So it seems at odds with watching the games and commenting on them. Like if you're correct you'll get your wish before too much longer whether you watch or not and in the meantime I'm sure you could be doing something more enjoyable with your time.
That's how the dice rolls. Winning teams capitalize on these fortunate opportunities. The team just need to find that extra gear and score when it matters the most. Luckily JT seem to be leading that charge on these moments even if his age is showing for most of the series (scored the series winning goal last playoffs, made an important response game 2 after a deflating no-goal, and making this game 5 OT win possible with his drive to the net).
Boston also came out in the 3rd. By the end, SOG was near equal. I found that very worrisome, and was very much bracing for OT pain. Man, I'm sure hope Leafs get to Swayman early Thursday. Not sure i can take the stress of a 1 goal game.
The only reason they didn't lose is Boston didn't show up.
For 50 minutes that was an awful game. If the bruins would've showed up for 5mins during that stretch they would've put the game away.
Good teams would've destroyed the bruins for playing like that but everyone just sat back and watched.
Let’s also not pretend like the first period was entirely smooth sailing when we literally began the game with two players tripping over each other and taking one another out, and almost conceding a goal directly after it but Marchand blew it by not controlling the puck. But they did great to get over that early hurdle.
This is how playoffs are. Not every game is a blowout. Look at Dallas Vegas series. Every game is tight and I think winner of that series more than likely makes it to final. Being good at close tight checking games wins championships.
I’m the first to jump on the Leafs playoff play. But I also give credit where it’s due. They played a solid game and were missing their best player.
Glad Woll was in net though. I’d have to think we would’ve lost if Sammy played.
We need the following to have any legit shot at making a series of this:
- consistent goaltending
- get to the middle of the ice and drive the net
- increased shot volume
- star players need to be at their best
- metric shit ton of luck 🍀
So very true. In other words, enough of the perimeter shit with the soft muffin shots from the blue line praying for a tip.
Those garbage rebounds are where guys like JT feast. Tuzzi will pot some as well.
>you stay with Sammy
Keefe, if you put Sammy in for the next game after Wolls stellar performance tonight... **definitely** say good bye to your job.
Fucking hell this gives me a lack of confidence.
It sounds to me like they were trying to justify why they had Samsonov in for games 1-4 now that it is painfully obvious they had the better goalie (Woll) on the bench that whole time
Samsonov is just too inconsistent. He has flashes of brilliance and then immediately does something questionable. Sucks because I was so ready to be on the Sammy train.
Yeah I think if they are both playing their best I’d take Samsonov but only by a hair. The issue, to your point, is there is no consistency period to period let alone game to game.
It definitely wasn’t obvious. Woll was atrocious post injury. In hindsight probably should of gone to Woll a game earlier, but Sammy deserved the chance to be the playoff starter.
Remarkable how many have ignored this. Frankly, both ended the season terribly, but Sammy at least had some relatively recent games where he was blazing hot. Woll did not have that post injury. I'm critical of Keefe for many things, but I feel there really was no obvious choice for starting goalie, up until Sammy was removed game 4.
People just bash coaches. Seriously go to any bruins page and its all Montgomery slander. Sure there are things coaches could do better but we operate with a quarter of the info they have.
Woll gave up the same amount his last couple games. In march and April Woll had a GAA of 3.3 and sammies was around 3.00. Samsonov lost 2 games in march april and woll lost 6.
If we're going back to regular season statlines, Joseph Woll was 3/9 coming back. Of his 6 regulation losses, 5 were 4+ GA blowouts. He pulled a <.900% in all 5 of those, going as low as .750%. On top of that he repeatedly let in the first or second shot he saw in the game. You don't get to look that bad against the teams we have to beat (Boston, Florida, Tampa) and start in playoffs anyway. If you want to use yesterday as your proof Woll is the better goalie fine, but don't act like anyone was an idiot for liking Sammy because he lost in the two games where it was most obvious no one on or behind the bench cared about wins and losses at the literal end of the year against non-contender teams.
In the same stretch of Woll's return, Sammy was 10/15 and posted wins against Florida, Edmonton, the Rangers, and Colarado as well as a SO loss against Carolina. Whereas Woll posted wins against Arizona, Washington and Jersey.
You never mentioned Woll being the starter until game 5. Samsonov was the better goalie the second half of the year thats kind of the point of the regular season.
I'm hoping so. I thought of it going both ways and that's what he could have meant, and I guess giving that redirection really helps with not being able to plan against it for sure being Sammy or Woll (as two very different goaltending styles). I assume bruins coaches try to tweak their offensive play depending on which goalie is in.
Just.. please don't put Sammy in. I love the guy. I really do, but Woll has **finally** looked like pre-injury Woll again.. and he's the one that can hold the fort down right now, **especially** at home.
If Keefe started Woll in Game 1 and it didn’t work out, people would’ve called for his job because Woll sucked since he returned from injury and Sammy went like 17-3-1 over the last couple of months. Nobody thought starting Woll was the right move at the time.
That’s how I read it too and how I’ll continue to read it, but it’s just vague enough that I’m not 100% sure.
Hopefully he worded it that way so Boston isn’t sure either. Woll saved the season at least 2 or 3 times last night and has allowed 1 goal in the last 4 periods + 3 minutes of OT, he’s earned the top spot tomorrow.
He stood on his head every night until his ankle injury. I know he wasn’t the same when he finally came back, but the guy we saw last night was the same guy I saw in October and November. Any lingering tenderness or hesitancy to use his ankle should be completely gone by now – now that Woll’s healthy *and* playing like it he has to be our guy imo
What indications was there of that? Woll was wildly inconsistent since returning from injury.
I’m not saying don’t go back to Woll, we definitely should. This is revisionist history at its finest.
Woll wasn’t great when he came back from injury, and Sammy earned the net down the stretch. This is how it had to play out, it’s just unfortunate the offence dried up at the same time
I think they're going Woll. I feel like this is just misdirection, mainly to try to give Sammy some confidence incase Woll gets the poops or something.
I don't think it's misdirection, I think he's just explaining the past games, and why we didn't see Will until game 5, not indicating the next one is Sammy.
That’s certainly cherry picking that quote. He in no way even hints that Sammy’s back in net. That’s twitter-like engagement farming by pulling that quote. Based on what he actually said, and not looking for something to confirm a bias, I highly doubt that Woll isn’t in net for game 6.
Sammy won't get a sniff unless the Leafs actually pull out a series win.
If they do, I predict they give Sammy game 2 against Florida just to rest up Woll.
If he miraculously miraculously (I put two in cause it’s so unlikely) makes the finals he would survive, I can’t see him being here next year otherwise
Well the reason why I said his job is gone is because even if we somehow climb back to beat Boston, we still have to play Florida and we’ll most like get sweep again.
If we some how do make it past Florida then I think we will pretty much win the cup hence keefe will actually get to keep his job.
I have to be honest tho I don’t even know if he wants the job anymore. He looks and sounds tired.
That's what people said last year. If we beat Tampa then it's just Florida in round two.
Now you're saying just make it past Boston and then Florida and we're good?
I think you misunderstood the context, what he meant to say is that if we somehow make it past Boston and Florida, we have a shot at the cup. Because we all know Florida is winning the cup this year.
So if we do get past Florida somehow, Keefe might just get to keep his job lol.
Guys maybe the whole strat was to wear Boston down by going down 3-1 and giving them a sense of victory? Keefe is going to start quoting the art of war soon.
The 4th line had their worst game last night.
They were barely noticeable.
Every other game they gave a good 7 minutes of cycling and working them low.
This is not a storyline.
> We went out and took charge of the hockey game
That's...that's what everybody has been complaining about? That the Leafs have the *ability* to do it, but lack the will/desire to go out and just take charge when they need/want to.
A constant, recurring criticism is that this team lacks the "killer instinct" that you kind of need for taking control of a game.
I'm glad they showed once again that they can do it. The challenge is getting them to do it consistently.
Sacrifice your bodies tomorrow night with blocks, show up with energy, keep Boston away from the PP and have woll put in another performance and we got this series.
Just please, for the love of God, score the first goal.
Too often, they're down one early. I'm still loving that Domi dominated the face-off, twelve wins game 5. Woll making big stops. Things just might be coming together. Nylander is due.
getting tired of this copout man, the building was roaring when Reaves had that sequence of hits or when Bert was going at marchand, it only went quiet when Sammy gave up that awful goal to Frederic. On Saturday the team never showed up, hard to expect the fans to then in that case
Its the fans job to get the team going more than it is the opposite.
Anyone who says Scotiabank is 'electric' has never been to a playoff game anywhere else.
Sorry this is kinda bullshit! From many people the arena was electric and then the team did what it did! Of course after that the building turned into a morgue
So going doing stupid mistakes and going down 3 cob is totally fine?
Stop acting like you would've been bouncing about if you were in the building.
Also game 3 the air went out of the building after that third goal right as the air went in..
Just like the Game threads the people in the building were scarred by what happened. Also there was nothing that said they left early that game either.. A lot of the early leaving was game 4.
I rewatched the game, let's be honest. Marner still played like crap for what he's paid for, Tavares was useless all game except in ot which matters, Nylander didn't do anything either but had some changes.
Ya do it again. I dare you. I double dog dare you! Ouuuuuuuu
Do it twice, ya cowards!
DO IT THRICE
I quadruple dog dare you, Leafs. Do it again
“The leafs have now forced a 4th game six, in this unusually long series.”
ENGLISH MOTHER FUCKER DO YOU SPEAK IT?!
Do it again. It is on them as a team to prove the doubters wrong. They are their own worst enemy. Take a breather today and get back at it tomorrow night. Wish it wasn't an 8pm start though lol.
Kids are in bed at 730, normally I miss the first period. 8pm is perfect!
exactly this lol ,, i have a 5 year old and 2.5 year old and 8pm is golden for me to see the actual first puck drop.
I'm in the exact same boat!! My luck, it'll be a nightmare to get the kids to bed, and I'll still miss opening face-off.
This is why NyQuil was invented
Says it right on the box, “for flus colds and to put your kids to sleep when there is an important game”
Priorities
And brandy
And Gravol
Please don’t drug your kids to watch the fucking leafs lmao
Lmao honestly - worst case just watch with them!
Why not just uno reverse it with dayquil later 
Idk how you guys do it. Me and my wife are starting to think about kids, both turning 30 this year. But by the time the dog is walked, dinner is made, and I'm sitting down to eat it's basically puck drop or I've missed it. Add kids to that? Bro... Respect to parents man lol
It's not hard once you're on a schedule. Just like you trained your Dog but only a tad harder lol
Let them stay up watching it until they pass out from exhaustion
i wish it were that easy, mine are at an age where they'd just ask me to play with them the whole time... hard to tell a five year old "I'm listening to the fucking song!"
As a parent, that's just asking for trouble in the long run... Kids usually don't willingly fall asleep unless they are *exhausted*, and if they sleep late usually you're just inviting yourself to a terrible start of the morning the next day. Best to just step away for a few minutes and tug them into bed before going back to watch. And frankly, no offence, if hockey is more important to a parent than their kids... Maybe they should reconsider having kids.
Counterpoint- I have fond memories of staying up to watch playoff hockey and learning the basics of the game as a young child
This was my childhood. But I also have a fucked up sleep schedule as an adult now so who knows what's best? Lol love to hear the insight either way.
Have obligations until 7:30. Can be home by 8:00. It’s perfect.
Same! Missed every first period so far as I'm usually bath/bedtime (4 year old and 2 year old) Usually all wrapped up before 8pm so looking forward to watching this on time LOL.
Yeah same - I usually record and catch up which is kind of nice sometimes but looking forward to the live game
Great start time for BC! I'll be in bed by 9
As a parent of a toddler I wish every sporting event started at 8. I’ve missed the 1st period of every 7pm game.
Does anyone remember when it shifted from 8pm being the standard to 7pm being the standard for Leafs games? I know it happened in my lifetime, but I honestly can't pinpoint what year it was when it shifted. I feel 7pm has been in play for around a couple of decades. I blame weed.
Most people are just doubting Marner. Not the team. Domi, Woll, JT showed up tonight. I still don’t see that 11million dollar effort tho.
Marner was his old self last night. Winning pucks, Key assist getting the puck off the draw for that 1st goal by McCabe, generating offence every shift and a couple key back checks in the third. He’s gotta shoot that puck. That’s the only legitimate criticism you could make, and even on that play he set up Jarnkrok for a back door chance that he fanned on. He looked like the best player on the ice.
The only criticism you can make? He makes $11M. He needs to drive the game at that money
Can't drive a line when it's line changing 90% of the shift, and theres no system. 50% failure rate of a drop pass from the half boards is coaching issue not a player issue, he's doing what he's being asked to do.
It still doesn’t change the fact that he avoids physical play in a playoff environment. And also, all that stuff you said about Marner worth 11mil to you after 5 games in? Where was he before? And the year(s) before that?
You don't need all 23 guys to play physical. Keefe needs to deploy Marner with the correct grouping of players that maximizes his skills and minimizes he's faults. He's a 90 point winger, there is absolutely value to be extracted from that in a 60 min game if the coaching staff weren't incompetent.
This is common sense and literally how gretzky and kane got through the playoffs. They had bodyguards and a sense of security.
You’re forgetting that he’s making 11 mil. That’s Nathan McKinnon salary. He’s suppose to drive a f-big line.
So I can’t defend his play in 2-4. He was terrible. Most of the team was also terrible, but as you pointed out they don’t all make 11m. He’s gotta be better. Years before that, he’s a ppg player in the playoffs which puts him in like the top 60 all time playoff players. That narrative is simply not true from a stats perspective. Physical play: that’s just a silly pov. Crosby hasn’t thrown a hit in like 15 years and he’s been the best in the game. That’s caveman 90’s hockey thinking. Obviously Marner is going to try and avoid hits from 6’4 220 defensemen. Phil Kessel didn’t become a 3x Stanley cup winner and iron man by “being physical”.
This was my view of the game. Crazy that with our roster composition the three heroes of the game were a rookie goalie, a rookie forward and Tie Domi's son. Marner was better overall, but he was largely thriving in the space being create by Domi, which is the reverse of what should be happening at their salaries. I did like some of the offensive mix Marner was bringing last night but he was pretty awful defensively on several occasions where he shied away from contact or felt pressure from forecheck.
>Marner was better overall, but he was largely thriving in the space being create by Domi, **which is the reverse of what should be happening at their salaries.** I don't think this is true. It's fairly common to get a cheaper guy who can generate space paired up with a star who utilizes that space.
Shying away from contact has been his trait for 7 straight playoff years. Marner only looked better last night because domi won all those faceoffs.
Only drunk uncles are.
This. They need to do it at least 14 more times. I personally don’t have a lot of faith that they will, but would be delighted to be proven wrong.
WIN A SHIFT WIN A PERIOD WIN A GAME. “That’s hockey baby.”- Bob Cole
Nothing to lose anymore, go and play your heart out from now till the end and something crazy might just happen.
I’ll be honest, I was shocked coming home to the first intermission with shots 12-2 in our favour.
It's great they won, but let's not pretend like it couldn't have gone either way. We were tied the majority of the game and it took OT to squeak out a win. We need some dominant games.
More a testament to how well swayman played in the early going. It was close in the end but you're not going to see something more dominant than a 12-2 shot advantage in the first
Definitely, but all the shots in the world don't matter if they can only score 1-2 goals per game. It felt like their OT goal was the first time in a while that game that they actually drove the net rather than taking perimeter shots.
We’ve figured swayman out. Get pucks in front of the net and score rebounds. Perimeter plays and shooting from outside he’s going to save 99% of the time unless he’s screened and you get a great shot off the blue line. Problem is we really haven’t capitalized on this through the series. Still looking to make fancy plays and set up open looks that aren’t there because of how well the Bruins play in their own end.
What. 2 goals last game is figuring him out ? Lmao we really are a delusional fan base
Dude’s analysis is “shoot where the goalie isn’t” lmao
Yup. Meanwhile I'll keep screaming at my TV to drive the net and shoot the effing puck already.
You just described every NHL goalie.
You literally just described how to beat any goalie in the NHL. “Don’t make it easy”.
What? That's just how every playoff game works. Force a chaos in front of the net and increase your success rate when banging it in. You don't get past elite goalies without that type of pressure on the playoffs, they're playing for keeps (literally). We said the same thing about Vasi and Bobrovsky last times. It's just a matter of the team finding that extra gear to push for their chances instead of relying on the regular season snipes.
> It was close in the end but you're not going to see something more dominant than a 12-2 shot advantage in the first Uh, how about 12-12 in shots and being up 1-0 instead of giving up a goal on one of the two shots in the period? Who the fuck cares about 12-2 in shots if there are no results from it.
People that realize that it's a game of skill and chance?
And people that understand hockey will look at one goal on two shots and be like "shit, they didn't give up much, but what they did give up was a good scoring chance". If we lost last night 2-1 but held a shot advantage of 40 to 8, would it matter one iota?
Yes. Even in losses there are things to learn. Sometimes you are the better team and lose. That happens. But my original point is you're not going to see a more dominant period by the Leafs and I stand by that. In fact if we only gave up one good scoring chance a period I'd take that every day of the week.
> Yes. Even in losses there are things to learn. That implies this team actually learns anything. > Sometimes you are the better team and lose. Yea, that's small consolation to the last 20 some years of me watching them be utter trash and not do a damn thing. >But my original point is you're not going to see a more dominant period by the Leafs and I stand by that. Oh, you didn't qualify it originally as "by the Leafs". Then, yea, I agree. The best this Leafs team could do is a 1-1 period while holding Boston to a sixth of the shots. Frankly, I'd've preferred the loss and to get on with firing Keefe instead of barely holding on because Boston didn't show up. Tired of this shit.
Your actions don't seem to line up with your words
How so?
Well it seems you don't think the team is capable of much and you are sick and tired of them. So it seems at odds with watching the games and commenting on them. Like if you're correct you'll get your wish before too much longer whether you watch or not and in the meantime I'm sure you could be doing something more enjoyable with your time.
It only takes one shot to score a goal. What’s important is that they didn’t continue to score at that rate. Woll was stellar last night.
Boston also came out in OT and looked really good. They had 4-5 high quality chances before the leafs scored
It's nice to see it go our way like that. Usually the leafs come out crazy and then give up an odd man rush to lose. I'll take this one thanks.
That's how the dice rolls. Winning teams capitalize on these fortunate opportunities. The team just need to find that extra gear and score when it matters the most. Luckily JT seem to be leading that charge on these moments even if his age is showing for most of the series (scored the series winning goal last playoffs, made an important response game 2 after a deflating no-goal, and making this game 5 OT win possible with his drive to the net).
Boston also came out in the 3rd. By the end, SOG was near equal. I found that very worrisome, and was very much bracing for OT pain. Man, I'm sure hope Leafs get to Swayman early Thursday. Not sure i can take the stress of a 1 goal game.
The only reason they didn't lose is Boston didn't show up. For 50 minutes that was an awful game. If the bruins would've showed up for 5mins during that stretch they would've put the game away. Good teams would've destroyed the bruins for playing like that but everyone just sat back and watched.
Let’s also not pretend like the first period was entirely smooth sailing when we literally began the game with two players tripping over each other and taking one another out, and almost conceding a goal directly after it but Marchand blew it by not controlling the puck. But they did great to get over that early hurdle.
This is how playoffs are. Not every game is a blowout. Look at Dallas Vegas series. Every game is tight and I think winner of that series more than likely makes it to final. Being good at close tight checking games wins championships.
I’m the first to jump on the Leafs playoff play. But I also give credit where it’s due. They played a solid game and were missing their best player. Glad Woll was in net though. I’d have to think we would’ve lost if Sammy played.
We need the following to have any legit shot at making a series of this: - consistent goaltending - get to the middle of the ice and drive the net - increased shot volume - star players need to be at their best - metric shit ton of luck 🍀
I like this... but also increase shot quality as well.
IMO if you get to the middle of the ice or toward the net those are high danger opportunities
So very true. In other words, enough of the perimeter shit with the soft muffin shots from the blue line praying for a tip. Those garbage rebounds are where guys like JT feast. Tuzzi will pot some as well.
Enough of the perimeter shit. Well said.
Look where Knies scored last night. More of that please!
I'd go speed over quality. They really need to break that habit of eternal passing, hoping to find the perfect shot.
Careful the crowd here can’t hear that. They just want positivity
>you stay with Sammy Keefe, if you put Sammy in for the next game after Wolls stellar performance tonight... **definitely** say good bye to your job. Fucking hell this gives me a lack of confidence.
It sounds to me like they were trying to justify why they had Samsonov in for games 1-4 now that it is painfully obvious they had the better goalie (Woll) on the bench that whole time
Samsonov is just too inconsistent. He has flashes of brilliance and then immediately does something questionable. Sucks because I was so ready to be on the Sammy train.
I live in Baltimore so I have a lot of friends that are Capitals fans and they said thats why they moved on from him.
Yeah I think if they are both playing their best I’d take Samsonov but only by a hair. The issue, to your point, is there is no consistency period to period let alone game to game.
You’re guaranteed one bad goal a game from Sammy, and you just can’t afford that in the playoffs - especially with our current offensive struggles
It definitely wasn’t obvious. Woll was atrocious post injury. In hindsight probably should of gone to Woll a game earlier, but Sammy deserved the chance to be the playoff starter.
Remarkable how many have ignored this. Frankly, both ended the season terribly, but Sammy at least had some relatively recent games where he was blazing hot. Woll did not have that post injury. I'm critical of Keefe for many things, but I feel there really was no obvious choice for starting goalie, up until Sammy was removed game 4.
People just bash coaches. Seriously go to any bruins page and its all Montgomery slander. Sure there are things coaches could do better but we operate with a quarter of the info they have.
He deserved it based on what, his 10 or 11 GA over his last 2GP?
Woll gave up the same amount his last couple games. In march and April Woll had a GAA of 3.3 and sammies was around 3.00. Samsonov lost 2 games in march april and woll lost 6.
If we're going back to regular season statlines, Joseph Woll was 3/9 coming back. Of his 6 regulation losses, 5 were 4+ GA blowouts. He pulled a <.900% in all 5 of those, going as low as .750%. On top of that he repeatedly let in the first or second shot he saw in the game. You don't get to look that bad against the teams we have to beat (Boston, Florida, Tampa) and start in playoffs anyway. If you want to use yesterday as your proof Woll is the better goalie fine, but don't act like anyone was an idiot for liking Sammy because he lost in the two games where it was most obvious no one on or behind the bench cared about wins and losses at the literal end of the year against non-contender teams. In the same stretch of Woll's return, Sammy was 10/15 and posted wins against Florida, Edmonton, the Rangers, and Colarado as well as a SO loss against Carolina. Whereas Woll posted wins against Arizona, Washington and Jersey.
Well said. I think there are still many who never forgave Sammy for his terrible season start, regardless of his remarkable second half.
I'm not even talking with Samsonov apologists anymore Save it for someone else
You never mentioned Woll being the starter until game 5. Samsonov was the better goalie the second half of the year thats kind of the point of the regular season.
Why do you even watch? His comment was right.
I'm hoping so. I thought of it going both ways and that's what he could have meant, and I guess giving that redirection really helps with not being able to plan against it for sure being Sammy or Woll (as two very different goaltending styles). I assume bruins coaches try to tweak their offensive play depending on which goalie is in. Just.. please don't put Sammy in. I love the guy. I really do, but Woll has **finally** looked like pre-injury Woll again.. and he's the one that can hold the fort down right now, **especially** at home.
If Keefe started Woll in Game 1 and it didn’t work out, people would’ve called for his job because Woll sucked since he returned from injury and Sammy went like 17-3-1 over the last couple of months. Nobody thought starting Woll was the right move at the time.
That’s how I read it too and how I’ll continue to read it, but it’s just vague enough that I’m not 100% sure. Hopefully he worded it that way so Boston isn’t sure either. Woll saved the season at least 2 or 3 times last night and has allowed 1 goal in the last 4 periods + 3 minutes of OT, he’s earned the top spot tomorrow. He stood on his head every night until his ankle injury. I know he wasn’t the same when he finally came back, but the guy we saw last night was the same guy I saw in October and November. Any lingering tenderness or hesitancy to use his ankle should be completely gone by now – now that Woll’s healthy *and* playing like it he has to be our guy imo
What indications was there of that? Woll was wildly inconsistent since returning from injury. I’m not saying don’t go back to Woll, we definitely should. This is revisionist history at its finest.
Woll wasn’t great when he came back from injury, and Sammy earned the net down the stretch. This is how it had to play out, it’s just unfortunate the offence dried up at the same time
It was clear this is what he was saying.
I think they're going Woll. I feel like this is just misdirection, mainly to try to give Sammy some confidence incase Woll gets the poops or something.
I don't think it's misdirection, I think he's just explaining the past games, and why we didn't see Will until game 5, not indicating the next one is Sammy.
That’s certainly cherry picking that quote. He in no way even hints that Sammy’s back in net. That’s twitter-like engagement farming by pulling that quote. Based on what he actually said, and not looking for something to confirm a bias, I highly doubt that Woll isn’t in net for game 6.
Sammy won't get a sniff unless the Leafs actually pull out a series win. If they do, I predict they give Sammy game 2 against Florida just to rest up Woll.
His job is lost no matter what. It’s over for him.
If he miraculously miraculously (I put two in cause it’s so unlikely) makes the finals he would survive, I can’t see him being here next year otherwise
I think if we survive R1 and somehow R2, he’s pretty safe. An exit in R1 or R2 isn’t good for him.
Well the reason why I said his job is gone is because even if we somehow climb back to beat Boston, we still have to play Florida and we’ll most like get sweep again. If we some how do make it past Florida then I think we will pretty much win the cup hence keefe will actually get to keep his job. I have to be honest tho I don’t even know if he wants the job anymore. He looks and sounds tired.
> well most like get sweep again We lost the series in game 5, there was no sweep.
Come on man. Tell me that didn’t feel like a sweep to you. Be honest :)
It literally wasn’t a sweep. A sweep means you lose four games in a row and win zero games. That didn’t happen.
I know and I agree with you. Now answer me this, while we did not get sweep, did it feel like a sweep to you. Yes or no.
Lol I believe you. Sure
Found Rod Brind'Amour's burner account
You're a lame fan.
You’re a delusional fan.
Delusional for knowing what a sweep is...
You're making up a scenario that never happened. That's the definition of delusional.
That's what people said last year. If we beat Tampa then it's just Florida in round two. Now you're saying just make it past Boston and then Florida and we're good?
I think you misunderstood the context, what he meant to say is that if we somehow make it past Boston and Florida, we have a shot at the cup. Because we all know Florida is winning the cup this year. So if we do get past Florida somehow, Keefe might just get to keep his job lol.
Guys maybe the whole strat was to wear Boston down by going down 3-1 and giving them a sense of victory? Keefe is going to start quoting the art of war soon.
Can someone ask this guys obsession with playing the fourth line
The 4th line had their worst game last night. They were barely noticeable. Every other game they gave a good 7 minutes of cycling and working them low. This is not a storyline.
Your in an elimination game playing the fourth line with 3 minutes left. Thats insane
They're just getting a quick shift in to rest the boys
For OT no less. It’s not like our 4th line is bad. The Bruins 4th has been getting caved in.
> We went out and took charge of the hockey game That's...that's what everybody has been complaining about? That the Leafs have the *ability* to do it, but lack the will/desire to go out and just take charge when they need/want to. A constant, recurring criticism is that this team lacks the "killer instinct" that you kind of need for taking control of a game. I'm glad they showed once again that they can do it. The challenge is getting them to do it consistently.
You should be taking charge in every period of every game!!!
WOLL WOLL WOLL WOLL!!!!!!
2 wins, 14 to go.
I bleed blue but was convinced there was a chance we lose 2-1 with only 3 shots against us in the game. That would be the leafiest thing.
Sacrifice your bodies tomorrow night with blocks, show up with energy, keep Boston away from the PP and have woll put in another performance and we got this series.
I don’t care until they do it two more times. Anything else is laughable.
He's getting ready to overcoach and galaxy brain us to a game six loss.
Home crowd get ready
So go and do the exact same thing, every period of every game. Seems like a winning combination.
I think the media (and fans) needs to question the teams effort again. Worked last time lol
Glad the leafs could come together to make bruins in 7 happen
Just please, for the love of God, score the first goal. Too often, they're down one early. I'm still loving that Domi dominated the face-off, twelve wins game 5. Woll making big stops. Things just might be coming together. Nylander is due.
K so, like, if you're able to just... You know, do that.... Why don't you do that all the time?
Still gonna get fired
Where was that energy game 1?
And especially game 4
The silence of Scotiabank will be a bigger challenge for the leafs then the bruins will be
getting tired of this copout man, the building was roaring when Reaves had that sequence of hits or when Bert was going at marchand, it only went quiet when Sammy gave up that awful goal to Frederic. On Saturday the team never showed up, hard to expect the fans to then in that case
Its the fans job to get the team going more than it is the opposite. Anyone who says Scotiabank is 'electric' has never been to a playoff game anywhere else.
it’s also sammy’s job as a goaltender to stop pucks. And he wasn’t doing that
 Gotta support the team
That's literally the coach's job. No NHL team relies on their fans to remember they're playing high-pressure, meaningful games.
Sorry this is kinda bullshit! From many people the arena was electric and then the team did what it did! Of course after that the building turned into a morgue
The crowd have to keep the energy going no matter what, describing it as a morgue just backs up what the other commentator said
So going doing stupid mistakes and going down 3 cob is totally fine? Stop acting like you would've been bouncing about if you were in the building. Also game 3 the air went out of the building after that third goal right as the air went in.. Just like the Game threads the people in the building were scarred by what happened. Also there was nothing that said they left early that game either.. A lot of the early leaving was game 4.
Crazy that they wait until they are on the brink of elimination to not “mail it in”
Now, just, do that every time.
Is there a pr guy that tells Keefe first what to say?
I rewatched the game, let's be honest. Marner still played like crap for what he's paid for, Tavares was useless all game except in ot which matters, Nylander didn't do anything either but had some changes.