He is good at those little two-to-three-foot give-and-go plays. He is heavy on his stick, which helps win battles and exit the zone. It’s every little detail… As a defenseman, he is around the puck all the time in the d-zone supporting the puck. He made the run there with my brother to the finals. The first time I kept a really close eye on him was in the playoffs on St. Luke Schenn on Ryan O’Reilly’s invaluable contributions to the team: If we can start that way again and look to sustain it, that would be the goal. I liked a lot of how he started the game really up until Auston’s goal to put us up 2-1. We are looking to more or less the way we started the game. Both teams are trying to establish very similar things in terms of trying to establish territory and getting on top of the opposition. Sheldon Keefe on the adjustments needed ahead of Game 4:Ĭoming out of our end is going to be an important piece, getting through the neutral zone, and all of those kinds of things. Sheldon Keefe hinted at a few game-time decisions as well as consideration toward splitting up Matthews-Marner, but he did not elaborate with any further details or anything approaching a confirmation as to the possible lineup adjustments. That could mean Game 3 was a series-turning development in the Leafs’ favour, but it only matters if they respond the right way in Game 4.Īs the mind games and the matchup battles continue to play out as the stakes rise deeper into the series, the coaches are playing their cards closer to the chest. The Lightning’s Pat Maroon called Game 3 “probably our best game of the season” the Leafs might have taken Tampa’s best shot and still won the game. The bend-but-don’t-break defensive commitment was a definite positive in Game 3 as well as the play of Ilya Samsonov and the individual clutch moments from the likes of Ryan O’Reilly and Morgan Rielly. The zone exits, under the weight of a persistent and aggressive Tampa forecheck, became more about survival than working up the ice with pace and possession in order to tilt the ice back in the team’s favour.Īll in all, through three games, the Maple Leafs have been edged in shot attempts, shots, and scoring chances at five-on-five, but the goals are 8-8 and the expected goals are marginally in Toronto’s favour (6.42-6.32). They conceded the line too easily and readily collapsed on their own slot while getting worked inside the territorial battle for much of the final three periods. AdvertisementsĪ solid start to Game 3 on the road was followed by a complete aberration from the kind of game the Leafs need to play in order to dictate the terms against Tampa at five-on-five. Process-wise, the team needs to look at the last game - a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 overtime win - for what it was: A stolen win that should provide them with a wake-up call to respond urgently in a situation where they’re fortunately in the great position of playing from ahead in this series. Tonight, we find out if this year’s Leafs team has another gear in its gearbox. Tampa came out with significantly more urgency and built a 5-0 lead inside the opening 25 minutes en route to a 7-3 victory. In the postmortem of last year’s series against Tampa, it was easy to focus on the Leafs giving up the 3-2 lead in the third period of Game 6 or yet another Game 7 loss in which their offense dried up, but Game 4 with a 2-1 lead was one of the moments when the Maple Leafs did not step on the opponent’s throat when they were down, allowing the Lightning hang around in the series. Tonight, the Maple Leafs have an opportunity to do what they couldn’t accomplish in Game 4 in Tampa last May: put the Lightning on the brink of elimination as the series heads back to Toronto for Game 5 (7:30 p.m.
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