Canadiens @ Leafs - May 20th, 7:30pm - CBC, TSN 1050

[Chris]

I'm willing to give Wayne/Thornton a second game without a horrific injury early in the 1st period but at the same time "Wayne Train" had 1 hit in 12 minutes of ice time.  Nylander threw more hits than him.  Dude, you have 3 points in 20 games and no points in your last 10.  He's the first guy coming out of the lineup for me.

I wrote earlier that I don't think the Leafs can get away with keeping all 3 of them (Thornton/Spezza/Simmonds) in the lineup, especially with another offensive black hole like Nash and to a slightly lesser extent, Mikheyev. That really puts the burden on the top 6 and now with JT gone for at least this series, that's even more pressure on the big 4. You can't play Marner 27 minutes and Matthews 24 every game and expect to go deep in the playoffs.

It'll be interesting to see what Keefe does but Gally needs to get in for certain, maybe Engvall.

Sandin may not quite be ready for playoff hockey. Offensively he looked pretty good on the early PPs and they came so close to scoring. Dermott though might be better defensively. Maybe they drop a forward and go with 7 d? What I noticed about Rielly is that he...is...so...slow to make decisions at times especially on the PP. Gives the defense too much time to shut down shooting and passing lanes.

[Dappleganger]

I agree. Drop a forward, go with 7 D. Double shift Matthews.

That's what I would do. 

 

[Bullfrog]

Actually not a bad idea.

[CarltonTheBear]

Some of my friends are terribly upset with the @TheTorontoSun running a graphic photo of Tavares after his accidental collision with Perry. I say it's called being a tabloid. They were much more common before the world became so soft. Bad things happen. It's still news.

— Don Brennan (@SunDoniB) May 21, 2021

Anyone who still reads this garbage needs to give their head a shake.

[Arn]

I'm very happy to see Bogosian back. He's really won me over.

I feel a bit bad for guys who've been with the team all year, but having guys like Foligno and Nash mixed in with our stars is a great combo.

I think back to what was my first real season following the Leafs and the playoff run to the conference final where Sundin was out for chunks and other “top” players missed time and the depth guys or grinders like Roberts and McAuley came through massively with big goals.

That’s what the likes of Galchenyuk and Engvall etc need to be ready for as their opportunity and role and if we get that.......

Completely forgotten about that great run.

So when I referenced this playoff run, one of the things I remember was missing our captain and best players for a long stretch.

I didn’t hope this series would resemble it quite so accurately.

[herman]

Jason Spezza spoke with John Tavares last night. Tavares told him that he could pick up Spezza's voice when he was on the ice and that helped keep him calm.

— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) May 21, 2021

[Significantly Insignificant]

Jason Spezza spoke with John Tavares last night. Tavares told him that he could pick up Spezza's voice when he was on the ice and that helped keep him calm.

— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) May 21, 2021

All I ask is for the Maple Leafs to come out and play an inspired second game.  I feel if they do that they should end up on the correct side of that score.  They have to get to the front of the net, then have to go through the Canadiens D.  They have to hem them in their zone.  They can't let the Habs dictate the play the way they did in game one.

[OldTimeHockey]

Foligno on why he took on Perry after the hit. "Our captain is laying on the ice. They would have done the same if (it was) their captain. (The hit) wasn't malicious. (The fight) takes away any grey (area). Perry's a big boy. It just allows everyone to go back and play."

— Lance Hornby 🇺🇦 (@sunhornby) May 21, 2021

Sort of sound reasoning, in a weird way.

Simmonds should have come out to handle that. We need Foligno on the ice.

Especially with Tavares being the one lost. The next couple shifts were a disaster which led to the goal.

[herman]

Versteeg is right - and a lot of people are missing the forest for the trees - that it was the trend of reckless hits that created the environment that led to Tavares' injury. Ultimately, those hits were being laid because (in the playoffs) refs let players play that way. https://t.co/SbFLDeLI5z

— ⭐️Dan⭐️ (@265Kilometres) May 21, 2021

This got overshadowed by the Corey Perryness of it all, but this is pretty much what I was feeling after I got the thumbs up from Tavares.

[Highlander]

My take on the game outside of the horrific hit on John T.   I thought Kerfoot was not that great and his giveaway pass across the ice lead directly to Anderson's breakaway fgoal.  Sorry for the Jumbo fans but he was not great last night and was responsible for the 2nd goal.   I can't blame Campbell for the goals, he played very well.

[Bill_Berg_is_sad]

Versteeg is right - and a lot of people are missing the forest for the trees - that it was the trend of reckless hits that created the environment that led to Tavares' injury. Ultimately, those hits were being laid because (in the playoffs) refs let players play that way. https://t.co/SbFLDeLI5z

— ⭐️Dan⭐️ (@265Kilometres) May 21, 2021

This got overshadowed by the Corey Perryness of it all, but this is pretty much what I was feeling after I got the thumbs up from Tavares.

Yeah the whole built for the playoffs, finish your checks, grind them down, we can't match the talent so we need to take away space, etc... All feels like the same thing.  We're going to be extra violent because we can and if you get hurt, oh well. 

[Chris]

Versteeg is right - and a lot of people are missing the forest for the trees - that it was the trend of reckless hits that created the environment that led to Tavares' injury. Ultimately, those hits were being laid because (in the playoffs) refs let players play that way. https://t.co/SbFLDeLI5z

— ⭐️Dan⭐️ (@265Kilometres) May 21, 2021

This got overshadowed by the Corey Perryness of it all, but this is pretty much what I was feeling after I got the thumbs up from Tavares.

Yeah the whole built for the playoffs, finish your checks, grind them down, we can't match the talent so we need to take away space, etc... All feels like the same thing.  We're going to be extra violent because we can and if you get hurt, oh well.

I've had a lot of discussions about this kind of thing lately, most of it spurred by the Tom Wilson incident with the Rangers. The question is, what does the NHL want to be? Does it want to be a league that showcases the skill of the players, or a league that caters to "old style", "beat 'em in the alley" kind of hockey? There are tremendous mixed messages coming from the league - you see it in the way games are refereed ("I wanted to even up the penalties") and in the way player discipline/suspensions are handled. They talk about getting rid of dangerous hits but then they fine Tom Wilson $5000 for what he did in that game? That's probably like fining me $5. Big effin deal.

Call the games according to the rule book and keep it consistent in the regular season and playoffs. Call those damned vicious cross-checks in front of the net and after the whistle, along with the flagrant interference. Call it the same way in the first period, the third period, overtime, playoffs. Hand out suspensions that significantly hurt both players and teams for violent acts. Do that or stop pretending.

There's plenty of room for both skill and physical play to exist.

[Arn]

I think i said it at the time but I wasn’t surprised to see a Leafs player get injured the way the Habs came out. It was just bad luck it was a slightly freak occurrence that ultimately caused the injury rather than as a direct reaction to some of the play.