Game 1
The Toronto Maple Leafs played their first real game in many fans eye as of April 18th in Game 1 of the Stanley cup playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Toronto started the postseason off with one of the worst performances in the Matthews era, allowing a goal 1 minute and 19 seconds into the game. This spiraled and the Lightning potted 2 more goals in the opening frame of the series. Starting the 2nd period down 3-0 was in no fans mind when the puck dropped, but that became the bleak reality. Toronto's power play started the foundation for a heroic comeback with 2 goals in quick succession from O'Reilly & Nylander drawing them back within 1. After playoff debutant Jake McCabe laid a bone crunching hit on Mike Eyssimont at the defensive blue line (that ultimately took him out of the following three games) he was pursued by Nick Paul who tracked McCabe down the ice slashing him looking to fight. Seconds later David Kampf was victim to a weak slashing call on Corey Perry putting Toronto on the penalty kill. Tampa scored on the man advantage putting the lead to 4-2 and ending the Leafs comeback effort. Tampa did put three more past Ilya Samsonov while Toronto's Calle Jarnkrok potted a goal in the 3rd period but was too little, too late. The story line from game 1 was a combination of Wes McAuley's questionable refereeing and the fall out of Michael Bunting’s 5 minute major. During the game Michael Bunting threw a questionable hit against Tampa defenceman Erik Cernak. The debate on the hit's dirty-ness to bias of the officials had Leafs Nation split on if he deserved a suspension, the League decided the hit was worth 3 games. This game was disastrous for the buds putting them at an 0-1 series deficit. There were very few bright spots to take from the first contest as few Leafs played well. With the Goliath Lightning team in front of them, The Leafs needed a strong bounce back in game 2. With Toronto down a top 6 winger, they looked to inject rookie Matthew Knies into their lineup in an attempt to swing the momentum back into their favour.
The Bunting Hit
Game 2
Along with the roster change of adding Knies, the Leafs needed their stars to step up. In Game 2 we saw exactly that. Within the first 2 Minutes of puck drop Mitch Marner was able to draw a penalty and then proceed to score for the early 1-0 lead. Captain John Tavares and William Nylander both put pucks past Vasilevskiy in the 1st to give Toronto the 3-0 lead heading into intermission. Along with 3 of Toronto’s “Big Four Forwards” notching goals in the first period, the Leafs longest tenured defenceman Morgan Rielly was the man leading the charge getting 3 primary assists in first period. Tampa got one back midway through the second when an uncovered Ian Cole walked in from the point to slip a loose puck past Sammy. Rielly put up his 4th primary assist shortly after Cole’s goal with a bank pass off Vasi’s pad to captain Johnny Toronto. The Leafs essentially dominated the remainder of the game having Tavares complete his hat trick, Marner getting his 2nd of the night and a hard-working crash the net 4th line goal by Zack Aston-Reese. Perry did manage to get the too little, too late goal for a 7-2 Leafs final and a 1-1 Series tie. Looking to highlight one player’s performance in this one is more difficult as the entire roster had a bounce back night, the easy and most appealing answer is to talk about JT and the first home playoff hat trick since Alexander Mogilny. But doing that just didn’t feel right. The player who I think deserves the love for swinging the series back into Toronto’s favour is Morgan Rielly. Mo was a major subject of controversy through this season, he missed a large portion of games due to a knee injury mid-season and when he returned, he did not look 100%. Fans questioned if he was still injured or if this was the player, they’re tied to for the next 8 years at 7.5 million dollars. The Leafs needed a push back in game 2 and Mo was a key factor in the Leafs gaining and maintaining the lead through the first half of the game.
Rielly Assist
Game 3
With the series knotted at 1 game apiece it was time for the buds to travel to Amalie arena for their first road game of the series. Going into this game I was a big believer in “You just need to take 1 game in Tampa and you’re fine. Doesn’t matter if it’s game 3 or 4, but you need to be going back to Toronto even for game 5” The Leafs opened the scoring when rookie Matthew Knies dished off a slick feed to Noel Accari on a 3 on 2 rush. Tampa answered shortly after to make it 1-1 before Auston Matthews deflected home his first of the playoffs. Toronto was looking to take the 2-1 lead into intermission before a scramble in the crease led to Tampa trying the game 2 goals a piece late in the first period. Tampa then proceeded dominate the following 20 minutes, completely out playing Toronto. Despite a whole period of control by Tampa, the Leafs only found themselves down 3-2 in the game. Controversy found the Leafs again as both Rielly and Braydon Point were battling for position on route to a loose puck in the corner. As the two players bumped, Braydon Point lost an edge and went barreling into the corner boards at a high speed. Rielly was immediately grabbed by Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov and slammed to the ice as the melee ensued in the corner. This scrum led to the first fight in Auston Matthews’ NHL career where he was attacked by fellow former 60 goal scorer Steven Stamkos. (This was the first time in NHL history two 60 goal scorers have fought each other). Rielly was off to the Leafs dressing room for repairs for a suspected broken nose when he was assessed a 5-minute major and match penalty for his hit on Point. After Sheldon Keefe’s protest, the hit was reviewed and deemed clean as there was no intent for Mo to send Point into the boards and did his best to limit contact after Point had stumbled. With Rielly back in the game the Leafs got out of that exchange with the man advantage. Toronto spent the remainder of the game trailing the lighting until playoff juggernaut Ryan O’Reilly shoveled a loose puck past Vasilevskiy with 1 minute remaining in regulation. The Lighting spent most of the overtime period out playing the Leafs, but a strong performance from Samsonov had the Leafs holding on and looking to make it to double overtime. With a face off in the Tampa zone and under a minute remaining in overtime, O’Reilly wins a face off clean back to the Left point where Morgan Rielly sends a seeing eye shot past Knies and O’Reilly’s screens for the OT winner (first OT winner by a Leafs defenceman since Thomas Kaberle in 2003). The Leafs took game 3 against all odds thanks to a player who was almost wrongly ejected from the contest.
The Point Rielly Collision
Morgan Rielly OT Winner
Game 4
With a 2-1 series league the Leafs went into game 4 looking to return to Toronto with a strangle hold on the series. The Lightning would be coming out in full force in this game looking to even the series. After getting another early power play, Rielly bobbled a puck at the offensive blueline that led to a trip on Brandon Hagel. This would be Hagel’s first career penalty shot, but thanks to a kick save from Sammy he will be 0 for 1 for the time being. The Lightning managed to put up a power play marker off a slick pass from Kucherov to Killorn in the blue paint (his first playoff goal in 29 games) giving the bolts an early 1-0 lead. Toronto looked to escape the period only down one, but a common theme of allowing goals against in the last 2 minutes of periods saw Milhail Sergachev rip a wrist shot past Samsonov for the 2-0 lead going into the first intermission. In the 2nd period a strong display of work rate off the puck saw the Leafs deadline big fish Ryan O’Reilly battle with four Lightning players before picking Kucherov’s pocket and sending the puck to the point where a Justin Holl shot was deflected past Vasi by fellow Ex-Blues player Noel Accari. Toronto was looking to draw the game even before a Victor Hedman shot deflected of Lightning Captain Steven Stamkos’ toe to restore the 2-goal lead. Tampa delivers the final blow of the period when Alex Killorn rifles a shot off the bar and in to beat Sammy for his second of the game. On intermission Brandon Hagel delivered a quote that aged like milk, “Pretty much doing the same thing, I’m not surprised the score is 4-1 going into the third period. I mean we thought last game we played good enough to win that game, knew we just had to step it up a little bit more and we did that and the result is kinda going our way”. The Lightning did something thing their first-round opponents are all too familiar with, they got complacent with their effort through 2 and didn’t show the “Killer Instinct” to put the game away. To start this 3rd period summary, I must remind everyone that Tampa had the worst lead in hockey 4-1 (A score line that has scarred Leaf fans for nearly 10 years). In shades of Leafs vs, the Bruins circa 2013, Auston Matthews potted his 2nd of the playoffs with a vintage Matthews shot just before the halfway mark of the final period. A little over 3 minutes later Auston struck again with a fly by tip on the man advantage making it 4-3. With 3:56 left in the period a John Tavares & Ryan O'Reilly screen took Vasilevskiy's vision away, letting a Morgan Rielly shot from the point beat him blocker side. #44 ties the game four, 4-4 with just under 4 minutes to go. Rielly once again shows up in a big way in an even bigger moment. Toronto was the team driving the momentum in OT this time as Tampa only had one notable scoring chance when a Steven Stamkos’ shot from the slot knocked Sammy's helmet off. Shortly after Sammy's big save the Leafs found themselves in the offensive zone with the game on William Nylander's stick before Mikhail Sergachev takes his feet out to draw the rare penalty in overtime. Unfortunately, the top power play unit was unable to end the game, which meant the new look second unit consisting of Giordano, Nylander, Jarnkrok, Knies and Kerfoot took the ice. After Kerfoot sends the puck back to the point, he skates himself into Vasi's line of sight. Giordano lets a wrist shot from the point go that is deflected past Vasilevskiy completing the comeback with a 5-4 overtime victory. Toronto takes a 3-1 series lead heading back home to Scotiabank Arena on Thursday, they now have three attempts to take down the 3-time defending Prince of Wales Trophy champions and advance to the second round for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Hagel Interview
#44 Ties it 4-4
The 1st Round MVP (So Far)
Going into this year’s playoffs many members of Leafs nation were left scratching their heads as it appeared Morgan Rielly would be paired with the returning Luke Schenn. It appeared that Mo and Luke would be a pseudo 3rd pairing in an attempt to shelter both players from tough Tampa matchups. Despite sheltering this pairing’s responsibilities, it has allowed Luke Schenn to be one of the Buds best defencemen analytically thus far in the series. Rielly on the other hand has been the best defenceman statistically, Mo has put up 2 goals and 4 assists in his last 3 games which has him tied with Adam Fox and Miro Heiskanen for 2nd most points by a defenceman in this year’s playoffs (Neal Pionk has 7 points in 4 games and is 1st for NHL points on defence). As for plus minus, Rielly is in a 3-way tie for best plus minus among all players in the post season. The numbers are impressive alone, but the situation where all these points occurred is what's really special. 4 primary assists in a row to start a must win game 2 was the spark that got the ball rolling for the Leafs to get the series tied at 1, he then pots the OT winner in game 3 to put the Leafs ahead in the series before notching the late tying goal in game 4 that led to a second overtime win. Simply put, the Leafs are not in the position they are without Morgan Rielly, plain and simple. This is a redemption ark for a player who was in the fanbases doghouse most of the season, he has returned to form at the most important crossroads this franchise has faced in a long time. With the fate of the core, coaching staff and management depending on the results of this year’s playoffs, Morgan has elevated his play to an elite level and put his club in the best situation for success that he can. While 3-1 is a cushy situation for most teams, Leafs fan are filled with stress on the outcome of the remaining three games. All the magic that has occurred through the series thus far will feel like a waste if the Leafs can't rise to the occasion and close out a playoff round for the first time since defeating the Ottawa Senators in 7 games (April 20th, 2004). This team is different, these players are different and for Leafs Nations ... the outcome WILL be different.
*Once again thank you to @TicTacTomar on Twitter for his amazing work capturing all the key moments of the game*
No comments:
Post a Comment