A prominent NHL insider explains why he prefers the Leafs to the Bruin
PUBLICATION
MarcO
April 19, 2024 (10:28 PM)
Photo credit: boston.com
The latest '32 Thoughts' podcast featured Elliotte Friedman explaining why he thinks the Toronto Maple Leafs have a good chance against the Boston Bruins.
In this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Leafs and Bruins will square off in the first round again, in what many Leaf fans believe will be a much better experience than their 2013 first round series, 2018 first round series and 2019 first round series, in which the Bruins swept the Leafs each time.
The Leafs are entering the playoffs after losing four straight games and dealing with a bunch of injuries, while the Bruins have lost three of their last four games, including the final two games of the regular season.
Many of his friends in Toronto believe the Bruins deliberately lost their last two games to play the Leafs instead of the Tampa Bay Lightning, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek.
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He explained why he thinks the Leafs are better suited for a matchup against the Bruins than the Panthers.
Friedman believes that the Leafs will struggle and succeed in the series.
The Leafs went 0-2-2 in the season series after Friedman discussed where they ran into trouble against the Bruins.
"The thing that Boston does really well and they've done it really well against Toronto this year is forecheck. They forecheck extremely well and they've given Toronto a lot of trouble with it.
If Toronto doesn't solve that problem in the playoffs like they couldn't in the regular season then they are in really big trouble. I do think the other area, they have not had a good powerplay this year - the Maple Leafs - and Boston could pick it apart.
Pastrnak tortures the Maple Leafs and if they don't get their penalty kill better, they could be in trouble," revealed Friedman.
Pastrnak tortures the Leafs, and he's right. He's scored 19 goals and scored 36 points in his career's 28 regular-season games. He has 19 points against the Leafs in 14 playoff games.
Friedman believes that the Leafs will be able to out Bruin the Bruins physically thanks to the additions that Brad Treliving has made since taking over for Kyle Dubas.
The Leafs thought process was to have Martin Jones play in their season finale Wednesday night instead of Samsonov.
"The other thing I think about the Leafs is this: I really like the way that guys like McCabe, Edmundson, Bertuzzi and Domi, who was hurt, went down the stretch. I think they are the team that can dictate physicality more than the Bruins will, which seems weird to say. I think the Leafs have really overachieved this year.
They used 13 defensemen, 4 goalies, they had a lot of excuses to fall apart this year, they never did. For me, the question is, Boston can play two goalies and nobody is going to panic. If Toronto is playing two goalies, that's probably a pretty bad thing.
One guy is going to have to grab the net and hold onto it. I was surprised that Samsonov didn't play on Wednesday, they went to Martin Jones and someone pointed out to me, Samsonov with a week off or two weeks off when he rediscovered his game, it worked out well for him.
I can buy that thinking."
We have yet to see Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner or William Nylander show up when it matters in elimination games, even though they have been consistent and produced in the playoffs.
They're being criticized for not showing up when they need it the most.
We might finally see Matthews go into Beast Mode in a series, or Marner shake the yips he has shown in the past. The Leafs are capable of scoring more goals than their opponents, but as former Bruins coach Claude Julien pointed out, they must be prepared to face a tougher challenge.
Treliving also brought in Domi and Bertuzzi for the very same reason Julien mentioned. Both thrive in dirty areas and types of games, and the hope is that they will relieve some of the pressure on the Leafs stars.
Friedman mentioned that Samsonov needs to regain his form from his absence from the team in January, which is why he believes the Leafs chose to keep him out of the game in the final week of the season.
Getting past the first round for the second year in a row is possible if he can get back to his best and the Leafs get the timely goals they've been looking forward to in the playoffs.
Previously on MapleLeafsLatest
| POLL |
19 AVRIL | 24 ANSWERS A prominent NHL insider explains why he prefers the Leafs to the Bruin Who do you think will be the final goalie for the Maple Leafs in the playoffs? |
| Ilya Samsonov | 13 | 54.2 % |
| Matt Murray | 1 | 4.2 % |
| Joseph Woll | 6 | 25 % |
| Martin Jones | 4 | 16.7 % |
| LIST OF POLLS |
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