Series Talk: Eastern Conference Quarterfinal: BRUINS (A2) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (A3)

[BMC]

It's means they can beat them though.You guys are afraid of Toronto I think .Embrace it my man

I'm not afraid of the Mulchpile. I'm terrified of TB/Florida.

 

[Tarmore]

Marty Biron believes Bruins will pose big problems for Leafs

He's probably not wrong.

 

[smithformeragent]

Don't think that is really true.

B's and Leafs finish +43 and +42 in goal differential respectively.

B's w/ 267 GF and Leafs w/ 299.

So it's pretty simple.
Can the B's scrape together enough offense?
Can the Leafs shore up their leakiness?
Can the B's shut down the Leafs' offensive firepower?

 

[TD Charlie]

With Bertuzzi/Matthews on line 1 and their pairings as they are, I don't really see the speed in the Leafs lineup. Not like it used to be.

I think we'll skate with them just fine. Yesterday you saw what Floriday did to them with some speed.

That's also why I'm fine with Brazeau having more time to get well here.

It's not so much the skating, it's their total disregard for team defense and eagerness to use the half ice pass up the middle. Feast or famine with these guys. I'm expecting a lot of odd man rushes on Ullmark/Swayman, but also lots of scrambling by Toronto in front of whomever their goalie du jour is

B's and Leafs finish +43 and +42 in goal differential respectively.

B's w/ 267 GF and Leafs w/ 299.

So it's pretty simple.
Can the B's scrape together enough offense?
Can the Leafs shore up their leakiness?
Can the B's shut down the Leafs' offensive firepower?

I tend to lean towards the "defense wins championships" theory, all sports.

 

[4ORRBRUIN]

My lineup for the series:

Heinen - Zacha - Pasta
Marchand - Coyle - Debrusk
JVR - Geekie - Frederic
Maroon - Boqvist - Beecher/Lauko/Brazeau (Hopefully back later in the series)

Lindholm - McAvoy
Grzelcyk - Carlo
Shattenkirk - Peeke

Ullmark
Swayman

Lindholm/McAvoy's job is to possess the puck and take Matthews/Marner out of the equation. This is the main matchup Monty should be chasing all series. My X factor matchup is Carlo Vs Nylander. If Carlo can take care of Nylander most nights I see this going well for the Bruins. Maroon's job is to just keep Reaves from taking out any of our star players/Hit everything. If we get anything out of Marchand and Debrusk this could be a quicker than 7 series. I haven't liked either's play in over a month. Brazeau coming back before the conclusion of the series would be a huge boost to the 4th line. Not holding my breath though.

My advice to Monty based off last years performance: Run the goalie rotation with a shorter leash on Swayman. I just think he's been leakier than Ullmark in recent weeks. Be more patient with lines, in game rotations are fine.. But don't panic switch up lines and pairings like games 5/6/7 against Florida. Trust your eyes from what you saw all year.

My prediction is Bruins in 7 (we all know this is ending game 7 at TD garden when does it not)?

Switch Coyle with either Geekie or Boqvist

 

[Gee Wally]

If they dont get out of this no shot funk they wont last.

 

[goldenblack]

i'm surprised how many of you think the "going through the motions" Bruins of the caps and sens games are the guys who will play this playoff series.

Prepare to be surprised.

 

[Bruinfanatic]

If they dont get out of this no shot funk they wont last.

Yeah my thoughts exactly and this hasn’t just been for a couple of games ,shots and traffic to the front of net ,they don’t have to be pretty.The Leafs beat Tampa that way last season,lots of shots defections and rebounds .

 

[SwayHeyKid]

B's and Leafs finish +43 and +42 in goal differential respectively.

B's w/ 267 GF and Leafs w/ 299.

So it's pretty simple.
Can the B's scrape together enough offense?
Can the Leafs shore up their leakiness?
Can the B's shut down the Leafs' offensive firepower?

But how do they match up bs each other? That’s all that matters IMO.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

It's not so much the skating, it's their total disregard for team defense and eagerness to use the half ice pass up the middle. Feast or famine with these guys. I'm expecting a lot of odd man rushes on Ullmark/Swayman, but also lots of scrambling by Toronto in front of whomever their goalie du jour is


I tend to lean towards the "defense wins championships" theory, all sports.

I think that theory is somewhat outdated.

If it still applied the NBA title would be vacant.

 

[TD Charlie]

Switch Coyle with either Geekie or Boqvist

Wouldn't surprise me to see Boqvist see shifts with Geekie and Frederic later in games. If they gotta shorten the bench and need an energy shift to swing momentum, it's gonna be those 3

I think that theory is somewhat outdated.

If it still applied the NBA title would be vacant.

The Warriors kinda killed that with shooting a 3 in 90 percent of their possessions. Admittedly, I don't watch a ton of basketball these days. Later rounds, sure.

 

[DKH]

Regular season means squat once playoffs start

Take 1993

Sabres 6, Bruins 5 (OT)

When the Sabres woke up Saturday, hours from attempting to complete a sweep of the favored Boston Bruins, they were not the big story on the Buffalo sports...

www.upi.com

The shocking four-game sweep in the Adams Division semifinal marked the Sabres' first postseason series win since 1983, and first over Boston in six postseason meetings. And this after Buffalo lost its last seven games heading into the playoffs.

The Bruins become the first 50-win team in NHL history to be swept in the first round. Boston entered the playoffs red-hot, winning 16 of its last 18 games to capture the Adams Division crown and finish second overall to Pittsburgh with 109 points.

 

[Bradely]

Samsonov or Woll, same thing. both suck.

Disagree.... NHL gaolers can at one point be stellar. Let's not hope it will come against the Bruins

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Wouldn't surprise me to see Boqvist see shifts with Geekie and Frederic later in games. If they gotta shorten the bench and need an energy shift to swing momentum, it's gonna be those 3


The Warriors kinda killed that with shooting a 3 in 90 percent of their possessions. Admittedly, I don't watch a ton of basketball these days. Later rounds, sure.

Also, Brady & Mahomes don't play defense.

 

[Jean_Jacket41]

Who starts in net, Ully or Sway?

Swayman time

 

[veganbruin]

Oof. Didn’t like how the Bruins finished the season to end up with this matchup. Need to start sorting crap out this week. PP and lines 3 & 4.

 

[JRull86]

If they dont get out of this no shot funk they wont last.

I think the 3rd period last night was important for them, even though they couldn't get the equalizer.

They put up what...24 SOG in that period, and completely dominated play. Yes OTT is bad, and had nothing to play for, but I look at that as a positive.

Pucks on net, doesn't need to be a perfect shot. Create chaos.

 

[goldenblack]

I think if they start a guy game 1, and he gets a shutout, he starts game 2.

Any single other permutation, they will rotate. A nice win or a loss. They'll rotate.

In a way that makes it easy. It'll get more messy if one goalie always wins and one always loses.

 

[JRull86]

Oof. Didn’t like how the Bruins finished the season to end up with this matchup. Need to start sorting crap out this week. PP and lines 3 & 4.

Rather this matchup than TB tbh

Tampa has 2 of the top 3 Fs, better goalie, and even though Hedman hasn't been himself this year, he's at worse on par with McAvoy.

For a team struggling recently to create offense, TB would've been a tough draw

 

[analyser]

Bruins blatantly lost the last couple on purpose to draw Leafs. Should be a very delicious series. Bruins in 6.

Doing things like this can come back and bite you in the ass.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Swayman time

Leafs scored four goals this year on him in 3 games. 1,1,2,1.

I'd pick swayman.

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

Swayman time

Bruins often lose game 1 in a series. Ullmark has been better lately but start Swayman in game 1 . If they lose come back with your better goalie in Ullmark.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Bruins better figure out how to start a game, they have come out flat way too often.

Leafs havent scored a first period goal against Boston all year.

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

Disagree.... NHL gaolers can at one point be stellar. Let's not hope it will come against the Bruins

True , I highly doubt Samsonov or Woll could sustain it though. They could play well enough to beat the Bruins but they aren’t getting past Florida or Tampa in my opinion.

I think if they start a guy game 1, and he gets a shutout, he starts game 2.

Any single other permutation, they will rotate. A nice win or a loss. They'll rotate.

In a way that makes it easy. It'll get more messy if one goalie always wins and one always loses.

Rotate them for the first two games and then later in the series when it’s crunch time you go with the hot hand.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Rather this matchup than TB tbh

Tampa has 2 of the top 3 Fs, better goalie, and even though Hedman hasn't been himself this year, he's at worse on par with McAvoy.

For a team struggling recently to create offense, TB would've been a tough draw

Hedman 13-63-76 +18

McAvoy 12-35-47 +4