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rocky_da_best wrote:Obviously not nearly as important of a win but this sort of, kind of, maybe, avenges the 4-1 blown lead vs Boston that one year. At least we can say we made a comeback for once. Need to close it out in 5 otherwise it'll get dicey.

I haven't paid attention to hockey/the Leafs for 20 years until the last week, mainly because my teenage son is into playing and watching hockey.

But one thing I do know - these Leafs are NOT a "close them out" kind of team. And Tampa, despite their circa-2018 era Cavs-esque late season struggles - are too good and mentally tough to be closed out. This is going be a dogfight.

This series is over. Bring on the Bruins

I only watched games 3 and 4.

The leafs were outplayed in every period except the third in game 4.

Seeing as games 1 and 2 were both blowouts...i'd guess that means Tampa has outplayed them in 8 of 12 periods?

Leafs were SO lucky to win these 2 games in Tampa. Bruins are supposed to be one of the best teams in recent history from what I hear.

If there's one thing about basketball....teams don't often get lucky wins like they do in hockey, soccer and football.

Playoff hockey will always be significantly more entertaining than the NBA playoffs.

thanks for making a thread. leafs have been all over the place this series. who knows if they'll be able to close it out but a couple of ot wins on the road has to be a good omen

LoveMyRaps wrote:Playoff hockey will always be significantly more entertaining than the NBA playoffs.

Why lie?

LoveMyRaps wrote:Playoff hockey will always be significantly more entertaining than the NBA playoffs.

The ratings would beg to differ.

Morse Code wrote:

LoveMyRaps wrote:Playoff hockey will always be significantly more entertaining than the NBA playoffs.

Why lie?

It's true. There are way more upsets in hockey. Same with baseball.

Basketball (and football) are super predictable. This year has upsets because of injuries (Bucks, Grizz) and because fraudulent teams (Grizz, Kings) are the top seeds in the West playing against HOFers (Lebron, Steph) who coasted during the season and ended up as lower seeds.

I'm gonna keep my expectation rather SUPER LOW until I see it 4-1 or 4-2 or 4-3 for the Leafs. Everything else doesn't matter until they make it to 2nd RD and even if they make it to lose in the 2nd RD it's still a successful season.

Praying Panther can turn it around so we don't have to face the frigging Bruins

LJKO wrote:I'm gonna keep my expectation rather SUPER LOW until I see it 4-1 or 4-2 or 4-3 for the Leafs. Everything else doesn't matter until they make it to 2nd RD and even if they make it to lose in the 2nd RD it's still a successful season.

Praying Panther can turn it around so we don't have to face the frigging Bruins

Lol it's a successful season if they make it to the second round?

They are completely maxed out...have traded away most of their futures. Don't even have Matthews locked up long term.

Second round wouldn't have even been a success 3 years ago nevermind this season.

The last time the leafs had a top 5 defenseman was Borje Salming lol.

mdenny wrote:

LJKO wrote:I'm gonna keep my expectation rather SUPER LOW until I see it 4-1 or 4-2 or 4-3 for the Leafs. Everything else doesn't matter until they make it to 2nd RD and even if they make it to lose in the 2nd RD it's still a successful season.

Praying Panther can turn it around so we don't have to face the frigging Bruins

Lol it's a successful season if they make it to the second round?

They are completely maxed out...have traded away most of their futures. Don't even have Matthews locked up long term.

Second round wouldn't have even been a success 3 years ago nevermind this season.

The last time the leafs had a top 5 defenseman was Borje Salming lol.

if you put that way sure I guess but you gotta look into the perspective of them finally breaking it threw the 1st RD in over 17 seasons which is still not guarantee yet

rocky_da_best wrote:Obviously not nearly as important of a win but this sort of, kind of, maybe, avenges the 4-1 blown lead vs Boston that one year. At least we can say we made a comeback for once. Need to close it out in 5 otherwise it'll get dicey.

It's going to take a lot (like doing the same thing to Boston or sweeping them...or even winning the cup) to ever get over that collapse 10 years ago. That being said, as bad as that was, the comeback tonight was even more impressive. On the road and down 4-1 midway through the 3rd is basically as close as you can get to a sure loss. To pull that win off just a few days after another late comeback/OT win on the road makes it even sweeter.

It feels like a different Leafs team this season. Their top guys have been producing at an extremely high level so far (Marner has 10 points and Matthews and Nylander each have 7 points while Rielly has 6 points) and they are so much deeper down the middle than in the past. Still a long way to go, but I don't think I've ever been so confident in a Leafs team since the early 2000s.

This team is not the same as the past few seasons and two straight come-from-behind wins on the road proves that.

I'm actually glad they potentially face Boston in the 2nd round. Exorcise the 1st round demon and the Bruins curse in the same playoffs.

Looks like the Leafs finally got over their playoff jitters. Guess that playoff experience is a thing after all. They’re not playing scared or soft. There’s a grit to their play that they’ve lacked in previous years. They’re going to advance. Tampa will give them a great game 5 effort but they’ll run out of gas in the third. It’ll be interesting to see if the Leafs are jittery to start game 5 or if they come out with a killer instinct.

It’s a little sad that a first-round win would be the franchise’s equivalent of a championship

It would be classic leafs to choke from this position yet again

Bruins will be very very very tough. They are at least twice the team Tampa is and they play with a tenacity you rarely see even in playoff hockey. If the Leafs can beat them, they probably will win the Cup.

Raps in 4 wrote:

Morse Code wrote:

LoveMyRaps wrote:Playoff hockey will always be significantly more entertaining than the NBA playoffs.

Why lie?

It's true. There are way more upsets in hockey. Same with baseball.

Basketball (and football) are super predictable. This year has upsets because of injuries (Bucks, Grizz) and because fraudulent teams (Grizz, Kings) are the top seeds in the West playing against HOFers (Lebron, Steph) who coasted during the season and ended up as lower seeds.

Meh me personally it all comes down to if the city is in the playoffs. Once one of our Toronto teams gets bounced I usually don’t pay much attention or care regardless of the sport. I root for Toronto.

I know next to nothing about hockey. But I've seen the sadness and disappointment Leafs fans have been in throughout the years. I'm sincerely hoping they can close this series out for you guys.