It’s almost playoff time, I’m nervous enough that I could poop out a diamond but excited enough that my nipples are hard enough to cut a diamond as well. Rather than start the world’s most disgusting jewelry business, I’ve opted to look at some of the important things to watch for against the Tampa Bay Lightning. A lot of this stuff you already know from last year, but a refresher course is good for some and there are a couple of new things to consider as well, so let’s dive into it.
Vasilevskiy and Hedman
By the numbers Samsonov and Vasilevskiy is a pretty close comparison and not the matchup doesn’t look like a lopsided one for the Lightning. You can certainly debate whether it is better to have a hot goaltender or a consistently good one in net during the playoffs and of course, the ideal answer is both. Fortunately for the Leafs, Vasilevskiy hasn’t been too much to worry about of late. Samsonov has the better numbers albeit in fewer games, and in Vasilevskiy’s last two games he had save percentages below .850, including one in a game against Toronto. That is cherry picking the data to ignore that Vasilevskiy also has two shutouts in …

Read More

Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation