[ADSF] Toronto Maple Leafs (A2) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (A3) | Lightning win series 4-3

[Hairy Kneel]

1 hour ago, Kragar said:

Given the Leaf-blowing media, and how over-hyped the team is based on regular-season performance, I'm fine with it.

 

I've never liked pajama-boy as a leader, even before he joined the Leafs, and there's plenty of other character failings on the team, IMO.

 

At the least, it helps the pain of our failed season go down a little easier.  IIRC, we also swept Canada's team this year.  That's a little extra silver lining, too.

 

And who knows, I'm liking our chances for winning a playoff series before the Leafs do.

I don't want our management to over pay for 4 players and consequently take away from our defense. We need a big Dman to help anchor our end and shut down big talented forwards in our crease. Edler at 60-70% of what he used to be was still one of LA's better dmen. We need to draft a couple if we can and develop our own. 

Our cap friendly has to be balanced. 

[iinatcc]

3 hours ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

Too good. Where do they go from here? Surely some big changes are needed across the board because they're wasting their star players primes. 

 

I wonder if Dubas, the coach and a key player like Nylander gets traded. If I was a Leaf fan I'd want big changes after 5 first round exits. They're simply not built for the playoffs and don't have the grit, guts or clutch performers needed whereas Tampa showed them directly what is needed.

There seems to be a debate if there needs to be big changes or just tweaks 

 

 

[John.Tallhouse]

[shiznak]

As much as we like to make fun of the Leafs and their failures.
 

Last night’s loss wasn’t due to a lack of effort from the team/top players, like previous playoffs. They pretty much dominated the possession game, and had more scoring chances than Tampa, by a far margin,. 

 

Campbell made some key saves to kept them in the game. The defense in front of him played solid. Unfortunately for him though, one bad rebound and a broke play ultimately decided the faith for the Leafs. 

Edited May 15, 2022 by shiznak

[Coconuts]

5 hours ago, wai_lai416 said:

matthews is never going to arizona.. they couldn't afford to pay his contract in a college rink.. 

Nor could they afford the trust competitive team he'd want to play for. We joke about him but I'm sure he wants to win, he won't do that in Arizona either.

 

4 hours ago, -Vintage Canuck- said:

Here are the reactions from the Leafs forum... enjoy:

 

Doin the good work as always.

 

4 hours ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

Realistically looking at their lineup and how they played, they've always been too top heavy in my books. Campbell is not some star goalie the media all pretend he is and they really lack that Hedman-type star defenceman.

 

For me, they don't need Tavares +/- Nylander. They've got their star (who should have been captain) in Matthews, they've got a world class playmaker in Marner. They should build around these guys, not have two duos and leave the back end dry. Giordano was a nice idea but the poor guy's nearly 40.

 

A coaching change has to be made or it's Dubas gone too. That's first and foremost. Next up - they need big balls to do this but I think they really need to move their positional wealth around. Move Tavares for a top defenceman. Nylander could stay but if they could trade him for a decent young goalie (Gorgiev?) then they should jump all over it.

 

They got unlucky to go up against the best team of the last 3 years and probably would have gone pretty far this season, but their holes really showed. Up front they're all flash and regular season, they don't have any big gritty bodies and they don't crash and bang their way to the net so Tampa defended them easily. On defence they got beaten by depth scorers with little skill but more drive and determination, and in net they didn't leak bad goals but Jack didn't exactly stand on his head to steal them games.

 

Very close but not good enough for Toronto. 

They should never have gone after Tavares, they killed any chance to build any actual depth with that move. He also set the contract bar if I remember correctly.

[D-Money]

14 minutes ago, shiznak said:

As much as we like to make fun of the Leafs and their failures.
 

Last night’s loss wasn’t due to a lack of effort from the team/top players, like previous playoffs. They pretty much dominated the possession game, had more scoring chances than Tampa, by a far margin,. 

 

Campbell made some key saves to kept them in the game. The defense in front of him played solid. Unfortunately for him though, one bad rebound and a broke play ultimately decided the faith for the Leafs. 

Agreed. Previous years the problem was their star players struggled. This year that wasn’t the case at all. They played Tampa hard right to the end, and it could have easily gone the other way.

 

That said, the proof is in the pudding. They need more depth. They have far too much money invested in their forwards - Tavares is a luxury they just can’t afford. But he has the NMC, and no one is going to take that contract. I think they have to trade Marner.

[You Mad Bro?]

8 hours ago, redhdlois said:

 

“Fighting”

 

I don’t know what that was but it wasn’t fighting. Some lame version of tag? Leafs can’t do anything right. 

[shiznak]

7 minutes ago, D-Money said:

Agreed. Previous years the problem was their star players struggled. This year that wasn’t the case at all. They played Tampa hard right to the end, and it could have easily gone the other way.

 

That said, the proof is in the pudding. They need more depth. They have far too much money invested in their forwards - Tavares is a luxury they just can’t afford. But he has the NMC, and no one is going to take that contract. I think they have to trade Marner.

IMO, they have good depth in their top 9, this year. Certainly better than previous years. They just ran into a better goalie when it mattered. Vasily played lights out, when his team needed him the most.
 

I think if they can get another shot with the same group, they should be able to get out of the first round. They pushed the reigning back-to-back champions to the edge of game 7, when many thought it would be a cakewalk for the Lightning. Stamkos even said, that was the hardest team to play against, the past two cup runs (although NYI gave a run for their money as well).

[D-Money]

12 minutes ago, shiznak said:

IMO, they have good depth in their top 9, this year. Certainly better than previous years. They just ran into a better goalie when it mattered. Vasily played lights out, when his team needed him the most.
 

I think if they can get another shot with the same group, they should be able to get out of the first round. They pushed the reigning back-to-back champions to the edge of game 7, when many thought it would be a cakewalk for the Lightning. Stamkos even said, that was the hardest team to play against, the past two cup runs (although NYI gave a run for their money as well).

I don’t think they can bring the same group back, because of the cap. Campbell is UFA, along with a bunch of other UFA/RFAs.

 

They may need to give up something to get someone to take Mrazek. Leaf fans also seen to be advocating for a Muzzin trade to move salary. Gonna be tough though.

[Alflives]

19 minutes ago, shiznak said:

IMO, they have good depth in their top 9, this year. Certainly better than previous years. They just ran into a better goalie when it mattered. Vasily played lights out, when his team needed him the most.
 

I think if they can get another shot with the same group, they should be able to get out of the first round. They pushed the reigning back-to-back champions to the edge of game 7, when many thought it would be a cakewalk for the Lightning. Stamkos even said, that was the hardest team to play against, the past two cup runs (although NYI gave a run for their money as well).

Tampa playedlikecrap for the first 5 and 1/2 games of this series.  Vasi was not good at all until the last game.  The LOSER LEAFS lost this series against a Tampa team that played crazy.  They need to trade Matthews to Arizona for Chychrun.  after they fire Shamaplan and Dumbass. 

[JM_]

53 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Tampa playedlikecrap for the first 5 and 1/2 games of this series.  Vasi was not good at all until the last game.  The LOSER LEAFS lost this series against a Tampa team that played crazy.  They need to trade Matthews to Arizona for Chychrun.  after they fire Shamaplan and Dumbass. 

Tampa did look very beatable for most of this series, but the Leafs aren't built for the playoffs. Its never going to happen for them under this current group, and only one of the big salaries is tradable. 

 

AM to AZ makes sense, but will he want to do that? I mean look at that team and where they'll be playing. 

 

No, Captain Underpants is going to announce at some point during next season (or sooner) that he won't be re-signing when his current deal is over. Seth Jones set the plan and its how a player with no contract control determines their landing spot. 

 

[Dr. Crossbar]

I'm just going to leave this here ...

 

[Boudrias]

22 minutes ago, JM_ said:

Tampa did look very beatable for most of this series, but the Leafs aren't built for the playoffs. Its never going to happen for them under this current group, and only one of the big salaries is tradable. 

 

AM to AZ makes sense, but will he want to do that? I mean look at that team and where they'll be playing. 

 

No, Captain Underpants is going to announce at some point during next season (or sooner) that he won't be re-signing when his current deal is over. Seth Jones set the plan and its how a player with no contract control determines their landing spot. 

 

I thought it was Nylander and Taveres who underperformed. Both are big ticket players. Is Tavares at 31 a declining asset? He had a good season, but?.....

[EddieVedder]

6 hours ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

Realistically looking at their lineup and how they played, they've always been too top heavy in my books. Campbell is not some star goalie the media all pretend he is and they really lack that Hedman-type star defenceman.

 

For me, they don't need Tavares +/- Nylander. They've got their star (who should have been captain) in Matthews, they've got a world class playmaker in Marner. They should build around these guys, not have two duos and leave the back end dry. Giordano was a nice idea but the poor guy's nearly 40.

 

A coaching change has to be made or it's Dubas gone too. That's first and foremost. Next up - they need big balls to do this but I think they really need to move their positional wealth around. Move Tavares for a top defenceman. Nylander could stay but if they could trade him for a decent young goalie (Gorgiev?) then they should jump all over it.

 

They got unlucky to go up against the best team of the last 3 years and probably would have gone pretty far this season, but their holes really showed. Up front they're all flash and regular season, they don't have any big gritty bodies and they don't crash and bang their way to the net so Tampa defended them easily. On defence they got beaten by depth scorers with little skill but more drive and determination, and in net they didn't leak bad goals but Jack didn't exactly stand on his head to steal them games.

 

Very close but not good enough for Toronto. 

They weren't going to win with just Matthews.  They needed Tavares to have any shot at contention.  The problem with that team is that matthews doesnt have that extra gear when it matters.  Its clear as day watching the last 3 playoffs. 

[JM_]

1 minute ago, Boudrias said:

I thought it was Nylander and Taveres who underperformed. Both are big ticket players. Is Tavares at 31 a declining asset? He had a good season, but?.....

Tavares did for sure. TO was lucky to take it to 7, Tampa let them stay in it. 

 

I don't see how TO improves without moving AM in some sort of massive restructuring move. 

[shiznak]

3 minutes ago, JM_ said:

Tavares did for sure. TO was lucky to take it to 7, Tampa let them stay in it. 

 

I don't see how TO improves without moving AM in some sort of massive restructuring move. 

Lol, “let them stay in.”

 

Toronto was in the top 3 in xGF, in the playoffs (even strength). Only Edmonton and Pittsburgh were ahead of them. Tampa could have very well finished the Leafs in 6, if they won game 5. Which Tampa were leading going into the 3rd.

 

Give credit where credit's due. Toronto pushed Tampa to it’s edge. 

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, shiznak said:

Lol, “let them stay in.”

 

Toronto was in the top 3 in xGF, in the playoffs (even strength). Only Edmonton and Pittsburgh were ahead of them. Tampa could have very well finished the Leafs in 6, if they won game 5. Which Tampa were leading going into the 3rd.

 

Give credit where credit's due. Toronto pushed Tampa to it’s edge. 

Here come the Dubas’ stats.  Leafs lost.  They got beat and need to make serious changes to their core.  Matthews needs to go.  

[EddieVedder]

5 minutes ago, shiznak said:

Lol, “let them stay in.”

 

Toronto was in the top 3 in xGF, in the playoffs (even strength). Only Edmonton and Pittsburgh were ahead of them. Tampa could have very well finished the Leafs in 6, if they won game 5. Which Tampa were leading going into the 3rd.

 

Give credit where credit's due. Toronto pushed Tampa to it’s edge. 

Tampas also a tired team.   Theyve played a ton more hockey than anyone else the past 3 years.  Toronto isnt built for the playoffs and this dubas is beyond annoying .

 

 

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, EddieVedder said:

Tampas also a tired team.   Theyve played a ton more hockey than anyone else the past 3 years.  Toronto isnt built for the playoffs and this dubas is beyond annoying .

 

 

Exactly.  I think we see Tampa get steamrolled by Florida.  Could be a sweep. 

[shiznak]

2 minutes ago, EddieVedder said:

Tampas also a tired team.   Theyve played a ton more hockey than anyone else the past 3 years.  Toronto isnt built for the playoffs and this dubas is beyond annoying .

 

 

They also have the experience of what it takes to go far.

 

What if they sweep Florida next round?

 

The “they played more games than everyone else” excuse, gets thrown out the window.