GDT: 5/12/22 - 7:30PM EDT - #2 Toronto vs #3 Tampa Bay [ECQF GAME 6]

[OurlordAndSaviorKuch]

Gonna need Vasy to stand on his head in Game 7, We saw a bit of Vasy of years past in that OT.

 

[The Gongshow]

I would die for Brayden Bae Point. That cute f***er is so dang clutch

 

[Point21]

couldnt help at laughing at this whole thing, especially this little sentence: "Matthews was also tripped up at center ice and taken out of the play right before Point scored the winner."
Leafs mum on officiating after Game 6 OT defeat

 

[The Macho King]

Oh god that Zeke dude rules. On hour 18 now of just talking about the refs.

I don't even care if we win anymore. The joy I've gotten out of the aftermath of this game is sweeter than two Cup wins.

 

[RussianGuyovich]

Back2back2back main boards champs.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I don't think you guys have played your best game in the series yet. Watched you guys against the Isles last year, I have not seen the same level of play yet. If there is such a thing of peaking for a big game. TB may be peaking. May have gotten away with one last night. If the refs let both teams decide it. That's all you can ask for. If I were Cooper I would be saying something like this, may have gotten one. Vasy came up big in OT, we have yet to play our best game these playoffs. Game 7 is there a better time to play our best game this series?

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

 

[JoVel]

Oh god that Zeke dude rules. On hour 18 now of just talking about the refs.

I don't even care if we win anymore. The joy I've gotten out of the aftermath of this game is sweeter than two Cup wins.

My favorite part is him feeling the need to post those same tweets over and over again into every post of his as if otherwise we'd forget what he's whining about.

 

[DFC]

Gonna be that guy: Stamkos has had a solid series, but he was not good last night. I was dreading every time the puck went in his direction because plays were instantly dying.

I thought Kuch was off too, but sometimes with Kuch it doesnt matter because he'll go ahead and tie the game for you, despite being lackluster most of the night.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

I could listen to that all day. Dave nailed the call.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

The big contribution for Stammer I guess was Cirelli said he spoke to the room between the 2nd and 3rd periods and that helped the Bolts reset

Bolts started the 3rd outshooting Toronto 10-3 before the Kampf penalty. Shots on goal were 4-1. All 3 Leaf shot attempts were taken by Bunting.

 

[MattM92]

Gonna be that guy: Stamkos has had a solid series, but he was not good last night. I was dreading every time the puck went in his direction because plays were instantly dying.

I thought Kuch was off too, but sometimes with Kuch it doesnt matter because he'll go ahead and tie the game for you, despite being lackluster most of the night.

Kucherov was a dog last night and got a goal against the run of his play. No idea if it's an injury or if he just not mentally in it (...how?) but he was just going for skates on defense and he was making really boneheaded plays with the puck. Need him to show up big in game 7 if we want to pull this off. Stamkos and OT Vasi too.

 

[LightningStrikes]

The big contribution for Stammer I guess was Cirelli said he spoke to the room between the 2nd and 3rd periods and that helped the Bolts reset

Bolts started the 3rd outshooting Toronto 10-3 before the Kampf penalty. Shots on goal were 4-1. All 3 Leaf shot attempts were taken by Bunting.

Objectively I really like Bunting as a player. They really should play him more.

 

[DFC]

The big contribution for Stammer I guess was Cirelli said he spoke to the room between the 2nd and 3rd periods and that helped the Bolts reset

Bolts started the 3rd outshooting Toronto 10-3 before the Kampf penalty. Shots on goal were 4-1. All 3 Leaf shot attempts were taken by Bunting.

I feel like Leaf fans are really overplaying how well they did against us in that game. To me, for most of the game they were playing right into our hands... BUT we made big mistakes. Their cycle didn't scare me much because we were keeping them outside for the most part. It felt like they hurt us more on the rush, which almost always came because of a mistake on our end.

Shots were like 9-3 in OT, but I really don't feel like we lost control much. Maybe once or twice. To me the OT kind of looked like "our" game when we're in a shell.

 

[DFC]

Kucherov was a dog last night and got a goal against the run of his play. No idea if it's an injury or if he just not mentally in it (...how?) but he was just going for skates on defense and he was making really boneheaded plays with the puck. Need him to show up big in game 7 if we want to pull this off. Stamkos and OT Vasi too.

Agreed. With Kuch it's always a matter of, like, if he's off by just a hair, he looks terrible. But when he's on, look tf out.

Toronto is fast enough to pressure us a lot more quickly and more tenaciously than we're used to. Stamkos in particular struggles with that lack of time. Kucherov, when he's on, thrives on it, but when his timing is off by just a little, he constantly looks like he could cost us a game.

But it's Kuch, of course, and he only needs a split second to make up for all that. Which he did, IMO.

Stammer scares me though. It's been kind of a hot and cold series for him.

I think I'm now resigned to the idea that Vasy just doesn't have it this year, and if we win, it will be in front of pretty average goaltending.

 

[MattM92]

Agreed. With Kuch it's always a matter of, like, if he's off by just a hair, he looks terrible. But when he's on, look tf out.

Toronto is fast enough to pressure us a lot more quickly and more tenaciously than we're used to. Stamkos in particular struggles with that lack of time. Kucherov, when he's on, thrives on it, but when his timing is off by just a little, he constantly looks like he could cost us a game.

But it's Kuch, of course, and he only needs a split second to make up for all that. Which he did, IMO.

Stammer scares me though. It's been kind of a hot and cold series for him.

I think I'm now resigned to the idea that Vasy just doesn't have it this year, and if we win, it will be in front of pretty average goaltending.

Agreed on Kuch. So much of his game is timing and confidence. If he is just a tad off, his passes are clipped sticks and skates and his crosshair is off.

Stamkos is not really the kinda guy that plays evolve from. He is the triggerman and he needs to move a bit more on the PP to get lost in coverage if he wants to make an impact. Toronto is shading to him a lot to prevent Kuch and Hedman from getting him clean, flat pucks in his office. He and Point need to cycle around a bit more to get defenders moving.

Vasi for most of this series has been pedestrian. Reminds me of the series against the Panthers last year in a way. In OT last night though he was money. He made several 10-bell saves to keep the season alive. He doesn't need to pitch a shutout tomorrow, just keep it to two goals or fewer. Give the team a chance to close this out.

 

[LTIR Trickery]

I did like the media trying to push the "Kucherov is lazy" narrative repeatedly during the broadcast last night.

 

[Master P]

I'm hoping against hope that we can sneak by Toronto and this turns out to be sort of like last year.

I don't think we looked sharp against Florida and had a lot of defensive lapses and uncharacteristic mistakes. We got by them, and then our game tightened up against Carolina, NYI, and Montreal.

The problem is Toronto is better than 2021 Florida, and we look even sloppier. Let's see what the boys have left in the tank for game 7.

If we get the Vassy we saw in OT then we have a good shot.

 

[DFC]

Agreed on Kuch. So much of his game is timing and confidence. If he is just a tad off, his passes are clipped sticks and skates and his crosshair is off.

Stamkos is not really the kinda guy that plays evolve from. He is the triggerman and he needs to move a bit more on the PP to get lost in coverage if he wants to make an impact. Toronto is shading to him a lot to prevent Kuch and Hedman from getting him clean, flat pucks in his office. He and Point need to cycle around a bit more to get defenders moving.

Vasi for most of this series has been pedestrian. Reminds me of the series against the Panthers last year in a way. In OT last night though he was money. He made several 10-bell saves to keep the season alive. He doesn't need to pitch a shutout tomorrow, just keep it to two goals or fewer. Give the team a chance to close this out.

History tells us if he doesn't pitch a shut out, we're losing.

I think maybe the issue with Stamkos is he has evolved into much more than a sniper... in the regular season. In the playoffs, that extra space is gone, and he doesn't appear to be doing well in spots where shooting isn't an option. Almost want him to just shoot regardless, because maybe Point and Killorn can make something out of the chaos that ensues. I really didn't like him trying to make plays without the time to make them last game.

This is a weird comparison, but it reminds me of Brett Connolly in his seasons here. You could see the skill, and he was crushing it in the AHL, but he just couldn't process the game quickly enough to be effective in the NHL(at least with us). I feel like that's kind of what's going on with Stamkos. Guys are on him a split second before he's expecting it, and, if he's not shooting, he's pretty much a lock to give the puck up.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I think just gotta try to limit mathews line as much as possible on the road. Obviously that means staying out of the box because that only makes things harder there. We seemed a little out of gas but vasi helped us a lot when needed to. Feel like we are gonna need him a lot early on because feel like they will be looking for fast start since they haven't been good there. If we can get off to a good start and keep it going rather than sit on it I like our chances but will be tough. We know they are gonna be feeling like they need to win this one because of how long it's been but I also feel like we know what to do in these situations and if we get by the leafs we that much closer to the goal. It's just one win on the road. But again the leafs have been dangerous at home. Hope the boys will be ready to prove they can still close out a game 7 but in a tough environment on the road.

 

[DFC]

I think just gotta try to limit mathews line as much as possible on the road. Obviously that means staying out of the box because that only makes things harder there. We seemed a little out of gas but vasi helped us a lot when needed to. Feel like we are gonna need him a lot early on because feel like they will be looking for fast start since they haven't been good there. If we can get off to a good start and keep it going rather than sit on it I like our chances but will be tough. We know they are gonna be feeling like they need to win this one because of how long it's been but I also feel like we know what to do in these situations and if we get by the leafs we that much closer to the goal. It's just one win on the road. But again the leafs have been dangerous at home. Hope the boys will be ready to prove they can still close out a game 7 but in a tough environment on the road.

Last road game it looked like we were trying to contain Matthews by mixing up the lines and keeping a defensive "shadow" on each line. But it also seemed like the confusion that ensued led to the Too Many Men penalties.

This is the big reason why I don't like our chances tomorrow, not even superstitiously but legitimately. Toronto is as good as we are, and, on the road, we have a tough time containing their top line with good match ups. If we could get Point and Cirelli on him all game, I would feel a lot better, but Keefe is looking to get Matthews out against Kuch and Stammer, and that has not gone our way so far.

 

[LTIR Trickery]

If we somehow manage to get by, at least this is likely our hardest matchup.

 

[Rschmitz]

If we somehow manage to get by, at least this is likely our hardest matchup.

In the East maybe

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

I feel like Leaf fans are really overplaying how well they did against us in that game. To me, for most of the game they were playing right into our hands... BUT we made big mistakes. Their cycle didn't scare me much because we were keeping them outside for the most part. It felt like they hurt us more on the rush, which almost always came because of a mistake on our end.

Shots were like 9-3 in OT, but I really don't feel like we lost control much. Maybe once or twice. To me the OT kind of looked like "our" game when we're in a shell.

For the most part our game has been good/good enough. It's these little short lapses we have where everything goes to hell that's been killing us. Game 4, 5, and 6 have all been the same that way.

Game 4 - We get the start we want, take a 5-0 lead through the first 2 periods, and then Toronto scores 3 goals in a span of 13 minutes. 2 of the goals come exactly 3:40 apart.

Game 5 - Same thing. We start off fine, 2-0 lead through the 1st period. We hold a lead going into the 3rd period and then once again Leafs score 2 goals in a 1:13 of each other.

Game 6 - We're playing well to start and leaving the 1st with an early lead. That's a great recipe to follow 3 games in a row, but once again later in the game Toronto gets 2 goals 26 seconds apart.

If Toronto scores, you have to stop the bleeding right then and there. 1 goal can't become 2.

If we get the Vassy we saw in OT then we have a good shot.

We have a streak going of wins after losses, but Vasy has his own streak going of how he closes out series. Hopefully that little nugget is in Toronto's head before Game 7.

 

[Stelio Kontos]

Oh god that Zeke dude rules. On hour 18 now of just talking about the refs.

I don't even care if we win anymore. The joy I've gotten out of the aftermath of this game is sweeter than two Cup wins.

Lmfao