bustaheims
Well-known member
I'm predicting a 7 gamer, coinflip on who wins.
Stanley Cup Playoffs - Round One - Toronto Maple Leafs vs Tampa Bay Lightning
- Thread starter disco
- Start date
I think if we are going to win this one it has to get done in 5 or 6 games. The longer this series goes, the TB dman are going to wear down our top guys with their heavy play, and you cant look at our 6D and say the same is going to happen to Tampas top guys.
Tampa has also shown that it can win 1-0 or 2-1 playoff games when it matters most.
Tampa has also shown that it can win 1-0 or 2-1 playoff games when it matters most.
https://twitter.com/RealKyper/status/1521451990341099520
Not too surprising.
Not too surprising.
bustaheims
Well-known member
CarltonTheBear said:
The NHL has suspended Nazem Kadri for 5 games for his involvement in the Clifford/Colton incident.
Guilt Trip
Well-known member
I agree. At first I didn't like it but I see why Keefe did it. Spezza will get his chance, no doubt.CarltonTheBear said:
https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1521522715735347200
Bunting on the top line at practice, possibly a good sign he might play tomorrow.
Clifford and Spezza filling in for Nylander and Engvall on the Kampf line while they take a practice off.
Bunting on the top line at practice, possibly a good sign he might play tomorrow.
Clifford and Spezza filling in for Nylander and Engvall on the Kampf line while they take a practice off.
https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1521854740027609090
I hope he keeps eating sushi before every game.
I hope he keeps eating sushi before every game.
herman
Well-known member
I got dinged pretty good on 'white tuna' (butter fish) once. After a horrible, miserable night and half day of everything clearing out in both directions, I fell asleep sitting upright on a couch, holding a slice of bread. So I don't know how anyone is playing professional hockey, let alone standing after food poisoning.
herman said:
I'm generally not in a position to run around even after eating safe/properly made sushi.
My line-up tweaks in Tampa:
Bunting-Matthews-Marner
Mikheyev-Tavares-Kase
Engvall-Kerfoot-Nylander
Blackwell-Kampf-Spezza
Rielly-Lyubushkin
Giordano-Brodie
Muzzin-Holl
Keefe hasn't been doing any super strict line-matching with his forwards. Matthews has generally played against the Stamkos line and Tavares the Point line, but that's also been flipped at times. I imagine in Tampa Cooper might try to make sure the Point/Cirelli line plays against Matthews more, which means Tavares will see a little more of Stamkos. So while I've seen some "put Nylander back with Tavares" suggestions floating around I think a better defensive presence like Kase will make sense in that light.
Keefe tested out the Engvall-Kerfoot-Nylander line late in the season, and they were put back together late in game 2. I think Willy would benefit from a more skilled centre in Kerfoot but Kampf can jump up to this line in certain defensive situations.
That 4th line against Tampa's 4th line will definitely be a size mismatch but I think those guys are smart enough to not let that get them off their game.
On defence it might not appear to make sense to break up the Muzzin-Brodie pairing because they've been fantastic against Stamkos and Kucherov but if Cooper does everything he can to keep his top duo away from them then it doesn't really matter how well they've played. With Muzzin seemingly playing back to his usual standard I'm not too concerned about his early seasons struggles with Holl. The team will need two shutdown pairings without last change and this gives them that. Liljegren definitely earned his spot in the game 1 playoff line-up with his play but that spot was never set in stone and just statistically he's been the clear weak spot on the defence so far in the first 2 games.
Bunting-Matthews-Marner
Mikheyev-Tavares-Kase
Engvall-Kerfoot-Nylander
Blackwell-Kampf-Spezza
Rielly-Lyubushkin
Giordano-Brodie
Muzzin-Holl
Keefe hasn't been doing any super strict line-matching with his forwards. Matthews has generally played against the Stamkos line and Tavares the Point line, but that's also been flipped at times. I imagine in Tampa Cooper might try to make sure the Point/Cirelli line plays against Matthews more, which means Tavares will see a little more of Stamkos. So while I've seen some "put Nylander back with Tavares" suggestions floating around I think a better defensive presence like Kase will make sense in that light.
Keefe tested out the Engvall-Kerfoot-Nylander line late in the season, and they were put back together late in game 2. I think Willy would benefit from a more skilled centre in Kerfoot but Kampf can jump up to this line in certain defensive situations.
That 4th line against Tampa's 4th line will definitely be a size mismatch but I think those guys are smart enough to not let that get them off their game.
On defence it might not appear to make sense to break up the Muzzin-Brodie pairing because they've been fantastic against Stamkos and Kucherov but if Cooper does everything he can to keep his top duo away from them then it doesn't really matter how well they've played. With Muzzin seemingly playing back to his usual standard I'm not too concerned about his early seasons struggles with Holl. The team will need two shutdown pairings without last change and this gives them that. Liljegren definitely earned his spot in the game 1 playoff line-up with his play but that spot was never set in stone and just statistically he's been the clear weak spot on the defence so far in the first 2 games.
Bender said:
Not to take too much credit away from his own play but a big reason for his excellent numbers this season, especially his sky-high xGF%, was that he was playing a lot of minutes with Matthews on the ice in front of him. That hasn't been the case as much in the playoffs (just 4:39 at 5-on-5). So if Keefe can't get him out there to crush offensive minutes with the top line like he did in the regular season then I'm not sure he should have a spot in the line-up right now.
Heroic Shrimp
Active member
https://twitter.com/capfriendly/status/1522399535972208643
Enter you-know-who.
Enter you-know-who.