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Stanley Cup Playoffs - Round One - Toronto Maple Leafs vs Tampa Bay Lightning

herman said:
https://twitter.com/hockeyskytte/status/1521229453300490241

Five-thirty-eight is probably closest.  They are reputable (but far from infallible).
 
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. 
 
CarltonTheBear said:
https://twitter.com/RealKyper/status/1521451990341099520

Not too surprising.

This ain't Kadri we're talking about, Clifford isn't a huge loss even if suspended.  Sub in Spezza, let's go!
 
CarltonTheBear said:
https://twitter.com/RealKyper/status/1521451990341099520

Not too surprising.

The NHL has suspended Nazem Kadri for 5 games for his involvement in the Clifford/Colton incident.
 
bustaheims said:
CarltonTheBear said:
https://twitter.com/RealKyper/status/1521451990341099520

Not too surprising.

The NHL has suspended Nazem Kadri for 5 games for his involvement in the Clifford/Colton incident.

Clearly Nazem has left his bad intentions within the #43 on the Leafs.  It's like whoever wears that number is bound to face suspension, and by extension, Kadri gets it too.  He's like Voldemort
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Joe S. said:
Is spezza injured? If not, Clifford over spezza seems kinda nuts.

Leafs will have last change and they'll likely be matched up against Tampa's also-physical 4th line: Maroon-Bellemare-Perry. I guess they don't want that 4th line setting the physical tempo right off the bat. Highly doubt Clifford plays every game. Hoping the the plan is to have Bunting back for game 3 and the 4th line could turn into Kerfoot-Blackwell-Spezza/Simmonds.
I agree. At first I didn't like it but I see why Keefe did it. Spezza will get his chance, no doubt.
 
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.
 
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 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.

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.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
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.
I definitely felt Liljegren got exposed yesterday to some extent.
 
Bender said:
I definitely felt Liljegren got exposed yesterday to some extent.

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 said:
https://twitter.com/capfriendly/status/1522399535972208643

Enter you-know-who.

I didn't realize LTIR was still a thing during the playoffs?  Thought the cap just magically went away?
 

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