Leaf tears delivered

That pasta goal in OverTime was epic

long time no see friends...

serious question...did Boston ice the puck on their game winning goal?

I thought the same but I think either:

1. Refs thought it was at the red line.

2. Pasta beat out the defender to waive it off.

Lindholm was behind the red line.



But I think it's pretty clear Pasta beat the defender to waive it off.

it looks like a set play, seems like pasta was already zooming in and had the momentum - if not a set play to setup a goal like that, at least a scripted out dump and chase


and of course it's rielly who casually skates back to the puck and gets beaten to it so badly that not only does pasta get there first but he has unobstructed room to operate in front of the net with it


as much as you guys rag on the big 4, the real issue is lack of defensive focused d-men

they are so bad that you have a journeyman in joel edmundson getting 16 mpg on a capitals team getting nearly 20 mpg on the leafs in the playoffs

rielly is a great player but below average on defense, you want a guy like him on the team but if all the defenseman are like him then you're out of luck

only real defensively strong guy is muzzin and of course he's out and now a free agent and you guys have rielly under contract until 2029 when he's 35

oh man, just ran the numbers, even if you let all your ufa go, you'll only have a couple million in cap space next year due to nylander's new deal kicking in

was about to say "hey you have a lot of flexibility, and so much firepower in your big 4 that if instead of signing more firepower guys like bertuzzi you instead got defensive players instead then you could have a chance

but no, leafs are cap ff'd will only have about 5 million in space to sign a goalie, replace two top 6 forwards, and half their defensemen

if you don't have a rich farm system, it's going to be tough sledding next year unless you can find some decent trading partners

I'm sure a better D corps would help, but the Leafs have scored 150 goals in 56 games in the Matthews era. I have a hard time believing that's all due to the forwards being so defensively committed to make up for their Dmen

I'm still exhausted and stunned. What a series.

are you talking about playoffs?

regular season they have an elite offense that's among the best in the league each year if not the best

but they are also one of the bottom tier defensive teams, they aren't san jose or anahiem bad, but are pretty bad

i don't think it's about "heart" and "team makeup" etc

i think that they are a team which is going to steamroll the weaker defensive sides in but struggle against good defensive teams

just look at how many 1 and 2 goal games were against the top 10 defensive teams in the league during the regular season - these are the teams they are going to be facing during the playoffs

a season where they gave up 3.18 goals per game - games which included facing AHL rosters like Chicago, San Jose, & Anahiem

1 FLA 2.42 GAA 2-2 with 10 goals (but 6 were in a single game) 2L, 6W, 1W, 1L
1 WPG 2.42 GAA 2-0 with 5 goals 4W, 1W
3 LA 2.56 GAA 1-2 with 5 goals 3W, 1L, 1L
4 CAR 2.57 GAA 0-3 with 7 goals1L, 4L, 2L
5 BOS 2.70 GAA 0-4 with 7 goals 1L, 1L, 3L, 2L
5 VAN 2.70 GAA 1-1 with 9 goals 4L, 5W
7 NYR 2.76 GAA 2-1 with 12 goals 3W, 2L, 7W
8 DAL 2.83 GAA 2-0 with 9 goals 5W, 4W
8 SEA 2.83 GAA 2-0 with 6 goals 3W, 3W
10 EDM 2.88 GAA 1-1 with 8 goals 6W, 2L

those teams combine for 2.67 GAA

against them, Toronto had a 13-14 record with 78 goals for 2.88 goals per game, while they certainly scored more than the average NHL teams against them, they also nearly a full goal less per game than their regular season 3.63 rate whereas 2.88 vs 2.67 is not significant and could easily be wiped taking away just one of those higher scoring games whereas removing just one of the 1 goal games wouldn't bring the rate anywhere close to 3.63

elite offenses tend to slow down and stall when facing elite defenses and so the the defensive team which may struggle a bit more vs middling teams because they are more likely to fall to victims of variance - ie when the blue jackets get two wholly undeserved goals due to some lucky bounces in front of the net, Toronot is more likely to overcome that by just scoring 5 goals whereas a Boston or Winnipeg team may end up losing that game 3-2

this is why they struggle in the playoffs - they can beat up on the bad teams but when they need to face a competent defense they turn into pumpkins and meanwhile the other teams don't have nearly as difficult a time scoring on Toronto - the most shocking thing about this series wasn't that it went to a game 7, it's that Toronto actually kept the Bruins off the scoreboard quite successfully

Lets be honest the effort put out in game 3 and 4 was pitiful by the Leafs. Defense wasn't an issue . Offense was

lol

No Bennett for Florida game one. Now is the time.

Boston beating Florida would dishearten Leaf fans even more.

Let’s go Canes!

https://defector.com/the-leafs-are-not-enough


you hate to see it

canes gotta work on their penalty kill ... or better yet, stop taking penalties

correct
Thanks for coming out guys! I do have NYR by the way before the playoffs started to win this round.
Ya now you come in this thread.
Say what now,
Are we twins cause that's what I said! :P
Correct! Imagine paying $50 million for forwards that can't score

Still good for picking a Nylander Jersey last year though cause he is one of the best Leafs still and at the moment.

I just wanted them to win to see more of him, Knies and Woll because we all know Florida was going destroy the Leafs.

Probably not too upset these players as oh I get to go to my mansion and or cottage now and still collect my millions, oh no what will I ever do. LOL

Now I can sit back and watch Rafiki be stressed still and 72off and Lozen fight!

Zibanejad running hot still.

We gotta shoot the ****ing puck.

There we go.

Bruins in 6

Are we trying to be at Cowboycold's house again?

Oh look who's back to being Mr. Confident.

I think you should trade Marner to us in the offseason

Sounds good except he is going to Edmonton for Mcdavid