*** 2021-22 Playoffs Opening Round: Tampa Bay Lightning (A3) at Toronto Maple Leafs (A2) - (TBL WIN 4-3) ***

[Toronto Jules]

I have to respectably disagree with you. I believe the team with the better goalie and the team that jumped on the opportunities given to them won this series. 

 

I certainly do not believe the Lightning have any better offense than the Leafs or really a Defense either(The Lightning D might be slightly better), but it came down to a few opportunities and the Lightning made the best of them and the Leafs did not. 

 

I honestly think both teams other than the goalies were pretty equal. 

[3 Palmateers]

51 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

@3 Palmateers

 

The "better" teams have, indeed, lost series before, but, in this particular case, I believe the better team DID move on.
Obviously, we will have to agree to disagree on that point, and that is fine.

It wasn't like TB was some one-off team or some team that just happened to make it into the playoffs to upset Toronto.
They are the two time champions...and two time champions, FOR A REASON!  
And I really don't think you will find very many people, barring some Toronto fans, who would call the Bolts winning this series "an upset".

Process?
Yep. Tampa Bay had and continues to have their process.
They've lost lots of good players over the course of the last two seasons, entering this season they were hit hardest, all due to the cap.
So their "process" was working new guys in to replace tried and true performers.
That leads to games they will lose during the regular season as they work on that process.
Then, the Lightning get the RESULTS of that process in the playoffs.

So, not to take away anything from Toronto's standing during the regular season, but one could argue had TB not had to work new guys in (Katchouk, Raddysh....then Paul and Hagel once those guys were traded, for instance), maybe THEY win more games during the season, and THEY finish ahead of Toronto.

But, even that is neither here nor there because everybody understands the regular season and playoffs are two different things.
Regular season wins can also be built off the backs of lower level teams like the Coyotes, Canadiens, Sabres, Jets, Flyers, Devils, etc....and then you have travel and weariness that impacts how a team performs on a given night, and maybe a team doesn't go 100% against a team they perhaps are looking past (say, the Red Wings) because they are looking ahead to a team they KNOW they have to be ready against (say, the Avalanche). 

Whereas in the playoffs the focus, game planning, and matching are solely on that one opponent you draw for that round.
Yea...different beast indeed. And at the end of the day, THAT is where champions are developed and forged.
And that is where SC Champions earn their status as 'knowing how to win'.

As for the officiating, one could argue all day long, all night long, and all off season long about how TB should not have gotten this or that, but the officiating was terrible throughout the series.
There were more than a few times where Toronto players could have been called on things that should have resulted in TB PP's and weren't....and there were times when Bolts players were called on VERY borderline things that gave the Leaves® a PP they probably shouldn't have.

It's frustrating, and NO ONE is more frustrated about those things than the players on both sides on the ice. Fan frustration has NOTHING on the players' angst.
But the BETTER teams adapt, take advantage, cash in...whatever you want to call it....and when the time comes for it, take what was given them.
Bolts did, Leaves® didn't.

And if TOR lost G6 on what is perceived as an unfair way, well, then they needed to execute, perform, and put away all doubts in G7, because that is what "better" teams do. 
Especially when you are facing down a two time champion, and not merely some upstart team that played you tough.

Again, Toronto didn't do that, and that is why we have the result we did.

Things will only get more difficult for the Champions (they already did by drawing Florida next!), and they definitely will need to clean up some areas they were sloppy in against Toronto, because the Panthers are indeed a more complete team right now, and, more importantly, have been building up through their own process, including a hard loss to these same Lightning, in last year's playoffs.
And Florida most definitely will cash in on areas where perhaps Toronto didn't.

So the Cats will be ready, are certainly better than they were last year, and the Lightning are going to have to up their games even further if they want to continue defending their Cups, because these Panthers, while still sporting some areas that can be exploited as well (Washington provided some insight to that), are the real deal and I could easily see them as the team that possibly unseats the Bolts and then goes on a run that sees them at Lord Stanley's castle door!

The bolded portion is important here and the surrounding portion. What Tampa did last year or previous years is not germane to being the better team this year. It is about this year, not the past. There is no Yanni Gourde, Goodrow, Coleman. This team is different. It is not as good as the teams of the past, and I don't believe this Tampa team is better than Toronto, hence, them finishing behind them in the standings, and needing a gifted 5-on-3 to keep this series alive past 6 games. I don't think any of these points are disputable. 

 

I get that a Tampa fan would see Tampa as a better team based on the past, but this is this year. Again, there is a reason Tampa had to play Game 7 in Toronto and that was not because they were the better team. I do agree that Tampa was the likely winner of this series due to the Leafs past failures. If the Leafs were a team with a modicum of playoff success, the majority would've been on the Leafs to win this one. Tampa was not a good team for much of the end of the season until the very end where they got hot for a few games. 

 

That is the issue, though. Regular season and playoffs are not the same. No question Leafs were a better team in the regular season sense...just not a team with any playoff identity short of being losers. Very hard to flip that around. Tampa's past aided their present where Toronto's past was a detriment equating to a narrow playoff loss, that, again, is very questionable due to what happened in period 3 of Game 6. I do wonder what a Lightning fan would say had the exact scenario played out against them in Game 6, and they ended up losing the series? 

 

My opinions, your opinions, anyone's opinions are irrelevant. Tampa is onto Round 2. That is what matters. Should be a fun series with the in-state divsional rival. 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by 3 Palmateers

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

18 minutes ago, 3 Palmateers said:

The bolded portion is important here and the surrounding portion. What Tampa did last year or previous years is not germane to being the better team this year. It is about this year, not the past. There is no Yanni Gourde, Goodrow, Coleman. This team is different. It is not as good as the teams of the past, and I don't believe this Tampa team is better than Toronto, hence, them finishing behind them in the standings, and needing a gifted 5-on-3 to keep this series alive past 6 games. I don't think any of these points are disputable. 

 

I get that a Tampa fan would see Tampa as a better team based on the past, but this is this year. Again, there is a reason Tampa had to play Game 7 in Toronto and that was not because they were the better team. I do agree that Tampa was the likely winner of this series due to the Leafs past failures. If the Leafs were a team with a modicum of playoff success, the majority would've been on the Leafs to win this one. Tampa was not a good team for much of the end of the season until the very end where they got hot for a few games. 

 

That is the issue, though. Regular season and playoffs are not the same. No question Leafs were a better team in the regular season sense...just not a team with any playoff identity short of being losers. Very hard to flip that around. Tampa's past aided their present where Toronto's past was a detriment equating to a narrow playoff loss, that, again, is very questionable due to what happened in period 3 of Game 6. I do wonder what a Lightning fan would say had the exact scenario played out against them in Game 6, and they ended up losing the series? 

 

My opinions, your opinions, anyone's opinions are irrelevant. Tampa is onto Round 2. That is what matters. Should be a fun series with the in-state divsional rival. 

 

 

Yep.
Which is why I stated we will just have to agree to disagree on the point of who was better, because frankly, I also get why a Toronto fan would think THEIRS was the better team and be angry about G6, but perhaps, sidestepping any other 'gifts' that maybe were given them in earlier games in the series?

And the two points we CAN agree on is that one team has moved on and the other didn't, and our opinions won't affect that one iota.
But since this is a message board, and we are diehard fans, opining is what we do here! 

The other point is, the in-state second round should be very fun!

And BTW, that thread is already up with poll, so feel free to discuss your takes on Lightning vs Panthers there. 

[3 Palmateers]

3 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Yep.
Which is why I stated we will just have to agree to disagree on the point of who was better, because frankly, I also get why a Toronto fan would think THEIRS was the better team and be angry about G6, but perhaps, sidestepping any other 'gifts' that maybe were given them in earlier games in the series?

And the two points we CAN agree on is that one team has moved on and the other didn't, and our opinions won't affect that one iota.
But since this is a message board, and we are diehard fans, opining is what we do here! 

The other point is, the in-state second round should be very fun!

And BTW, that thread is already up with poll, so feel free to discuss your takes on Lightning vs Panthers there. 

If you can give me one example of an equitable example of the 5-on-3 and costing an actual game, I'll agree with you on officiating. I don't think you can. No one can. Look at the 1st Nick Paul goal and tell me what you see. Leafs fans saw this... (BTW, I have no issue with the Holl penalty)

 

[Toronto Jules]

Loyal supporters are always going to say their team is the better of the two teams. I bet there were some Columbus Blue Jackets faithful a few years back that even said they were better than Tampa Bay. They certainly were in that series, but overall I don't think so. Things just happen like that in any sport. That is why you play the games. 

 

Well all I know is my team is out for another season and I suppose I will hear endless talk about losing in the first round once again and griping from many fans how this team will never get it done and tear it apart and blah blah blah. 

 

The thing is next season will roll around and the Leafs once again will be contenders and going for the Cup again. 

 

Now I think I will just sit back and take in the rest of these games on my own and wait for the new Leafs seasons to come. See ya all next season. 

[3 Palmateers]

Saw this and laughed. I don't share the view, but found it funny nonetheless...