Will the Bruins beat the Maple Leafs in another playoff rematch? w/ Ty Anderson

Name: Will the Bruins beat the Maple Leafs in another playoff rematch? w/ Ty Anderson | Poke the Bear
Uploaded: 2024-04-19T21:13:17+00:00
Duration: 32 min 16 s
Channel: CLNS Media Sports Network

CLNS Media Sports Network

4/19/2024

Poke The Bear with Conor Ryan Ep. 222

Conor Ryan is joined today by Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub to take a closer look at the upcoming Bruins / Maple Leafs series to see how these teams really match up, and if the Bruins are really in position to end Toronto's season yet again. That, and much more!

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00:00 You can be up 2-0 on them and then turn around and you're tied 2-2 because of two breakdowns that they buried because they have Marner and they have Matthews and they have these guys we're talking about.

00:10 Like, it's just they're always in a game.

00:13 As long as they have Austin Matthews and Mitch Marner and William Nylander, they are in a game offensively.

00:19 Poke the Bear is powered by Pricepix, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS Media Network.

00:28 And welcome into Poke the Bear episode 222 presented by CLNS Media and sponsored by our good friends over at Pricepix and Factomeals.

00:38 My name is Connor Ryan and once again we are joined by the esteemed, the great, Ty Anderson of 98.5 This Word Sub.

00:45 Ty, what's going on?

00:46 What's up? How are we doing today?

00:48 Doing pretty well.

00:49 A little tired.

00:51 Doing a lot of preview stuff as I think we all are.

00:54 Looking ahead to what is going to be a, I think, very measured, normal first round series between the Bruins and Maple Leafs as it always is whenever these two teams meet.

01:04 A lot of rational takes.

01:06 No overreactions.

01:07 Nothing like that.

01:08 So I'm gearing up for it.

01:10 Most importantly, I was going to be excited with whoever the Bruins are going to play, but it does feel like there's a little bit more juice with whenever they play Toronto, right?

01:18 Oh, yeah.

01:20 I mean, absolutely.

01:20 Like, you know, I think some of the worst playoff series that I've covered in my 14 years of doing this, I want to say, was the Ottawa series because nobody really cared.

01:32 There was no juice.

01:33 There was no sort of history between the teams of any sort.

01:35 You know, it just was kind of a boring series in that regard.

01:40 So Boston, Toronto, Tampa, Florida, you know, the NHL is getting what they want out of the Atlantic bracket.

01:47 It definitely feels like in terms of the, you know, the energy and the what do you want to call it?

01:54 The hatred, I guess, downright, you know, these these teams and their fan bases seem to have, you know, just for one another over the years for obvious reasons.

02:02 And when you look at this, obviously, the primary focus of this episode will be just previewing Bruins Maple Leafs.

02:10 Ty, when you look at this Maple Leafs team, I kind of alluded to it in one of my preview pieces that the Maple Leafs again, like this is probably the best team of this incarnation of Toronto with this core that the Bruins have faced.

02:25 But it still seems like it's it's almost like a Fast and Furious sequel where it's like something's a different supporting cast is different.

02:32 They're in they're in Rio one year, they're in space and other.

02:35 But at the end of the day, it's still kind of the same script.

02:38 Is this Maple Leafs team still kind of the the same team in terms of where those flaws are that the Bruins should be able to exploit?

02:45 Or do you think this team is a lot better than maybe we initially give them credit for?

02:48 I think this is the best iteration of the Maple Leafs.

02:53 I think they're five on five scoring.

02:54 They're not as power play dependent as they may have been in years past.

02:57 But however, I think their goaltending is is actually worse than when you saw them in 2019.

03:05 I think their defense is worse than when you saw them in 2019.

03:08 Like, you know, like there's a lot of things that you can like about this team, namely the fact that they can balance their roster now more than ever before.

03:16 You know, you can they can throw some some complexions at you that are pretty, pretty wild in terms of like the versatility.

03:23 You know, like we've seen it lately, like where they've had they've had Matthews, Tavares, Slash, Marner and Nylander on different lines, you know, and like and if you can spread it out like that, that's great.

03:34 That's a that's a great sign for your team.

03:37 However, this team still has, as of right now, Simone Benoit in a top four role and not a guy that is a top four defenseman.

03:46 Right. And so there's just still they're still so so powered by their high end talent.

03:52 And it's a supporting cast that I still have questions about.

03:54 And namely, Annette, I think that, you know, Sam Sanov and Joseph Wall, you know, Wall was really good in the first half of the year.

04:02 Second half, not so much.

04:03 So a lot of major questions.

04:06 And I think for me, like the questions for Toronto that we've had, you know, over the years, they're still there.

04:13 But it really feels like they are they are glaring now.

04:17 It used to be like, all right, can they overcome this?

04:19 Some of these problems, you know, after watching a bunch of their games recently, these past few days, like defensively, they are still just just a nightmare.

04:28 It seems like at times.

04:30 And so it's a huge question mark, and it may be, you know, an undoing for this team, honestly.

04:35 Yeah, I know there's it's one of those things where I think you look at this series, it's very much going to be, I think, determined by strength on strength.

04:42 And if you're Toronto, it's whether or not you can just land enough punches and do enough damage, I think, against the Bruins goalie duo, whoever it's going to be.

04:51 Omar Swainman, we'll dive into a little bit later on.

04:53 But I think it comes down to just whether or not the Bruins can just stay afloat and kind of withstand the firepower that Toronto is going to bring, because, listen, they're going to bring it.

05:02 We know this team can finish all up and down the lineup the way they've got their their line set now.

05:09 I know Nielander didn't practice on Friday, and Keith was kind of mum about what exactly that was.

05:15 But if he's good to go and he's on your third line, pretty good for a guy that almost hit 100 points.

05:20 So I think for the Bruins, it all comes down to like what's going to determine the series is which team strength is going to hold out more.

05:27 And again, it's you feel more comfortable with the Bruins, with their goaltending and their overall defense than what Toronto can bring.

05:35 It just seems like that's more sustainable and can carry over more into the playoffs.

05:39 But I think for the Bruins, the biggest he's just going to be winning the net front, not necessarily offensively, because as you said, like there's deficiencies there.

05:48 If this team gets the puck to the net, you know, are able to find inside ice, the chances will be there.

05:54 And more likely than not, you can capitalize against whoever it is, Samsonov, Orwal, but down the other end of the ice, like this Toronto team can do a whole lot of damage.

06:03 And if this Bruins defense, especially which has been prone this year to giving up a lot of slot chances, a lot of grade A looks, keep that up against a team like Toronto.

06:12 It doesn't matter if you got 2022, 23, Omar, or you've got Swainman back when he was playing great earlier on this year.

06:19 This team is too talented.

06:20 They're going to burn you if you keep on letting up those grade A looks.

06:23 Yeah, absolutely. And I think if you're the Bruins, I think some comfort you can take right now is in the fact that I would say two of your better games over the final month and a half of the season came against Toronto.

06:37 You know, like their efforts against them on the fourth and the seventh of March, I thought were really strong efforts and really strong games.

06:44 And, you know, when the Bruins deviate from that tight checking game and they try to play a more run and gun style, that's when they get into trouble.

06:51 Right. And so if you're Toronto, that's how you want to get the Bruins playing.

06:56 You want them to have to play like that.

06:57 Right. And if you're the Bruins, you kind of want to force Toronto to try to play a game that, you know, limits their skill, limits their ability to, you know, blow up,

07:06 blow his own with a two on one.

07:08 And OK, now they're off the races, you know, like and this is what's going to make that matchup interesting.

07:13 You know, like you said, a power on power.

07:16 Right. Well, like, all right.

07:18 Like, you know, Austin Matthews, in my opinion, very underrated two way player, but he makes his money at the other end of the ice.

07:26 You know, 69 goals during the season.

07:28 Incredible talent. Right.

07:29 Like so for the Bruins, is it like, OK, we're going to put Charlie Coyle on him because we think that's going to have to make him defend more than then, you know, scoring, so to speak.

07:38 So it's going to be really interesting to see how they match up the roster, you know, in terms of do they go power on power or do they try to split it up and say, OK, we need to have this pairing on this guy.

07:49 But we're going to blend in, you know, Lindholm here and blend in McEvoy here at certain points.

07:54 Like it's going to be a really good chess match, I feel like for Jim Montgomery, who, in my opinion, has to coach well, has to coach well after after what happened last year.

08:03 So this is going to be a really good test, I think, across the board for so many reasons and for so many people in each organization right now.

08:10 Yeah. And I think you look at where Toronto does a lot of the damage, as you said, really, really effective at five on five play, not super reliant on their power play.

08:19 I think they're operating at I think it's 13 percent since March 2nd, which is not that great for a look at the personnel they have out there.

08:26 You imagine it's just automatic.

08:28 They're going to be humming along at least 20 percent for the entire stretch of a year.

08:33 But five on five, one of the best school differentials.

08:37 I think people like to view Toronto as being this very much running gun team, but a lot of the chances are generated from the slot.

08:42 They're one of the best teams that, you know, behind the net passes, like finding kind of those soft areas of the ice.

08:48 And it helps, again, when you have a guy like Matthews, you can rip it from pretty much wherever.

08:52 But you look at like the highlight reel of his goals.

08:54 It's not like all these plays on the rush, what have you.

08:57 It's him just finding that soft ice when you've got a shot like his.

09:01 You can do a lot of damage there.

09:02 And I don't know, it's you kind of hit the nail on the head right where this Bruins team, the way they're set up, how Jim Montgomery kind of structure, especially his defensive assignments, is going to be fascinating because we've seen them go with Lindholm and McAvoy for most of the last

09:18 couple of weeks of the year. But I don't know.

09:20 It's like I understand why it's tempting to roll with that super pairing.

09:24 But what happens when you have a Toronto team that if they're healthy, right, and all of a sudden it's Matthews with Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi, which that group's been really good together.

09:33 You've got Mitch Monner and John Tavares on the second line.

09:36 And then if Neylander is healthy on the third line, like.

09:38 Is it better to go back to kind of the usual suspects of Grizzly, McAvoy and and Carlo Lindholm, because Carlo and Lindholm probably had the best results

09:47 overall against Matthews.

09:49 But again, it's are you robbing Peter to kind of pay Paul that kind of situation?

09:54 Yeah, 100 percent.

09:55 And this is sort of my biggest concern for the Bruins is like, you know, when I say run and gun, I don't necessarily mean like, OK, they play super fast and loose versus like you can be up to on them and then turn around and you're tied to two because of two breakdowns that they that they buried because they have Marner and they have Matthews.

10:17 And they have these guys who were talking about like.

10:19 It's just they're always in a game as long as they have awesome Matthews and Mitch Marner and William Neylander, they are in a game offensively, like it's going to be what it is, right?

10:30 And so. This is where the series gets really interesting, like to your point, I'm admittedly surprised that the Bruins, based on practice, based on what we've seen so far, they're going to begin the playoffs with Parker Watherspoon as a healthy scratch.

10:47 Now, this surprises me because, hey, I think he's been a better defensive defenseman than Kevin Shattenkirk.

10:53 No disrespect to Kevin Shattenkirk, just how I feel watching them.

10:56 But the Bruins gave Waterspoon and Peake a late season assignment against Sam Bennett and Matthew Kachuk.

11:05 Big boys, big boys, playoff style hockey guys that, you know.

11:11 That was a sink or swim moment, and I thought they I thought they swam.

11:15 I didn't think they sunk, you know, and so it's kind of curious that they're going to go with the combo they're going with to begin the playoffs.

11:23 But maybe that speaks to what you're kind of talking about here, where it's like you're going to have to blend in like, listen, it's gonna be Lindholm and McEvoy, but each guy is going to get five minutes with partner X, Y and Z in addition to the 15 they're getting with, you know, one another.

11:39 So so that's the part that is going to be really intriguing to watch because you're going to have to balance.

11:44 You can't I don't know if this is a series where you can truly shelter a pairing.

11:49 I just don't.

11:50 They're too balanced right now.

11:51 Yeah, no, a lot of firepower to account for with Toronto.

11:55 So be really fascinating to see how Montgomery kind of structures that overall roster to kind of do whatever they can to kind of slow them down.

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13:43 Once again, shout out to our good friends over at Price Fix.

13:46 All right, Ty, I figure now might as well look at the goalie situation.

13:51 And I'm not going to dive too much into the goalie rotation because I'm at the point now where it's like, in the words of the great Carrie Underwood,

13:58 "Jesus, take the wheel."

13:59 Let's just see how it plays out.

14:02 I'm not going to dive too much into how exactly they're going to structure these things.

14:07 But in terms of who's getting the start in game one, are you still leaning more towards Lena Solmark?

14:12 Because there's been a lot of talk, obviously.

14:13 Jeremy Swayman's played very well against Toronto, not just this year, but last year.

14:18 I think he's got a 9-6-1 state percentage since they've been on this kind of seven game win streak.

14:22 But where do you kind of stand in terms of who should get the nod in game one?

14:26 Who started game 82?

14:28 Uh, who was it, Ty?

14:33 It was Lena Solmark.

14:34 So who's going to start game one?

14:35 Jeremy Swayman.

14:37 I'm convinced that they're doing this rotation.

14:39 You don't do a rotation, a strict rotation, from February 21st to the end of the regular season,

14:46 almost two full months, without giving a guy multiple starts, and then throw that plan out the window.

14:52 I think it's going to be Jeremy Swayman in game one.

14:54 I think they're going to bleed it over.

14:56 You know, "Oh, okay, Elmar got the last game.

14:58 Now we're going back to Swayman."

15:00 Also, if you do it this way, you're not putting Swayman in the net for a game two where he hasn't played in a full-on week.

15:06 You know?

15:07 And so I think they've got to be mindful of that.

15:09 They've got to be mindful of putting Jeremy Swayman in the best spot possible after not putting him in a great spot,

15:15 really, in any playoff run ever.

15:18 You know, like he comes in the third period of game five against the Islanders.

15:22 Um, you know, he allows one goal on two shots.

15:25 That ends up taking the loss because they made it a game.

15:28 He comes in with the Bruins down 0-2 against Carolina in 2022, and then he comes in in game seven last year.

15:34 So I think there's an element here of, you know what?

15:36 We've gone with Linus for game one in back-to-back seasons.

15:40 It hasn't worked out at the end of the day.

15:43 Um, Jeremy Swayman has good numbers, as you noted, against, uh, uh, Toronto 3-3-0 with a 9-59.

15:50 I think you go with Jeremy Swayman here out of the gate, but you're going to go back to Linus in game two, I think.

15:55 So I don't know if it necessarily matters all that much, but my feeling is that Jeremy Swayman will be a net for game one.

16:01 Yeah.

16:02 And it's one of those things where the Bruins have a luxury with having both those guys.

16:05 And there was never probably a matchup where it's easier to get this rotation going.

16:10 It's probably this one, right?

16:11 Where, I mean, we, we know Omar since, uh, you know, tapping into the power of friendship and, uh, and them sticking around after the deadline.

16:19 He's been on a roll, right?

16:21 6-3-0, uh, 9-3-5, Sabre Santa Chula.

16:23 You already know you've got a good thing with him.

16:25 He's playing well down the stretch, but, uh, to have Swayman go up against a team that he's played really well against, which again, doesn't seem like it makes much sense considering that Toronto can make even the best goalies look really, really bad with how much firepower they've had.

16:38 But in terms of, yeah, beyond the fact that goalie rotation, the way it's going right now has him going for game one.

16:44 Um, I don't know what it is about Toronto that he sees the, he tracks the puck well, or he just gets up for those kinds of matchups, but what better way to kind of, I don't know if ease them in is

16:55 the right way to do it, but to get this thing off on a, I know it, then having him feel good about his game against a team he's owned kind of in the last year, and then going right to, to all mark, like, however, they structured, you've got two goalies in place, which has what it's always should have been.

17:08 Right?

17:08 Like at the end of the day, the Bruins should have the advantage every single night, depending on who they have in net and being able to switch it up and keep both guys fresh, especially against a team like Toronto.

17:18 That's kind of similar to like Florida a little bit in terms of like, they make the opposing goalies work, right?

17:24 Like they generate a lot off on the floor check.

17:26 They generate a lot of slot chances, make you move laterally.

17:28 Like you're going to kind of need both these guys just to, you know, help each other, keep them afloat when you go up against a team as dangerous as Toronto.

17:35 Yeah.

17:36 And the other part of it too, is that, you know, have the Bruins drawn Tampa, I would have sat here right now and said, you go to Lena Selmark in game one, because he's been better against Tampa than Jen Swainman has, in my opinion.

17:50 But with those numbers, with that in mind, the natural rotation, you, you stick with Swainman here.

17:57 And, and I think Swainman has been better at home than on the road, but particularly, you know, when it comes to Jeremy Swainman, I think, I think two of his three best outings since the beginning of March, I've come against Toronto.

18:08 That means something to me.

18:09 So you give them this game, you see where it goes, and then you make the call from there.

18:14 I just, I do think that there's an element here of like, you got to trust a rotation, but be, you know, the numbers that guys have put forth against individual teams.

18:26 Right.

18:26 And so I think that's a big reason why you got to go with Jeremy Swainman in game one, but ultimately, like I said, it doesn't really matter because I think we're going to see both guys.

18:34 I I'm firmly convinced that we are going to see a rotation in the playoffs and that's why they're keeping it a secret.

18:40 I mean, if they were just going to go with the best goalie available, they would tell us, right.

18:44 Like in theory, like, so I think that they're doing something different and it's a little bit surprising in nature and they want to keep it that way.

18:52 And that's why, you know, they are being so guarded about this versus just saying, oh yeah, we're going to give game one to so-and-so like they want to keep the opponent on their toes because as you just alluded to, that is the advantage.

19:03 Having two number one goalies is your advantage.

19:06 You do not have more talent than Toronto does up front.

19:09 You, you probably have more talent in the back end.

19:11 We'd agree, but goaltending it's sizable between what you have and what they have.

19:15 It is sizable.

19:16 Use it to your advantage.

19:17 Absolutely.

19:19 And I think when you look at the key matchups right in this series, obviously for the Bruins, that's how you can kind of keep that high powered offense in check for Toronto.

19:29 And it's going to be a task easier said than done.

19:31 But I've seen a lot of people mentioned like, yes, the Bruins scoring is not at the same level, but it does feel like that gap is really narrow when you've got Samsonov and Wall on the other end of the ice.

19:42 Like the Bruins don't have to be a team full of Matthews or have a hundred point guy like Neal in the third line to be, should be able to like stay off the ropes and stay in some of these games.

19:52 Like it's almost, you mentioned it, like Toronto is so dangerous.

19:55 They're never out of a game.

19:56 Well, at the end of the other end of the ice, if your goaltending is playing like Toronto's is the Bruins should feel the same way, right?

20:03 Where even if we're not surprised you in a game, if Toronto jumps out to a two Oh lead in the first 10 minutes of a game, Bruins have a whole lot of time to claw back in that game.

20:11 When you've got that goaltending that Toronto has in this series.

20:14 Connor, they gave up 29 shots on goal in the second period of their game against Florida on Tuesday night.

20:22 That's not great.

20:24 That's not awesome.

20:25 And that's how they, that's how they gave up five straight unanswered goals is like, they, they just fell apart defensively.

20:30 And, and you know, Joseph wall, like he's not what he was pre ankle injury and Sam's on off his Sam's on off at this point.

20:37 Like he's a guy whose confidence can, can absolutely crater, you know, with, with one or two bad games.

20:44 And you know, like I'm not trying to like denigrate Sam's on off here.

20:51 The guy was a Masterton nominee because his year was so bad.

20:55 You know what I mean?

20:56 Like, like he's not this, like he's not this completely proven product here.

21:01 His confidence was so bad that when he came back and won some games, it was enough to earn a Masterton.

21:07 Like, I don't want to crap on the guy, but, but you should have a clear advantage in net here.

21:13 Right.

21:14 And so the Bruins just need to use that.

21:16 And, you know, this is where I get a little bit worried about the whole quality over quantity with the Bruins, because this is a goaltending tandem that I don't know, man, quantity might just beat them.

21:27 It might just be as simple as that.

21:28 Honestly, if you're looking for the perfect play, I don't know.

21:32 I just think shot volume is how you beat these guys.

21:34 Like we're talking about, cause they are not, you know, awe inspiring rally around them.

21:39 Kind of goaltenders.

21:40 In my opinion,

21:41 Bruins got to bring it back to the Bruce Cassidy school of putting everything on net.

21:45 Shot attempts up, baby.

21:46 Get that course you're on.

21:47 Yeah.

21:47 See if you can borrow Craig Smith for a day.

21:49 He'll take nine shots in seven minutes.

21:52 It'll be good.

21:52 That's all you need.

21:54 You know, you know what this, uh, this goalie rotation or this goalie do in Toronto really needs, Ty?

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23:33 All right, Ty, looking at this series, what do you view as being the primary X Factor?

23:39 Do you think it's going to maybe swing the momentum in a best of seven?

23:42 I think it really comes down to.

23:45 You know, the secondary scoring of Boston, you're going to have to get some goals here from guys who aren't Pasternak or Pasternak line mates, you know, Zaka and Heinen, like you got to get some production out of there.

23:57 You know, really, we go back since Jim Montgomery called out his team as not being playoff ready.

24:04 The Bruins have have, you know, they have put forth some good games here, right?

24:07 But they've that Pasternak line has really kind of driven the bus.

24:12 You look at their even strength scoring over that span.

24:15 They have accounted for 13 of their 20 goals.

24:18 Pasternak, Heinen, Zaka that, you know, they've been on the ice for that.

24:22 Right.

24:22 And sort of in those non minutes, you know, they have seven goals in over 350 minutes.

24:28 That's not enough.

24:29 You need you need more production there.

24:31 And so that's going to be topic, you know, or need number one for the Bruins is you got to get, you know, your Geekies, your DeBrusks, your Fredericks, your JVRs, you know, whoever you got to get those guys firing up again and scoring some goals and some timely goals to help put this team away.

24:46 Because as we talked about, they'll always be in a game, you know, unless you beat it out of them, they will be in a game.

24:52 So you got to have your secondary scoring come to the table in this series.

24:56 Yeah, I'm going to go with the power play just because, again, if you're looking to find more avenues to land punches against a team where there's clear flaws, not only is the the goal tending on that great for Toronto, but neither is their penalty kill.

25:08 I think they're 23rd in the league this season.

25:11 Again, maybe some of that is the fact that they've got pucks flying past Samson Ovenwall.

25:15 But I think you look at this Bruins team time and time again, this team has relied on its power play to be a consistent kind of avenue of offense.

25:24 And again, they kind of slumped down the stretch last year and then what, cashed in over 35 percent, I think, against Florida.

25:30 Not to say that's going to happen again, especially when you've got a very reworked power play with Shattenkirk right now in place of McAvoy.

25:38 You've got Heinen in place of Marchand and seem like the Bruins trying to balance out those two different units.

25:44 We'll see how that goes.

25:45 But I think if you're able to get this power play rolling again and you're able to either build that necessary breeding room you need against a team like Toronto or help you claw back in some of these games, which, again, it's not going to be easy sledding.

25:58 There's going to be times this team is going to be staring at probably a multi goal deficit against a team this talented.

26:03 I think the power play just needs to get get on a roll here.

26:07 And it sure helps that you're going up against a team like Toronto as opposed to a team like Carolina, for example, that will be in your face.

26:14 And if your power play is sputtering, they're going to keep that drought going on.

26:18 Yeah, and the other part of it, too, is that this, you know, this Toronto PK is not very good.

26:24 You look at where they finished in the regular season.

26:27 The only teams worse than them, you know, where Montreal, Columbus, Calgary, like, you know, Chicago.

26:36 Just teams you don't want to be around.

26:37 Right. And so I believe that the second worst PK out of all playoff teams, I think only the Islanders have been worse.

26:43 Yeah, the Islanders being bad defensively, but whatever.

26:47 Right. And so but if we look at it right, like if we look at sort of, you know, where they are and in OK, like the Leafs added.

26:56 Ryan Reeves added Max Domi, they added Tyler Bertuzzi, they brought in Conaguar, they brought in Joel Edmondson.

27:04 OK, if you want to play gritty and you want to play chippy, that's awesome.

27:08 But there also is a line there that if you cross it and take dumb penalties in the name of revenge or setting the tone or whatever,

27:14 and you go against a Boston power play that might have some more confidence after getting a goal in game 82 and having confidence

27:22 because they clicked at 30 percent against your team this year, like that could be a game changer to your point.

27:28 So so that's a great pick as well, in my opinion.

27:31 Yeah, it would be fascinating to see just how the overall special teams works out, because, again, Toronto's power play

27:36 very good in the regular season in terms of seventh overall, but also in a little bit of a rut as well.

27:41 So if you're able to, again, very good five on five team Toronto, but if you're able to limit how many looks they have on the power play,

27:48 they'll they'll help you out as well.

27:50 So definitely special teams.

27:51 And as you said, secondary scoring going to be key in this series, which brings us to the final point.

27:55 Ty predictions. What do you got?

27:58 I got Bruins and six.

28:01 I just I think Toronto's goaltending and their defense and, you know, just kind of like the way that they're entering the playoffs.

28:09 And I understand they didn't have a ton to play for, but you were still playing teams in, you know, Florida and Tampa.

28:15 You want to get a win, right?

28:17 Like they were trying to win those games.

28:18 You want to feel good about your game entering the playoffs.

28:20 And, you know, I just think that, you know, Toronto hasn't had a lead against Boston this year.

28:26 I don't think I'm pretty sure in any of those games.

28:30 I don't think they had a lead.

28:30 I think it was tied or the Bruins are winning.

28:32 And so I just think that their defense and their goaltending is not going to be up to up to task in this series compared to what Boston can throw at them defensively and in goal with the rotation or with, you know, one of the guys grabbing hold of the gig for five or six games.

28:48 Yeah, no, I agree.

28:50 I got Bruins and six.

28:51 And again, like I can easily map out a scenario where the Bruins come up short in the series, like in terms of just how talented Toronto is.

28:58 They have got multiple guys that can take over a series that you can end up, you know, being bounced out and break up day.

29:04 You're shrugging your shoulders like, I mean, what could we do there?

29:07 Right?

29:07 When it's Matthews with six goals in a series or what have you.

29:11 This team has the firepower to break even a very good defensive team like Boston, especially with their goaltending.

29:17 But I just can't see it over a best of seven series with the Bruins and the deficiencies that Toronto has on defense.

29:25 I can't see where the Bruins just completely dry up.

29:28 And again, even if it's a, as you said, where the Bruins are reliant on Pasternak's line, that might be enough in terms of this series just to get you over the hump in terms of just how how many flaws that Toronto team has.

29:40 So I'm in the same boat as you.

29:42 I just can't see them not being able to do enough damage against Toronto's goalies to stay in the fight for some of these games.

29:51 Like feels like this is going to be a couple of five, four games in here.

29:54 It's going to be games where one of these teams has a impressive comeback win just in terms of one Toronto's firepower and two Toronto's defensive deficiencies as well.

30:04 So I'm in the same boat as you, Ty.

30:07 And the other part of it here too, is, and we've talked about this and by the time this goes live, we may have more clarity on it, but, you know, Callie Yarncrow is talking about William Nylander and he's saying, you know, it's tough to replace Willie.

30:18 I don't even know what happened to him.

30:20 And it's like, is this like their Bergeron injury kind of happening right now where it's something more major than they're leading on and he gets hurt in game 81 game 82, whatever it is.

30:29 And like, I just wonder like, like if they have that hanging over their head, that only, you know, further complicates matters for them, I would say.

30:38 Yeah, absolutely.

30:40 Something worth keeping tabs on.

30:42 I imagine both coaches are going to, uh, keep it quiet as we go through this.

30:46 So we might not have any clarity till the puck drops, but we'll be looking forward to when it actually does.

30:51 We got audio, audio slave playing once again.

30:53 So set it for the playoffs to start, uh, Ty, where can we read your stuff?

30:57 What can we hear you on the radio waves?

30:59 All that good stuff.

31:00 Yeah.

31:00 You can hear me on a 985 sports hub and read me on 985 sports hub.com.

31:05 You can also catch our podcast.

31:08 I do with, uh, Matt Dolliffe, who I hear was at Bruins practice today.