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Toronto Maple Leafs
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Within the last minute of Auston Matthews’ tour de pressure, with time beyond regulation seemingly looming, with the Boston Bruins buzzing, with Ilya Samsonov uncertain of the placement of the puck Matthews slid the disc beneath Samsonov’s pads.
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There is no such thing as a statistic for composure. There is no such thing as a statistic for assuring victory. There is no such thing as a statistic, total, for being probably the most full participant on the ice in each zone and each approach of a playoff victory.
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There’s a statistic for this although: The Maple Leafs and the Bruins are tied 1-1 after two video games on the TD Backyard. This playoff sequence is now a finest of 5. The blasted Leafs from Recreation 1, battled again in Recreation 2, made some beautiful errors and a few surprising errors and nonetheless wound up standing tall sufficient for a 3-2 hold-your-breath win Monday evening over a clearly exasperated Bruins workforce.
You anticipate Matthews to attain, as a result of that’s what he does higher than anybody in hockey. His seventieth aim of this season didn’t occur within the common season. And he arrange two different scores. Three targets for the Leafs, three factors for the large, Matthews.
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On an evening the Leafs have been dropping at faceoffs, he was successful his. He did what he often does, win puck battles, block pictures, hardly ever turned it over, hardly ever get beat in any scenario, and suppose the way in which nice hockey gamers are alleged to suppose when the sport and the sequence and perhaps the season are all on the road.
The Leafs could make you loopy some nights. You may’t perceive why they do what they do, how they do it and after they do it.
They took a dumb penalty early — Jake McCabe appears to be the captain of dumb penalties — and inside 26 seconds on the penalty kill, they trailed 1-0. The Leafs may have so as to add Matthews to the penalty kill if solely to assist one of many weakest components of their workforce about now.
There is no such thing as a official statistic for power-play targets scored after a penalty killer fails to clear a simple puck. However there in all probability needs to be. David Kampf tousled in his personal zone, pondering another person would clear the puck. Another person named Timothy Liljegren didn’t.
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Boston led 1-0.
And this was the second the Leafs found their playoff resilience. Simply 14 seconds after the aim by Morgan Geekie, Max Domi took benefit of Boston having the yips and the sport was tied, the aim approaching an help from Matthews.
The interval ought to have ended 1-1as the Leafs could be a unusual forwards and backwards workforce. There was a face-off late within the Toronto finish, after Samsonov failed to maneuver the puck to one among his defencemen, after the D-to-D move from Liljegren to Joel Edmundson didn’t join, and earlier than Simon Benoit chased excessive in his zone when he shouldn’t have.
The primary interval ought to have ended 1-1. It ended with Toronto trailing 2-1 after the Benoit chase and Mitch Marner failed to appreciate that was David Pastrnak vast open not removed from him.
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Recognizing conditions. It’s an unlimited talent in playoff hockey. Typically the Leafs appear to neglect who and what they’re.
Give Matthews and the membership credit score: They didn’t soften after the final second aim. And that has been one thing in regards to the Sheldon Keefe Leafs groups that has been onerous to elucidate. Why does the membership appear so unstructured when it must be the other within the last minutes of video games and intervals? Why?
However virtually every thing nice that occurred in Recreation 2 got here again to Matthews. Typically the Leafs need to do nothing however move to Matthews, it doesn’t matter what the circumstances. Typically, Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi, the wingers, defer to Matthews in each scenario. Bertuzzi had a superb scoring alternative early within the sport however as a substitute of taking the puck to the web, he seemed and handed to a totally lined Matthews.
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On different nights and perhaps in different years, the Leafs would have discovered a technique to lose Recreation 2. That they had a aim by Bertuzzi known as again on a excessive stick. They gave up the inexplicable last-minute aim within the first interval. Nick Robertson didn’t rating on an excellent likelihood within the third, when beginning goaltender Linus Ullmark made a spectacular save.
On different nights, and different years, this is able to have been defeat. That’s the Toronto story, isn’t it? How shut they have been. How they virtually did it. How they need to have gained.
Boston coach Jim Montgomery, taking a web page from the John Schneider ebook of playoff selections, began the flawed goaltender, although Ullmark had an honest sport. The Leafs misplaced 5-1 in Recreation 1 with Jeremy Swayman in aim. That win got here after the late season 4-1 wins towards the Leafs, with yep, Swayman in aim. Add that up and it’s Boston 13, Toronto 3.
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Montgomery price the Bruins final 12 months along with his failure to acknowledge what was occurring in aim. Monday evening he made a poor alternative. You don’t swap goalies after a 5-1 win in Recreation 1. You don’t swap goalies after 13-1 in three straight. You simply don’t.
The Leafs needed to be extra relaxed with Ullmark enjoying, if solely due to recency bias. Matthews seemed unstoppable on the breakaway that gained Toronto Recreation 2. He was a large, the Bruins have been sometimes sloppy and the coach tripped over himself by over pondering the apparent.
And now, it’s on to Recreation 3. And we all know this a lot: Beginning for the Leafs at centre, as he ought to, will likely be Auston Matthews. Sheldon Keefe gained’t be a Jim Montgomery and make that mistake, will he?
ssimmons@postmedia.comtwitter.com/simmonssteve
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https://torontosun.com/sports activities/hockey/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/auston-matthews-turns-it-up-with-three-point-night-as-maple-leafs-slay-bruins-in-game-2
THEY’RE BACK: Maple Leafs’ restoration in Recreation 2 ends in large victory
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