Maple Leafs trained at the Ford Performance Center on Sunday. The lightning slides at the Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Leafs and Lightning combined 114 penalty minutes in their last match on April 21 in Tampa. Sheldon Keefe believes this is the taste of what to expect in the playoffs.
“They are a team that will be very physical and competitive,” said the Leafs coach. “When I watch their playoffs – especially in the first round last year – they definitely led the league in fights after the signal twist. I expect this to be a very physical, extremely violent series in many ways. Our boys will be ready for that. “
John Cooper laughed when he was informed of Keefe’s comment on “border violence.”
“The first round is always chaos,” said the Lightning coach. “It’s organized chaos. The boys are inflated.”
Cooper points out that players are often as healthy as they will be when running and usually increase their intensity by an additional 5 to 10 percent.
“We’ve been through all the wars,” Cooper continued. “Just scroll through the bar until we were playing Florida. Two cars were moving at 100 miles per hour right against each other and who was going to be the first to flinch.”
Keefe makes moves to ensure that his team does not flinch. Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford skated on the fourth line of training and plan to be part of Game 1. Both received additional discipline for action during the previous match in Tampa. Clifford was fined for sticking to Corey Perry, while Simmonds, who threw down his gloves that night with Pat Marun, was fined for accusing Mikhail Sergachev.
“We can only look at how the matches have been lately, how Tampa played when they were successful in the playoffs and how they played the last time we played with them,” Keefe said. “They are extremely physical and competitive. We need to have our boys who will be the same physically and competitively. Employees will have to decide what they want to call the match, but our expectations based on history are that it will be very physical. Many things will be released. We need to find a way to play this and initiate it ourselves. I think we did very well throughout the season. I know we will be ready to do it again. “
The Lightning recorded an average of the second most penalty minutes of a game this season (10:59) after only the Nashville Predators. The Leafs were in the middle of the pack (8:33).
“You know what it’s like when the playoffs come,” Cooper said, “you usually remove a penalty from the board. It’s a big mistake that the referees remove the whistles, but it doesn’t happen. players are just more disciplined. “
The Leafs have the highest-ranked power game this season (27.3%). Lightning has its best game in the league in April (32.7 percent).
Keef expects a playoff series with “border violence” against Lightning
Sheldon Keef expects a very physical and competitive series against Lightning, especially given Tampa’s style of play, but Leafs’ head coach says his boys “will be ready for it”. Lightning head coach John Cooper laughed and said his own team had “gone through all the wars.”
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Tampa finished fourth overall in goals (2124) this season, while Toronto was 24th (1746). The lightning hopes that the physical form, within the rules, will help slow down the powerful top line of Toronto, which includes 60-goal Austin Matthews and Mitch Marner.
“Try to be as physical as possible with them,” said Lightning defender Victor Hedman of the game plan. “We know they are very agile and have great speed along this line and can get out of you quickly.”
Matthews scored a hat-trick in his last game against Tampa Bay on April 4.
“They have great, strong defenders,” Matthews said. “I am sure that reaching their network will be important for us. Just to fight it, not to be disappointed, but just to keep playing and keep competing.
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Top winger Michael Bunting, who led Leafs on penalties this season, is training with the team for the first time since receiving an unknown injury on April 23. However, the rookie missed several training sessions and left the ice in the middle of the session.
Keefe described Bunting as “suspicious” for Game 1.
Alex Kerfut replaces Matthews and Marner.
“Bunts is obviously a little more fiery, but Footer sees the ice extremely well,” Matthews said. “He moves the puck. His IQ really jumps. There’s a little adjustment with every person you play with, but we’ve played enough with each other that chemistry is there and communication is there.”
According to NaturalStatTrick.com, Bunting is the teammate Matthews shares the most ice in a five-on-five game (851 minutes). Kerfut recorded just under 70 minutes with Matthews in the regular season.
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Ondrej Kase is training in a plain sweater for the first time since he suffered a concussion on March 19. According to Keefe, he is “close” to the game and is considered a decision during the game.
“He is facing a lot of difficulties, but he is such a hard-working man,” said goalkeeper Jack Campbell. “You could say he was hot and he looked great there.”
Kasse skated on the second line with John Tavares and Ilya Mikheev.
“It’s a great credit to him and how hard he worked,” Tavares said. “With the attackers we have, sometimes he can get lost in the confusion and forget how dangerous he can be and how effective he can be. [It’s] not only by creating an attack, but also by the perseverance of his game and the ability to make good games in difficult areas, break puck, win battles, put pressure on the opponent and do similar things. He fits in very well with our style of play and our identity as a team. So it’s great to see how it’s progressing. ”
Leafs Ice Chips: Decision during the game, Bunting is questionable game 1
Ondrej Kase was a full participant in the Maple Leafs training session, his first full participation since receiving a concussion on March 19, but was listed as a decision for game for game 1. Meanwhile, Michael Bunting also participated in training, but left early and was questioned. the series starts on Monday. TSN Maple Leafs reporter Mark Masters reports.
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To overcome the hump and win a round, the Leafs must defeat the team that stands on top of the NHL.
“It shouldn’t be easy,” Matthews said of drawing Lightning. “They’ve been the standard in this league for the last few years and they know how to win. So it’s a great challenge right now.”
Keefe views this match as a disguised blessing.
“I watch our band and I think, ‘the harder the better,'” Keefe said. “That’s what we need.”
Why?
“If you are going to overcome the obstacle we have to go through here, you can also start with the best,” the coach explained. “Every time we were challenged as a hockey team – and I’m just focusing on this season – we responded really well. We have great respect for Tampa Bay. There is no doubt, controversy or debate: they are the league class at the moment. They proved it. They deserved it. There is no doubt that our team will be ready for them. “
“It shouldn’t be easy”: Matthews accepts the challenge immediately against Lightning
Austin Matthews sees a “big challenge” against Lightning right away, but he and his teammates are looking forward to it. For Lightning, dealing with Matthews and Mitch Marner will need to involve physical activity, but they do not neglect the overall depth of the Leaf.
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William Nilander scored two goals, including one in the break-up, in the regular season final against the Boston Bruins.
“I wanted to score because I missed a few breaks lately,” the winger told TSN in a break interview. “It was nice to get one.”
Nylander led Leafs with eight points in a series against Montreal last year.
“We have to rise from last year,” said Nilander, who celebrated his 26th birthday on Sunday. “Everyone wants to be better and will be better. We will be ready to go.”
Wow Willie! 😎 pic.twitter.com/jTKhiXq3JX
– Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 29, 2022
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Sunday training sheets:
Kerfut – Matthews – Marner Mikheev – Tavares – Kase Nilander – Kampf – Engavell Clifford – Blackwell – Simmonds / Spca Bunting
Rielly – Lyubushkin Muzzin – Brodie Giordano – Liljegren Sandin – Holl
Campbell Calgren
PP1: Rielly, Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander PP2: Giordano, Liljegren, Mikheyev, Engvall, Kase,
Sunday training lightning:
Palace – Stamkos – Kucherov Hagel – Point – Cirelli Killorn – Colton – Paul Maroon – Bellemare – Perry
Headman – Ruth McDonough – Chernak Sergachev – Foot
Vasilevski Elliott
PP1: Hedman, Killorn, Kucherov, Point, Stamkos PP2: Colton, Maroon, Palat, Perry, Sergachev
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