ECQF: (1) Washington Capitals vs. (WC2) Toronto Maple Leafs ‎| Series tied 2-2

[ColePens]

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[jmart21]

What a game.

This is going to be one hell of a series. Whoever comes out on the losing end will have lost 4 games that they easily could have won.

 

[ColePens]

And for good measure:

Pens and Leafs fans right now:

Macho/Hulk Handshake™ courtesy of Ogrezilla Inc.

Kaps/Kessel trade. Kessel helps Pens win Cup. Kaps scores his first against the Pens to stay in the line up. Kaps help defeat the Caps. It's a beautiful cycle. And the kid looks exactly like Olli Maatta. Damn twins.

Nothing but praise for the Leafs play. Go shock the world, Toronto.

 

[Bananas]

In all honesty this should be a higher scoring series so far. Both teams have had TONS of Grade A scoring chances. Both teams majorly lacking finish so far these games could go lopsided in a hurry - it's actually shocking they've both made it to OT.

 

[Lobstertainment]

And for good measure:




Kaps/Kessel trade. Kessel helps Pens win Cup. Kaps scores his first against the Pens to stay in the line up. Kaps help defeat the Caps. It's a beautiful cycle. And the kid looks exactly like Olli Maatta. Damn twins.

Nothing but praise for the Leafs play. Go shock the world, Toronto.

If we do shock the world that means the second round will be Wrestlemania V and I'm down with that.

 

[hockeyes]

In all honesty this should be a higher scoring series so far. Both teams have had TONS of Grade A scoring chances. Both teams majorly lacking finish so far these games could go lopsided in a hurry - it's actually shocking they've both made it to OT.

Both teams are doing a good job of taking away any time on dangerous chances forcing rushed shots.

 

[HarrisonFord]

what ends up being a higher number? The number of series talk threads? Or number of games in the series?

 

[jmart21]

In all honesty this should be a higher scoring series so far. Both teams have had TONS of Grade A scoring chances. Both teams majorly lacking finish so far these games could go lopsided in a hurry - it's actually shocking they've both made it to OT.

I agree with that to an extent.

But the obstruction in playoff hockey really kills a dynamic offense, even when you're playing another fast, skilled offensive team.

I don't really like it - i think it diminishes the quality of the game - but its the reality and this is where your 4th line makes the difference. Leafs would have absolutely no chance if they still had that 4min-a-night Colton Orr - Frazer McLaren fourth line.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

what ends up being a higher number? The number of series talk threads? Or number of games in the series?

 

[Cassano]

In all honesty, the Caps here looked like the lower seeded team.

Leafs have out-chanced them. IMO they have been the better team through 2 games.

 

[A1LeafNation]

this looks like a 4-5 matchup, not a 1-16 seeded match up.

 

[Field of Dreams]

Boys it doesn't get any better than this

 

[biotk]

The Capitals have only been leading for 3 minutes 19 seconds this series. The Leafs for 53 minutes 31 seconds.

 

[Muston Atthews]

On another note... Jim Hughson had an awful call on the 2OT winner. It was double OT in the playoffs for god sake

 

[Stats01]

If the Leafs could stay out of the penalty box they could be up 2-0 in this series. These young kids can keep up with the Caps 5 v5. I think the Leafs have been the better overall team so far. I can't say enough about how well Hunwick, Jake and Rielly have been. Jake and Rielly were in beast mode last night, what a game!

Also we have owned Washington in the face off dot. Really really big wins by Boyle and Matthews in our zone to get possession.

 

[JT Kreider]

What was every non-WSH/TOR reaction to the 2OT winner?

I screamed "HOLY ****" before I started rolling on the floor laughing...

The thing is I'm sure some Caps fans did the same thing. It's like the pain is so great and your so used to it at this point that you just have to accept it..

The Leafs are so dangerous. All their young kids probably haven't grasped the levity of the situation and they're just playing hockey. No pressure, whatever happens happens and regardless we'll be back next year. And the next 10 years after that.

 

[one77]

Leafs playing without Zaitsev and Polak still looked really good. What a system Babcock has instilled into these young players.

Rielly and Gardiner look like #1 dmen. Matthews/Nylander/Marner not playing at their highest level offensively but are playing great at the other end of the ice.

 

[GrizzLeaf]

For those saying one team or the other has a forward depth advantage; you are delusional. Both team are really deep at forward.

Here are some comparisons, using all 24 forwards that were on the ice, from both teams. These are regular season stats.

Matthews 69 < 86 Backstrom

JVR 62 < 69 Ovechkin

Marner 61 > 59 Kuznetsov

Nylander 61 > 58 Johansson

Kadri 61 > 56 Oshie

Bozak 55 > 48 Williams

Brown 36 > 35 Burakovsky

Komarov 32 > 30 Beagle

Hyman 28 > 25 Winnik

Boyle 25 = 25 Eller

Martin 9 > 23 Connolly

Kapanen 1 > 19 Wilson

From looking at this, it seems the Caps get more offensive production from their fourth line. But all other 3 lines are close with the Leafs getting an edge in production from their top 3 lines.

Pretty much shows me that both teams have comparable depth. Neither is more deep than the other (not by much and you can argue which is deeper but it's really splitting hairs).

Whichever team wins, their opponent should be concerned about the depth they are about to face.

While I used regular season stats, we all know that goes out the window come play-offs. But I needed a metric to use for comparing the players.

 

[JT Kreider]

Leafs playing without Zaitsev and Polak still looked really good. What a system Babcock has instilled into these young players.

Rielly and Gardiner look like #1 dmen. Matthews/Nylander/Marner not playing at their highest level offensively but are playing great at the other end of the ice.

Hunwick too. We sure could've used this Matt Hunwick in the 2015 playoffs..

 

[ErnieLeafs]

In terms of entertainment value, this series delivers the goods.

What's crazy, is that Kadri/Matthews/Nylander have been held off the board, and the Leafs have still managed to split the series, and give the Caps all they can handle. You've gotta think those 3 are due to make their mark. Matthews looks like he's squeezing the stick a little too tight right now, but was all around it last night.

As much as I love the competetiveness of these games, my heart may not last all series if these thrillers keep coming.

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

The Leafs are so dangerous. All their young kids probably haven't grasped the levity of the situation and they're just playing hockey. No pressure, whatever happens happens and regardless we'll be back next year. And the next 10 years after that.

*Gravity.

Game 3 is huge for them, fully expect the Leafs to come out to 2-0 or 2-1 lead by mid-game, those young legs recoup fast. Heard Zaitsev might be skating as well, so...

 

[GrizzLeaf]

The Capitals have only been leading for 3 minutes 19 seconds this series. The Leafs for 53 minutes 31 seconds.

Any Leaf fan worth his salt knows leads don't mean a thing, when it comes to the Leafs.

What should concern us Leaf fans is the blown leads they keep giving up. It was a problem in the regular season and continues to be a problem in this series.

 

[JT Kreider]

Boys it doesn't get any better than this

For the Leafs? I'm thinking this is just the beginning. It's about to be amazing in the next few years.

 

[InAllOurLeafsCommand]

The Leafs flat out look like the better team on the ice. The future is so bright for this team, the cup is coming home very soon.

 

[GrizzLeaf]

I'm just trying to enjoy the play-offs with no expectations.

The problem? This season's team always manages to give us fans some hope and even get us really, really excited. And then blow a lead or do something boneheaded on the ice. And we get our hopes squashed.

Seen it so often this season, I should be immune to it. But I'm not. I get infected with hope. And now I'm wondering if just saying "this is a great experience for the young guys" is good enough.... they could actually.... no. I wont say it. Just breath, enjoy and try to relax.

I just hope my heart doesn't give out from all this enjoying and trying to relax.