Playoff Race - Fight for Home Ice

[crump]

The stretch drive, 1 month left, both teams have played the same # of games. ROW goes to us at the moment. 3 points behind Boston. here are the schedules of both teams: Both play Tampa 2x, we play Ottawa x2, Boston plays desperate Columbus x3, Tough games for us will be Nashville and this road trip. Should be tight but Boston can't win out (can they). Someone should slap Evander Cane for showing Chara he can still be a dominant presence. Oh...Chara did that already.

Boston vs Carolina vs Florida vs Ottawa @ Pittsburgh @ Columbus @ Winnipeg vs Columbus @ New York Isles @ New Jersey @ Florida @ Tampa Bay vs New York Rangers vs Florida @ Detroit @ Columbus @ Minnesota vs Tampa Bay [TBODY] [/TBODY] [TBODY] [/TBODY]		Toronto @ Calgary @ Vancouver @ Edmonton vs Tampa Bay vs Chicago vs Philadelphia @ Ottawa @ Nashville @ Buffalo vs New York Rangers vs Florida @ Philadelphia @ Ottawa @ New York Isles vs Carolina vs Tampa Bay @ Montreal [TBODY] [/TBODY]

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

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[Peiskos]

Is it possible the Leafs slide back into 2nd? Yes.

Is it likely? No.

I’d be genuinely surprised if the Leafs retake the 2nd seed but I feel our pathetic slow starts and stinker games against some of those bottom feeders like those 2 horrific losses to the Coyotes will end up being the difference.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Leafs have to go on a win streak of 4 or 5 or 6 games at least and hope that Boston slows down somewhat. Or better yet, just go on a run that Boston just went on.

 

[wingman75]

I've got us going 11-6 down the stretch, which is a 0.647 point percentage giving us 106 points for the season.

In that scenario, we would need BOS to get 19 points max, meaning they could go 9-7-1, 8-6-3, etc. I don't see that happening.

I figure BOS can easily go 12-5. So unless we go on a real big run, I don't see us getting home ice. That being said, I don't feel it's crazy to suggest we go on a run.

 

[TorontoTrades]

Leafs have the ROW tie break as of now as well.

Only games we arent the clear favourite are the 2 Tampa's, Calgary and Nashville. The rest should he wins even though it doesn't happen that easily.

 

[Tall Morty]

If Boston could go ahead and lose a game in regulation every now and then, that would be greeaat.

 

[GardinerTheForward]

Not happening. Boston is rolling

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Can't see us catching them with the way they're playing.

 

[hoglund]

If Boston could go ahead and lose a game in regulation every now and then, that would be greeaat.

Yeah, the Leafs have more wins, Boston has more points because they have 9 loser points to Toronto's 4.

 

[Peiskos]

If Boston could go ahead and lose a game in regulation every now and then, that would be greeaat.

Lol Office Space, great movie.

 

[Voodoo Child]

This is Matthews' time to shine.

One thing people don't know: Auston Matthews may go through lulls here and there mid season, but he starts strong and he finishes strong.

The last 7 games of 2017-2018*:

7-5-5-10

*: Why 7? Because he missed a month and came back with seven games left.

The last 15 games of his rookie season:

15-9-5-14*

*: During this stretch he overtook Laine for the rookie lead in points...before he was washed up, Finnish hockey Jesus went 15-4-2-6 in this year...and 15-5-3-8 the following year. Laine does not step up when the heat is on.

Ain't shook, bring it on. I think we can overtake the Bruins, but like it matters; we aren't gonna win a cup without beating them at least once and they can't keep living in our heads.

 

[Rogue]

Actually, I don’t want home ice advantage.
I don’t want Babcock constantly breaking the flow with his line matching. We have a better shot at beating the Bruins or anyone for that matter on the road.
Babcock should stack lines - not match.... !!!

 

[member 300185]

Home ice doesn't matter other than line matching, which Babs sucks at.

We are a better road team than at home. Its been like that all year.

That being said, I would not mind dropping to the 1st wild card spot. I think we stack up against the Caps/Islanders better than Boston. I want to get a series win in a playoff round to give the boys some confidence.

 

[zeke]

gonna be tough with our injuries but Boston can't keep up this torrid pace for much longer either

but it's absolutely huge whether we get home ice or not. That's a disadvantage we may not be able to afford.

It's annoying being in a division that has the 3 best teams in hockey.

 

[Burnie97]

gonna be tough with our injuries but Boston can't keep up this torrid pace for much longer either

but it's absolutely huge whether we get home ice or not. That's a disadvantage we may not be able to afford.

It's annoying being in a division that has the 3 best teams in hockey.

Well if you're also a Jays fan... this is the norm.

 

[Buds17]

Wish we weren't chasing at this point for 2nd place in the division again, but it is what it is. Home ice isn't a guarantee for anything, but it'd be great to have and presents a good goal to strive for.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Home ice doesn't matter other than line matching, which Babs sucks at.

We are a better road team than at home. Its been like that all year.

That being said, I would not mind dropping to the 1st wild card spot. I think we stack up against the Caps/Islanders better than Boston. I want to get a series win in a playoff round to give the boys some confidence.

Not a good mentality. Play every game to win. MTL passing us ain't gonna happen nor do I want it to happen. It will be embarrassing. Plus, home ice does matter. Look at the history of this team.

 

[Maplebeasts]

This is why the team taking nights off against bottom feeders so often pisses me off. Home ice is huge in the playoffs. If they actually tried they would be well ahead of Boston.

 

[Raym11]

Boston is full steam ahead right now. Will be tough with our tendencies.

Home ice will just allow Babcock to out-coach himself anyways with line matchups

 

[Cor]

Is it possible the Leafs slide back into 2nd? Yes.

Is it likely? No.

I’d be genuinely surprised if the Leafs retake the 2nd seed but I feel our pathetic slow starts and stinker games against some of those bottom feeders like those 2 horrific losses to the Coyotes will end up being the difference.

The Leafs are only in 3rd because of loser points. We’ve won more games than Boston. We’re a better team. Boston will cool off soon enough.

 

[BlueForever75]

I agree if you take the shootout wins/losses and OT losses and points away from Boston the Leafs are in 2nd by some points. Boston plays to not lose in regulation. I have actually watched some of their games over the past couple of weeks. They actually shut it down on the road and play for tie in the 3rd most times if they aren't winning going into it.

No ties in playoffs, so we will see what happens. For some reason I don't think they are that good of team. They are beatable.

 

[justafan22]

Not a good mentality. Play every game to win. MTL passing us ain't gonna happen nor do I want it to happen. It will be embarrassing. Plus, home ice does matter. Look at the history of this team.

They're 3 back of Boston, 7 up on Montreal.

Even if they go on a losing streak, Montreal need to go on a streak of their own to catch them, and the leafs will have the series tiebreaker if they tie in points, (3-0 H2H record), so they're up 8 points essentially.

If they fall back to more than 6 to Boston with 2 weeks to go, you pull Andersen off every game and give Sparks a chance if the cushion on 3rd in the division is that big. can't tire him out again

 

[Brock Radunske]

I care a lot less about catching Boston and a lot more about shaking these lazy 1st periods.