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TAMPA — Time beyond regulation targets are not often acts of magnificence.
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They’re usually pictures of desperation, pucks banged at, not aimed, with our bodies piled up across the web.
That type of determined play is why the Tampa Bay Lightning gained Recreation 6 in additional time. It might be the true distinction between the Maple Leafs and the Stanley Cup-champion Lightning by means of six video games of a extremely aggressive back-and-forth first-round playoff collection.
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The Leafs could have dominated additional time up till the purpose of Brayden Level’s bang-bang successful aim.
Simply as they dominated additional time in Recreation 6 a 12 months in the past in opposition to a lesser group from Montreal, then turned the puck over as soon as and misplaced the sport and, finally, the collection.
With all of their goal-scoring talent, what the Leafs can lack at massive moments is the type of desperation the Lightning has proven on this collection and within the earlier two playoff runs as champions of the Nationwide Hockey League. It might sound cliche, however it isn’t. It’s the distinction between successful a collection and shedding it. There may be nowhere to mark ‘desperation’ on the sport sheet, however you possibly can see it and coach Jon Cooper calls for it from his gamers — pucks to the online, go to the online.
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It really works.
If Nikita Kucherov or Victor Hedman are making passes that defy science, so most of the Tampa Bay targets come the way in which Level’s did in additional time, the way in which Anthony Cirelli did a spin-a-rama shot within the second interval to present the Lightning a 2-0 lead whereas scoring shorthanded.
These weren’t Mitch Marner precisely banking a puck off Andrei Vasilevskiy’s stick, enabling Auston Matthews to attain the successful aim in Recreation 5. That’s artwork. That’s highlight-reel stuff. That’s the type of aim that had legendary coach Scotty Bowman speaking about it two days after it occurred.
Marner had all types of time with the puck within the third interval and additional time of Recreation 6. Matthews was having one other nice sport. Marner wasn’t matching his centreman’s stage, perhaps due to the period of time he had spent between common shifts and penalty-killing.
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In additional time, Marner had three or 4 alternatives to shoot the puck — which was his coming-out occasion of kinds within the common season — however as a substitute of being determined, he was attempting to be artistic and wound up overhandling the puck.
And it’s a superb line, actually, between what works, when it really works and, generally, the way it works for gamers.
The Leafs have artists in Marner and William Nylander, who was in on a 2-on-1 early in Recreation 6, then a 3-on-2 and had different alternatives off the frenzy, although he appeared to tire because the night time went on. The two-on-1 didn’t register a shot on aim. Neither did the 3-on-2. Nylander, in all probability the second-best shooter on the Leafs, overthought the sport as a substitute of pulling a Cirelli or a Brandon Hagel on the additional time rush and simply letting it fly.
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At even energy within the collection, the Leafs expert gamers have outperformed the Lightning’s expert gamers and that’s no small job. Kucherov, who rarely appears to be skating arduous, creates most of his most interesting offence on the ability play, or so it definitely appears.
Who has come by means of for the Lightning when wanted outdoors of its energy play? Cirelli and Level — each of whom had been anticipated to be on Workforce Canada had there been a Workforce Canada on the Olympic Video games — Ondrej Palat, Ross Colton, Nick Paul and Alex Killorn,
The 2 targets captain John Tavares scored within the last minute of the second interval on Thursday night time had been the identical type of emotional performs that Tampa produced to win in additional time. That Toronto wants extra of. They weren’t performs made off the frenzy, essentially. There was a puck thrown to the online, a Tavares shot and a swipe on the puck by Jason Spezza, who missed however distracted Vasilevskiy. That was one aim. The second was a bang-bang play that noticed Tavares within the slot with Vasilevskiy down and he discovered the highest of the online to place the Leafs forward 3-2.
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After the loss in Recreation 6, the Leafs had so many causes to be ok with the way in which they performed. They’d Tampa’s giant defence backing up. At occasions, the Lightning was chasing the sport. The Leafs had room, which is usually lacking at playoff time.
And one scout took discover after the sport that two targets went by means of the legs of Campbell, one other went off his proper pad. He didn’t assume any of these three pictures had been unattainable to cease — however he did level out that the distinction between the scores is that they got here off determined performs, fast pictures, pucks on the web, and every time the shooter adopted his shot to the aim.
Saturday Night time is Recreation 7 night time in Canada. However it is a completely different Recreation 7 than Leafs have been in earlier than. It is a completely different collection. They had been studying after they performed Boston in 2018, after they performed Washington in 2017, and able to beat the Bruins in 2019. That didn’t occur. They then had been crushed by themselves in opposition to Columbus and Montreal, a fifth sport in opposition to the Blue Jackets, and a moderately flat seventh sport in opposition to the Canadiens.
Now it’s the champions. The Leafs can beat them. They’re not out of their league right here. However they should play with the type of desperation that was lacking in additional time of Recreation 6. The type that purchased Tavares two targets and virtually gained them the sport and the collection.
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