Round 1: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens

[Chris]

https://twitter.com/kristen_shilton/status/1395772671384817668

Hmm. I saw people suggesting Foligno might go to C but I really didn't expect it.

I almost would have tried Brooks there. He's a hard worker. Maybe he finds a little chemistry with Foligno and Nylander.

Or just move Nylander to center, and have Foligno on his wing.  Nylander can roam and Nick can hold down the fort.

No..Willy isn't good a centre. Foligno has played there before. Willy can roam enough all over the ice but Foligno is probably better defensively. Third line should be a lot better and be very fast. Nash doesn't belong there. He's a 4th liner/PKer especially with Tavares out and his lack of offence.

Agree. The only other change to consider might be putting Hyman on line 3 to spread out the wealth a bit, since he was able to drive that line pretty well during the regular season. What was the combo that worked so well for a while? Was it Hyman/Mikheyev/Engvall? Or was Kerfoot there? Of course that leaves a spot open on line 1 and with JT out, maybe that dilutes the top lines too much.

Nash really did look like a 4th liner last night, is that what he is or is it partly the fact he hasn't played in a long time? I honestly don't remember him from the recent playoff series against the Leafs.

 

[rdowdall]

That lineup still looks way better than Montreal's....

And yet, here the Leafs are in a 1-0 hole.

I?m pretty sure even the Habs of the 70s didn?t go undefeated in every round of the playoffs.

They didn't and it's one game, so some perspective is needed.  I am hoping though for an assertive response in game 2 from the team.  If they don't get that, then things could start to look dire.  When I say assertive, I don't mean a 5-0 score or anything, but just a 3-2 game where they look like they are in control.  They really looked out of sorts last night and that they couldn't handle the pressure the Habs were bringing.  Again it's one game, but if that continues, then that is a cause for concern in my mind.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Didn't look like he did anything during the game so I hope its just give him the day off because they are expecting him to play the back-to-back.....hopefully.

This team down Tavares and down Campbell with Freddy in net has me a lot more concerned about the series.

Yeah, I mean it's not like he let in a goal on a guy from his knees in a 1-1 game late in the 3rd period.

 

[Chris]

That lineup still looks way better than Montreal's....

And yet, here the Leafs are in a 1-0 hole.

I?m pretty sure even the Habs of the 70s didn?t go undefeated in every round of the playoffs.

They didn't and it's one game, so some perspective is needed.  I am hoping though for an assertive response in game 2 from the team.  If they don't get that, then things could start to look dire.  When I say assertive, I don't mean a 5-0 score or anything, but just a 3-2 game where they look like they are in control.  They really looked out of sorts last night and that they couldn't handle the pressure the Habs were bringing.  Again it's one game, but if that continues, then that is a cause for concern in my mind.

Going down 2-0 might be the end of the series, especially if Price is going to play like he did last night.

Play hard, play smart, dictate the way the game is played and if we still manage to lose, so be it. Leafs could easily have won last night despite losing Tavares, if one or two of those PP shots went bar in instead of bar out. We had good shooters taking good shots (especially Matthews), hard to believe some of those don't start going in.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

That lineup still looks way better than Montreal's....

And yet, here the Leafs are in a 1-0 hole.

I?m pretty sure even the Habs of the 70s didn?t go undefeated in every round of the playoffs.

They didn't and it's one game, so some perspective is needed.  I am hoping though for an assertive response in game 2 from the team.  If they don't get that, then things could start to look dire.  When I say assertive, I don't mean a 5-0 score or anything, but just a 3-2 game where they look like they are in control.  They really looked out of sorts last night and that they couldn't handle the pressure the Habs were bringing.  Again it's one game, but if that continues, then that is a cause for concern in my mind.

The Tavares injury can do 1 on of 2 things. Motivate a team, or suck the wind out of a team. We know what it did(except for a good chunk of the 2nd period).

 

[rdowdall]

Didn't look like he did anything during the game so I hope its just give him the day off because they are expecting him to play the back-to-back.....hopefully.

This team down Tavares and down Campbell with Freddy in net has me a lot more concerned about the series.

Yeah, I mean it's not like he let in a goal on a guy from his knees in a 1-1 game late in the 3rd period.

Wendel was on Leafs Lunch last week and said something along the lines of "The goalie for this team doesn't have to win them a game, but he has to make sure he doesn't lose them the game".  Not sure where Campbell fell in that statement for game 1.  For all the Leafs vaunted offense, it really seems to dry up come playoff time.  Last year against Columbus, and the year before that against the Bruins, there were games where they needed the offensive skill to take over the game, and it just isn't happening.  I'm thinking games 1 and 5 in Columbus where they get shut out or games 6 and 7  in the last Boston series.  When they need their offense the most, it doesn't seem to be there.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Didn't look like he did anything during the game so I hope its just give him the day off because they are expecting him to play the back-to-back.....hopefully.

This team down Tavares and down Campbell with Freddy in net has me a lot more concerned about the series.

Yeah, I mean it's not like he let in a goal on a guy from his knees in a 1-1 game late in the 3rd period.

Wendel was on Leafs Lunch last week and said something along the lines of "The goalie for this team doesn't have to win them a game, but he has to make sure he doesn't lose them the game".  Not sure where Campbell fell in that statement for game 1.  For all the Leafs vaunted offense, it really seems to dry up come playoff time.  Last year against Columbus, and the year before that against the Bruins, there were games where they needed the offensive skill to take over the game, and it just isn't happening.  I'm thinking games 1 and 5 in Columbus where they get shut out or games 6 and 7  in the last Boston series.  When they need their offense the most, it doesn't seem to be there.

Just like Andersen in seasons past, it's really hard to pin a loss on a goalie when you score one goal.....But, the goalie at least has to be somewhat comparable to the guy across the ice. Campbell was not really forced to make any big time saves after the first period. That 3rd period goal cannot go in. It wasn't just him. It's on Thornton just as much as Campbell. Joe cannot turn that puck over at the blueline.

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/91tavares/status/1395812885180284928

 

[rdowdall]

Didn't look like he did anything during the game so I hope its just give him the day off because they are expecting him to play the back-to-back.....hopefully.

This team down Tavares and down Campbell with Freddy in net has me a lot more concerned about the series.

Yeah, I mean it's not like he let in a goal on a guy from his knees in a 1-1 game late in the 3rd period.

Wendel was on Leafs Lunch last week and said something along the lines of "The goalie for this team doesn't have to win them a game, but he has to make sure he doesn't lose them the game".  Not sure where Campbell fell in that statement for game 1.  For all the Leafs vaunted offense, it really seems to dry up come playoff time.  Last year against Columbus, and the year before that against the Bruins, there were games where they needed the offensive skill to take over the game, and it just isn't happening.  I'm thinking games 1 and 5 in Columbus where they get shut out or games 6 and 7  in the last Boston series.  When they need their offense the most, it doesn't seem to be there.

Just like Andersen in seasons past, it's really hard to pin a loss on a goalie when you score one goal.....But, the goalie at least has to be somewhat comparable to the guy across the ice. Campbell was not really forced to make any big time saves after the first period. That 3rd period goal cannot go in. It wasn't just him. It's on Thornton just as much as Campbell. Joe cannot turn that puck over at the blueline.

And that's what makes the playoffs really tough, because as others have pointed out if one of those power plays connects, the game is probably different.  I also think that if the Leafs score first it's better for them because they force the Habs to start taking chances.  When the Habs score first, they can just sit back, collapse 5 guys on the net and just let Price make the saves.

I was one of those people who didn't think the power play would be a problem, but looking at it now, if it can't get going they are going to be in trouble.

 

[dappleganger]

That lineup still looks way better than Montreal's....

And yet, here the Leafs are in a 1-0 hole.

I?m pretty sure even the Habs of the 70s didn?t go undefeated in every round of the playoffs.

No, but they did against the Leafs.

;D

 

[rdowdall]

For me, I just keep waiting for Marner and Matthews to just take over a series.  They are still young so it may be a while.

 

[ZBBM]

For me, I just keep waiting for Marner and Matthews to just take over a series.  They are still young so it may be a while.

Marner last night was out of sync some of the time.  He needs to have a big series, especially now that JT is out.

 

[Chris]

Matthews was a monster last night, should (could) have easily had 2 or 3 goals. Marner looked very off so yeah, he needs to step up.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

It's astounding that Marner played 27:23 last night. Could've been more if he hadn't served a minor penalty, too.

 

[Bender]

It's astounding that Marner played 27:23 last night. Could've been more if he hadn't served a minor penalty, too.

I really don't get why they wouldn't use Nylander more.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1397909091369029635

WHAT?

 

[Bender]

https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1397909091369029635

WHAT?

How is this possible? Is JT actually a cyborg?

 

[herman]

Knee sprain not that bad, yay

He was already on Facetime the day after getting back from the hospital, so I think at least for now, his head is feeling pretty good and he's checking to see how it feels after some exertion.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1397913726041264141

Don't think we should be expecting him back any game now but this is still pretty insane considering how scary the situation initially looked.

 

[bustaheims]

Don't think we should be expecting him back any game now but this is still pretty insane considering how scary the situation initially looked.

Yeah. I'm guess late in the 2nd round or early in the 3rd (if the Leafs get that far) would be best-case scenarios.