Tampa or Boston?

[Drytoast]

I wanted Boston.

Tampa will pick it up for the playoffs when the games matter. Make no mistake.

 

[tom leafers]

I wanted Boston.

Tampa will pick it up for the playoffs when the games matter. Make no mistake.

Thats exactly what i am afraid of. I dont think your record to end the season means much. Plus tampa was in first place since October, it would be pretty hard to get motivated for games down the stretch when youve known you were gonna make the playoffs for the last 5 months.

I think Vasi will be their only weak point

 

[MR4]

I wanted Boston.

Tampa will pick it up for the playoffs when the games matter. Make no mistake.

I think TBL's offense and defense will pick it back up to 90% of their potential right in game 1 but goalie hot streaks/cold streaks continue into playoffs and Vasi is arctic cold, so we def have a chance in this series

 

[MattySnipes]

Pretty interesting take by Justin Bourne on one of the advantages of playing the Lightning:

"When Tampa plays, an average of nearly 6.5 combined goals per game are scored. The only other team that plays in games that high scoring are the offensively dangerous and defensively sad New York Islanders. If you're Toronto, the potential to play a team a little more loose like that has to be at least a little appealing."

 

[Craig Button]

Doesn't matter really. We can beat both.
The bigger factor is the officiating. Will the bruins be allowed to hit from behind, interfere, hold/hook/slash or will they be penalized?

 

[Buds17]

Prior to the season, I thought Tampa would be the playoff team and Boston - just - on the outside looking in. Today, I slightly prefer our chances against Tampa compared to a series against Boston. No more than a gut feeling on that one.

 

[Craig Button]

Both will be a tough battle, but Boston is scary right now.


Plus, when Kucherov or Stamkos scores on us I can at least respect that. When Marchand scores on us, I'll feel dirty....

Fantastic player, wish he was on my team, hate him so much.

If Marchand was a Leaf he'd be in the box for most of the season

 

[Tak7]

Of the two, I think Tampa are closer to a cup than Boston. Tampa made some big "win now" moves at the deadline, and that core has gone deep in the playoffs before.

So for that reason alone, I'd say Boston.

your opinion bro

That's why he said "imo".

 

[Tak7]

If Marchand was a Leaf he'd be in the box for most of the season

If Marchand was a Leaf he'd be the most popular player on these boards.

 

[Jozay]

Pick your poison.

Im not excited to see the leafs play either of them. I dont have a preference.

 

[ACC1224]

If Marchand was a Leaf he'd be the most popular player on these boards.

You'll always have some but I don't think that would be a majority.

 

[Tak7]

It does throw into sharp focus how flawed this current playoff format is though.

A franchise record breaking 100+ point season, and the reward is no home ice with one of the 2 best teams in the East in the first round?

Only one of Tampa / Boston / Toronto are going to make the Eastern Conference Final, which seems.... wrong.

 

[TimeZone]

I wanted Boston.

Tampa will pick it up for the playoffs when the games matter. Make no mistake.

Well they certainly have something to play for tonight. Do you genuinely believe either Boston or Tampa wants to play Toronto in the first round?

 

[Drytoast]

Well they certainly have something to play for tonight. Do you genuinely believe either Boston or Tampa wants to play Toronto in the first round?

The irony here is that New Jersey (I think it's Jersey) would be the alternative.

Jersey isn't that far removed from Toronto.

 

[TimeZone]

The irony here is that New Jersey (I think it's Jersey) would be the alternative.

Jersey isn't that far removed from Toronto.

The Devil's are a much less dangerous opponent...

 

[rent free]

what is the point of this talk and debate over which team Leafs want to play???

If the Leafs want to have success they will have to beat both. BOS will fly through NJ on their way to round 2.

This Leafs team set the francise record for wins in a season will also set the franchise record for points in a season. So after 101 years Leafs Nation is seeing the best team to ever wear the jersey. SO winning one round is not enough.

Leafs have to win 2 rounds. BOS and Tampa in whatever order, it doesn't matter. Leafs will have to go through both.

setting a franchise record for wins and point doesn't mean we have to win a playoff round. our franchise high for wins and points is very low compared to other franchises

 

[Tak7]

Well they certainly have something to play for tonight. Do you genuinely believe either Boston or Tampa wants to play Toronto in the first round?

No, but I think either of them will feel like they are favorites heading into a Toronto series.

 

[rent free]

The Devil's are a much less dangerous opponent...

um i beg to differ. they are a slightly worse version of pittsburgh. if a team can take them out its them.

 

[Zizzzzy]

We can beat either team.

I want Tampa because they let us skate through the neutral zone uncontested and don't have a dirty rat named marchand running our players.

 

[TimeZone]

um i beg to differ. they are a slightly worse version of pittsburgh. if a team can take them out its them.

How many Devil's games have you watched this year? Nico is one of my favorite players, so I watch them on a semi-regular basis. They're not a team I'd be afraid of...in fact they'd be one of the teams I'd prefer to play in the East.

 

[Spirit of 67]

Both. Don't care which order.

 

[Once]

I wanted Boston 2 weeks ago. But I think we play TB and this is probably the best time to pounce on them. Vasi has been brutal, Stamkos injured, playing loose, etc.

They're a dangerous team. As we know, you can never count them out of games when they are down 2+ goals in the 3rd. If we play a full 60 minutes each night we can beat anyone, especially Tampa.

 

[rent free]

How many Devil's games have you watched this year? Nico is one of my favorite players, so I watch them on a semi-regular basis. They're not a team I'd be afraid of...in fact they'd be one of the teams I'd prefer to play in the East.

they're like one of the few teams to give pittsburgh fits. i'd rather not verse them

 

[MattySnipes]

With the regular season nearly coming to an end and the Leafs set to make the playoffs in back-to-back years, it's becoming more clear that we'll most likely be playing Tampa - it'll only be more solidified after tonight's head-to-head meeting with Boston. With that being said, all you can expect in the playoffs is a fair shot, and i'm strongly feeling like playing Tampa will be better for us as opposed to Boston because of each respective team's strength. The Athletic have some great articles and writers while putting out well thought-out material backed up with facts.

It's clear to see, Boston relies heavily on their defense but they also have a great offense. The Leafs rely on their firepower-like offense (2nd in goals) and decent defense. If the B's shutdown our offense, it'll be a tough go since that is our biggest strength - whereas Tampa is in the same boat as us offensively and defensively, giving them a slight edge in goaltending for their ability to save HD chances. See below:

High Danger Offense

Tampa scores their goals by creating dangerous chances and finishing with their elite skill which is very similar to Toronto. Whereas Boston generate slightly more shots (32.9 per game, vs. the Lightning's 32.6 and Leafs 32.2), and also lead both the Leafs and Lightning in Corsi For. In contrast, the Leafs lead both Tampa and Boston in high danger attempts and high danger chances for.

Team	HDCF / HDCA	HDCF%	Share of Shot Attempts (%)
Boston	862 / 801	51.83	53.6%
Tampa Bay	918 / 798	53.5	51.8%
Toronto	1060 / 924	53.43	49.9%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Looking at shot attempts along with the HD% it's clear that the Bruins rely on shooting more, but they're clearly not getting as many good looks and when they do the likelihood of them finishing on these chances is less. Areas the Bruins are great at are limiting goals and shots per game. Rask and Khudobin have a higher SV% on HD shots than Tampa’s by .17 per cent, which doesn't sound like a lot but when you spread that out over 82 games, that’s roughly 14 extra goals kept out of the net - which is huge.

Leafs goaltending vs. Lightning:

Since both the Maple Leafs and the Lightning thrive on creating HD attempts & chances for, it's worth noting the goalie's ability to save HD attempts and chances. Unfortunately, this is not in the Leafs' favour with Freddie's HD save % (goalies played at least 300 mins) is 44th overall , which translates to below 80%. This is a very important metric, the only silver lining is Vasi has been cold for the past month, so hopefully that carries on in our favour.

I give the edge to the Lightning in the series - edging us out in 7 games, but for us to advance we will definitely need Fred to be better at saving the HD chances along with our team defense being better at limiting the HD chances allowed. If we're able to do this, I see us having good success against the Lightning.


Source: Bourne: Who's a better playoff matchup for the Maple Leafs,...

 

[Tak7]

We can beat either team.

I want Tampa because they let us skate through the neutral zone uncontested and don't have a dirty rat named marchand running our players.

They also can, and have, skated right through us this season too.

I don't like either matchup, but we've played Boston pretty well in the regular season this year. Our only loss to them came at the end of a stretch where we played 9 games in 18 games and the tank was empty.