Leafs @ Bruins - Apr. 25th, 7:30pm - CBC, TSN 1050

[Bender]

A few thoughts on game...

1)Yes it wasn't Gardiners best game. But cut him some slack, we would have never got to game 7 without him. He was the best dman on both teams in game 6.  He is the one guys who can separate guys from from puck and skate puck out of danger areas consistently. He is constantly making difficult plays look easy (and sometimes easy plays look difficult but not nearly as often ).

2)Nylander on at least 3 plays could have easily beaten Chara cleanly to a puck but choose to pull a Kessel and lay up.  I would like to see a little more fire from a guy playing for his next contract.

3)  the Bruins play far better team defence, not just the 6 guys on the back end, but the forwards in their end are far more involved in winning puck battles then the Leafs.  By virtue of the size and toughness advantage the Bruins have, I feel gave them a big advantage on defending and making it hard for the Leafs to sustain an attack.

And they really work hard on the forecheck and play a really tight neutral zone game. The Leafs have no answer for that unless they do the same and they really didn't. They gave up the line so easily, they hardly seemed to forecheck and the Bruins were able to cleanly exit the zone and carry the puck over the blue line as a result and create sustained pressure over and over. This team needs a bit of that.

[Captain Canuck]

Would have liked to get revenge on the Bruins, but still very happy with the progress made this season. Looking forward to the off-season, as management will shore up the D and make the team strong in all areas. Leafs should be good for a deep playoff run next year!

[Guilt Trip]

A few thoughts on game...

1)Yes it wasn't Gardiners best game. But cut him some slack, we would have never got to game 7 without him. He was the best dman on both teams in game 6.  He is the one guys who can separate guys from from puck and skate puck out of danger areas consistently. He is constantly making difficult plays look easy (and sometimes easy plays look difficult but not nearly as often )

Don't agree with that. Gardiner plays the same way all year. He constantly let's the opponent get to the puck first.. Gives it away constantly and is so soft in front of the net. He was coasting out there.
The Bruins went after him hard and he failed. The Leafs don't make the playoffs without Freddie. Time to see if Tommy Lilypad is ready.

[mr grieves]

I get a sinking feeling that Gardiner is done as a Leaf. He's too risk/reward. But man, we are so thin on D if we're getting rid of Polak and who knows about Zaitsev. This team is lacking so badly on D.

He still led the team in ice-time in both the regular season and playoffs. As much as fans love to rag on him Mike Babcock is still probably his biggest supporter.

Also, Lou's about to be sent to the farm, and our beautiful boy Kyle won't make any stupid decisions. Gardiner is fine.

[gunnar36]

A few thoughts on game...

1)Yes it wasn't Gardiners best game. But cut him some slack, we would have never got to game 7 without him. He was the best dman on both teams in game 6.  He is the one guys who can separate guys from from puck and skate puck out of danger areas consistently. He is constantly making difficult plays look easy (and sometimes easy plays look difficult but not nearly as often ).

2)Nylander on at least 3 plays could have easily beaten Chara cleanly to a puck but choose to pull a Kessel and lay up.  I would like to see a little more fire from a guy playing for his next contract.

3)  the Bruins play far better team defence, not just the 6 guys on the back end, but the forwards in their end are far more involved in winning puck battles then the Leafs.  By virtue of the size and toughness advantage the Bruins have, I feel gave them a big advantage on defending and making it hard for the Leafs to sustain an attack.

And they really work hard on the forecheck and play a really tight neutral zone game. The Leafs have no answer for that unless they do the same and they really didn't. They gave up the line so easily, they hardly seemed to forecheck and the Bruins were able to cleanly exit the zone and carry the puck over the blue line as a result and create sustained pressure over and over. This team needs a bit of that.

Yes, you are bang on with that.  I get a sense that we have a team that is built to consistently make the playoffs, but not succeed at playoff hockey.

[Rob]

A big thank you to CarltonTheBear for all the first class game day threads again this year.  Fist bump to Herman and Nik for filling in on a few as well. 

[Guilt Trip]

Oh good. I was wondering if somehow this loss would be attributed to someone's inability to hit someone else.

Hahaha.. Matthews hit guys out there. I saw it with my own 2 eyes

[Guilt Trip]

A few thoughts on game...

1)Yes it wasn't Gardiners best game. But cut him some slack, we would have never got to game 7 without him. He was the best dman on both teams in game 6.  He is the one guys who can separate guys from from puck and skate puck out of danger areas consistently. He is constantly making difficult plays look easy (and sometimes easy plays look difficult but not nearly as often ).

2)Nylander on at least 3 plays could have easily beaten Chara cleanly to a puck but choose to pull a Kessel and lay up.  I would like to see a little more fire from a guy playing for his next contract.

3)  the Bruins play far better team defence, not just the 6 guys on the back end, but the forwards in their end are far more involved in winning puck battles then the Leafs.  By virtue of the size and toughness advantage the Bruins have, I feel gave them a big advantage on defending and making it hard for the Leafs to sustain an attack.

And they really work hard on the forecheck and play a really tight neutral zone game. The Leafs have no answer for that unless they do the same and they really didn't. They gave up the line so easily, they hardly seemed to forecheck and the Bruins were able to cleanly exit the zone and carry the puck over the blue line as a result and create sustained pressure over and over. This team needs a bit of that.

Yes, you are bang on with that.  I get a sense that we have a team that is built to consistently make the playoffs, but not succeed at playoff hockey.

Take a step back. This is year 2 of the rebuild. You don't build a team overnight. Let's see what they do in the off season

[mr grieves]

I wonder if any of the reporters give Babcock a grilling on his ice time distribution. It was evident pretty early on that Gardiner was struggling and Dermott was playing well yet Gardner ends up playing 24 minutes to 11 for Dermott.

Kapanen scored an amazing shorty and be played under 9 minutes??? Like c'mon some of this is on the coach for not managing his team in game

The kids from the Marlies were nice-to-haves; I agree they're generally the better option, but the coach has gone through the entire season leaning on his prime players to pretty good effect and you sort of have to bank on that. I'd like Babcock to be faster on the uptake, but that's just how I see it.

I thought Kapanen and Johnsson should've been up with the Leafs last year instead of Matt Martin and whoever so that they'd be ready to be relied upon this year, but there's also their confidence and developmental readiness to account for. Johnsson said he appreciated the extra time they afforded him with the Marlies, rather than calling him up to be the franchise saviour and yo-yoing him when he inevitably faltered a bit.

Let's note, at this point, that the real back-breaker in that series -- and in game 7 particularly -- was one Jake DeBrusk. A 21 year old rookie who average 15 min/game during the series.

[herman]

A big thank you to CarltonTheBear for all the first class game day threads again this year.  Fist bump to Herman and Nik for filling in on a few as well.

Head rubs all around!

[gunnar36]

Don't agree with that. Gardiner plays the same way all year. He constantly let's the opponent get to the puck first.. Gives it away constantly and is so soft in front of the net. He was coasting out there.
The Bruins went after him hard and he failed. The Leafs don't make the playoffs without Freddie. Time to see if Tommy Lilypad is ready.

We obviously see his value very differently.  I think he was a little wore down by game 7 and had played 26 tough minutes Monday.  Having a stud defensive defenceman that can play the tough defensive minutes would certainly benefit guys like Gardiner. 

[azzurri63]

Oh good. I was wondering if somehow this loss would be attributed to someone's inability to hit someone else.

Nik we are not a tough team. Definitely lacking a lot of that. Playoff hockey is survival. The game is a lot tougher than the regular season. You have to go in the corners, sacrifice taking a hit to make plays. Bruins plain and simple are a tougher team. Sh*t I could count endless times we could take the body and stop a Bruins movement but they shy away from the guy and they retained possession. Countless times we could have hit Marchand but no. He doesn't stop from hitting or taking cheap shots at our players. No one stood up to him. I don't get it. I know the game has changed but you still need a bit of that especially in the playoffs. Only to keep the other team honest or at least know they can't get away with it. Leafs don't strike any fear in anyone. Nylander for sure as stated played the Kessel of years past going into the corners. Every time Chara was going back to retrieve a puck and the race was on Nylander shied away. Not going to win you many playoff games let alone a Cup when you have too many of them players on one team.

[CarltonTheBear]

A big thank you to CarltonTheBear for all the first class game day threads again this year.  Fist bump to Herman and Nik for filling in on a few as well. 

No problem. I'm glad my posts enabled you all to enjoy the games a little more.

[BermudaBudsFan]

A few thoughts on game...

1)Yes it wasn't Gardiners best game. But cut him some slack, we would have never got to game 7 without him. He was the best dman on both teams in game 6.  He is the one guys who can separate guys from from puck and skate puck out of danger areas consistently. He is constantly making difficult plays look easy (and sometimes easy plays look difficult but not nearly as often ).

2)Nylander on at least 3 plays could have easily beaten Chara cleanly to a puck but choose to pull a Kessel and lay up.  I would like to see a little more fire from a guy playing for his next contract.

3)  the Bruins play far better team defence, not just the 6 guys on the back end, but the forwards in their end are far more involved in winning puck battles then the Leafs.  By virtue of the size and toughness advantage the Bruins have, I feel gave them a big advantage on defending and making it hard for the Leafs to sustain an attack.

And they really work hard on the forecheck and play a really tight neutral zone game. The Leafs have no answer for that unless they do the same and they really didn't. They gave up the line so easily, they hardly seemed to forecheck and the Bruins were able to cleanly exit the zone and carry the puck over the blue line as a result and create sustained pressure over and over. This team needs a bit of that.

Yes, you are bang on with that.  I get a sense that we have a team that is built to consistently make the playoffs, but not succeed at playoff hockey.

I have this same concern.  The new Washington Capitals to 2027.

[mr grieves]

I have this same concern.  The new Washington Capitals to 2027.

I'd worry about this if I knew what makes the Washington Capitals the Washington Capitals.