Coming out of retirement to say that's as thorough a dismantling as I can remember the Leafs doing.  Maybe the Sens in one of those playoff series in the early 2000s.

This is ban evasion!

You'll never catch me, copper!

Coming out of retirement to say that's as thorough a dismantling as I can remember the Leafs doing.  Maybe the Sens in one of those playoff series in the early 2000s.

What a satisfying win.

Who let you back?

I figured it's been long enough that the heat is off and I can sneak back in unnoticed.

What a satisfying win.

Sure, just invent a holding call on Andersen there.

If we think Komarov lit a fire under the Capitals (even though they were the better team before and after that), does that mean we have to accept that fights can pump up a team and influence results?

He's within the top 20 D in the league in terms of even strength points this season which is impressive to me.

I like what Mirtle's post-game article on The Athletic said, and it's a big reason why I'm not too bent out of shape about these results:

The fact is the Leafs wouldn't even have all those leads in all those games if not for the offence generated by Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Brown, Hyman and to a lesser extent Zaitsev, Soshnikov and Gauthier. They wouldn't be losing games in overtime or the shootout (which, to be honest, is a tie where I'm from). They would probably lose them in the second period – because they'd already be down by two goals, unable to score, at least against a team like Washington.

https://theathletic.com/32475/2017/01/04/mirtle-the-maple-leafs-arent-losing-because-of-their-rookies/

oh my god

Well that's not a penalty.

I can't speak for other games, but holy man the calls in Leafs games all year have seemed brutal.

Goat is great because it works on a couple levels of humour.

Leafs are the most fun team in the NHL.

Is it possible/plausible that Smith or Polak are more suited to grinding out playoff games every other night?

I know we don't really remember playoff hockey, but wouldn't it be fair to say that it's a little more physically grinding, and that guys that can dole out the physicality that can take it's toll over a series could be useful in that respect?

A guy who can help the team control the puck more would be much more useful, even in a more physical playoff series.

And, most of us watch enough playoff hockey to remember exactly what it's like. No matter the situation, having guys on the ice that lead to the other team having the puck more often than your team - and, frequently in the offensive zone - is a bad thing, regardless of what other attributes they bring. Nothing helps your team win more than keeping the puck away from the other team.

Yeah I feel like a better player who can make plays would actually serve to tax the other team more over time as they would spend time chasing the game more than I think they would with a more traditional 'stay-at-home' type like Polak.  If the end result is more time in your own end then you are the team that is going to be gassed in a physical series first.

What bugs me is when people start harping on  players at the bottom of the roster.  It just rubs me the wrong way.

The thing is that the difference between winning and losing a playoff series/making or missing the playoffs/home-ice/etc. can easily be those players at the bottom of the roster. A few goals here and there over the season, or a couple over a playoff series is often enough to make that difference. On top of that, they're also the easiest players on the roster to replace, which is why there's a lot of focus on them. It's a very legitimate question to ask why the team isn't addressing its most easy to solve problems, and, for a lot of us, when simple issues go unresolved, it's much more grating than when complicated ones do.

Someone should write a book on these little things adding up to success, it's like an extra 2%...

That's my biggest gripe with Polak.  I don't deny that he can be an effective penalty killer, and that he's physical and can block shots.  But at even strength, where something like 80% of Polak's ice time is, he turns so many instances of possession into unnecessary icings it drives me crazy.  I read someone somewhere else refer to it as "he plays every shift as if it's a PK" and it's kind of true - if there is no simple short pass to a forward with no pressure he will often just chip it off the glass down the ice or dump it down the ice, giving up the puck and in the case of an icing, leading to more defensive zone time.  It's no wonder his possession stats don't look nice, he isn't really capable of holding onto the puck and making plays with it at the level you would like to see.