The Weekly Leaflet is back, and this week we're running down the batshit crazy pandaemonium that is YOUR Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs!!
No, seriously! See?
see? right there!
Games one and two have already happened. Hit the jump and we'll do a little recap of those, then talk about tonight's game.
So after a weekend of reflection, and drinking (cinqo de mayo did happen after all)...
... We can potentially reflect on the series thus far.
It's been a case of extremes, thus far, with the games played by Toronto seemingly complete opposites of one another. Let's start with the bad - game one in Boston, Wednesday night.
After days of stupid jokes, random speculation and a bunch of hand-wringing, the Leafs were to actually play their first playoff game in 9 years. Insanity, I know.
The Week that Was:
Starters were the usual suspects, James Reimer and Tuukka Rask.
Things looked good early on - Toronto came out of the gate with some jump, and after a Patrice Bergeron tripping infraction, James van Riemsdyk notched the Leafs first playoff tally in nearly a decade, tapping home a loose puck during a scramble in front of the Bruins' goal.
hey, that was pretty awesome too see.
oh yeah.
gif'd version, y'know, 'cause.
The teams exchanged chances for a while shortly thereafter before Boston really took hold of the game in the second half of the first. Boston tied it with just under four minutes left with Wade Redden (what?!) putting home his first playoff goal in, well, quite a while.
look at that great defending by Kostka. i think he broke his finger here.
Things went from bad to worse shortly after on a wild penalty kill late on the first. With Dion Phaneuf in the box for slashing JVR nearly scored again, ringing one off the crossbar during a shorthanded 2-1. Luck wasn't in the Leafs favour from there, though, and Boston took the rebound down the ice, the resulting rush resulting in the go ahead goal, on some funky action by Tim Horton.
Kostka again - see his confusion?
The Leafs would never really recover from here. Heading into the dressing room down 2-1 and outshot 15-7 on the period.
Boston would score twice more in the second, and go on to win the game at a final score of 4-1.
Toronto was vastly outplayed for the majority of the game, outshot 40-20 (a 2:1 ratio) on the night.
The Leafs top line of Phil Kessel was matched pretty steadily against Chara and Bergeron (y'know Norris and Selke nominees) and thus generated very little in terms of offense. Kessel had just one shot in just under 14 minutes of ice time (second lowest on the season).
It seems as though Carlyle may have been holding Kessel back later in the game, with the score out of reach - that's just speculation though.
David Krecji really capitalized on his third line positioning on the night, picking up a goal and 2 assists for three points on the night.
Mark Fraser led all players in ice time on the night with 24 minutes. (further indication that Carlyle may have held players back in the third).
Zdeno Chara and Dion Phaneuf were a close second and third with 24:38 and 24:16 respectively.
Of additional note, Bruins defenceman Andrew Ference was suspended one game the next day by Brendan Shanahan for this high elbow on Mikhail Grabovski.
ouch
As a result, he was unavailable for Saturday night's game.
There were two days off between games, and this was ample time for nearly every single citizen of Toronto and quite a few passerbys, to offer their opinions of the match... It was, if I remember correctly 'bla ha har har laffs suck, 67'
That or they were talking about how the Leafs needed to shake up their lines and find a way to get Kessel away from Chara. I don't know. Something or other.
Fast forward to Saturday night, and we're in our Hockey Night in Canada Marquee Matchup.
Game of the Week: Leafs at Bruins Game 2 Eastern Conference Quarter-Final
Coach Bobandy Carlyle made a few changes ahead of the game, figuring it was the very least he could do.
heheh, yeah, i coach a hockey team.
So in an attempt to bring about a somewhat less abysmal effort in the defensive-zone, the Leafs swapped in Jake Gardiner, Matt Frattin and Ryan O'Byrne. I wasn't happy about one of these. I wonder if you know which one.
hint - the dude with stuff in his teeth.
So just like the previous game, the Leafs came out with a whole bunch of hustle - unlike the previous game, they were able to maintain it. The game quickly developed a pretty quick pace, in spite of the fairly obvious and in depth line matching that was going on at the benches. Carlyle was doing his best to get Kessel away from Zdeno Chara. Big Z and Claude Julien were doing their best to prevent that. It was a fun little chess game. Despite the exchange of some pawns or some junk, the Leafs and Bruins went to the dressing tied at zero. That said Toronto did outhit Boston 22-10 (that's that Carlyle toughness for 'ya) and more importantly outshot them 12-10. Not too bad!
Then Don Cherry showed up... I accidentally watched him this week, because I had some stuff going on that had me not paying any attention during the intermission.
Sorry, Ron.
ouch
When the teams returned to the ice in the second period, things started out decidedly in Boston's favour. Y'know, so much so they had the lead and whatnot. Gross, I know.
But hey! It wasn't as bad as it looked, and just minutes later, Joffrey Lupul tied things up!
it's really nice to see gardiner on the ice, let alone getting powerplay time.
But y'know, Joffrey there, he's pretty awesome - tying the game up isn't good enough for him, is it?
... of course not. Watch Joffrey give the Leafs the lead.
The Leafs would head into the dressing room up 2-1 on Lupul's goals, and that momentum carried through into the third period. Less than a minute into a third, the unthinkable happened. Phil Kessel was sprung on a breakaway by Nazem Kadri (go Kadri!!) - check it out.
great pass, great goal.
well, that feels pretty good. hey, did I mention Dougie Hamilton subbed in for Andrew Ference during this game? You know him right? One of the guys the Bruins drafted with one of the Leafs' picks acquired in the Kessel trade? Yeah, he had a big impact on this game.
Anywa, here's the goal in a GIF form.
Anywa, here's the goal in a GIF form.
yaaaaay
In case you weren't sure that like, the playoffs are sorta like, a big deal in Toronto again.
Interesting, no?
Check out the reaction to the Kessel goal outfront the ACC
(note: the game is in Boston, not Toronto)
good times.
From here the Leafs essentially had things under control - they continued to press (and line match like crazy) instead of sitting back, and allowing Boston to attack.
Johnny Boychuk brought a little bit of worry into the situation when he brought the Bruins to within one, with just under ten minutes left. Again, however, Toronto continued pressing instead of simply trying to hold the lead, and were rewarded for the efforts with 4 minutes to go with JVR would convert on a wonderful individual effort by Mikhail Grabovski for the Leafs' fourth of the game.
It was pretty awesome and ended a bit like this - if it was a gif.
crazy effort to finish.
The Leafs rode out the remaining four minutes without allowing another goal, taking the game 4-2 (Kessel's tally standing as the game winner) for their first playoff victory nine years to the day of their last elimination of the post season.
James Reimer stopped 39 of 41 for a .951 save percentage.
Tuukka Rask stopped 28 of 32 for an .875.
Zdeno Chara led all players with 25:31 of icetime
Tyler Bozak clocked in tops for the Leafs with 24:22.
The Week Ahead
So Toronto ended up coming out of Boston in a pretty comfortable situation, splitting the series thus far. Game one was certainly a wash, and in many ways illustrated the advantages Boston has throughout their lineup, both in terms of depth and experience. In game two, it was a different story with Toronto illustrating how their speed and game plan can beat Boston if they implement it early and stick to it early in the game. Keeping Kessel away from Chara is going to be a big part of the upcoming games at home, and with the last line change, there's a good chance the Leafs can continue the success they've had with that so far.
Getting goals from JVR and Lupul has been a nice addition as well, however, as secondary scoring is going to make or break the Leafs throughout this series. Should Kessel get shut down, secondary scoring is going to help them tread water, should he break through, it'll put them over the edge. Getting more output from Kadri, Grabovski and the likes will only help distribute the load more evenly - always a good thing.
I'm a little confused that we've yet to see Dion Phaneuf getting the top minutes of the night in the playoffs, but he has taken a few penalties, so this may have detracted from his totals. Either way, as much as Mark Fraser is a nice surprise, he probably shouldn't be getting top line minutes during the first round of the playoffs, just saying.
Either way, tonight's game looks to be very exciting.
The Leafs appear to be bringing the same lineup to the table that won Saturday night in Boston, with the Bruins making minor changes, most notably Andrew Ference returning from suspension.
Playing the same sort of game they did Saturday night in Boston will undoubtedly give the home fans something to cheer about tonight, and may well end up with the Leafs picking up another win. While splitting in Boston was most certainly the goal, one has to think the Leafs want to win both of these home games and really take hold of the series - and again, that starts with tonight's game.
Odds and Sodds
- San Jose's 3-0 lead in the series is a bit of surprise, but I'm pretty happy about it. I've always had a soft spot for that team - they feel a bit like the 2001-2004 Leafs to me... I'd like to see them do some damage.
- Whoa, how in the world are the Islanders keeping up with the Penguins?
- Montreal and Ottawa got pretty nutty - like, full on 70s line brawl action. There've been more teeth lost than games played so far. Wowzers.
- There are going to be a whole lot of 'Winter Classic's next year... including Anaheim and Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium? Yeeeah, that's going to work out well.
Sign Off
So, umm, yeah man. Never pay full price for late pizza.
oh, and Go Leafs Go!
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