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The Vancouver Canucks revealed the debut of a new playoff tradition after last night’s exciting Game 1 comeback win against the Nashville Predators.

The team has created a win tracker in the shape of the Stanley Cup to commemorate their victories as they go through this year’s playoffs, the first non-COVID postseason for the Canucks since 2015.

The Stanley Cup tracker has space for 16 pucks, one for each win needed on the journey to capture the sport’s ultimate trophy. The player of the game, after each win, gets to place a puck into an empty slot.

Winger Dakota Joshua earned the honour of inserting the first puck after a huge performance in Game 1.

“We’re going to start a little tradition here, 16 pucks, 16 wins,” explained captain Quinn Hughes after the team’s big Game 1 comeback victory. “[Could] give it to Demmer, he made some big saves, Lindy, way to get us going, but this is going to Playoff D!”

The Captain has spoken.

Game puck goes to “Playoff D”! pic.twitter.com/e6VaT49Bkv

— Y – Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) April 22, 2024

“One of 16, let’s f**king go,” Joshua said as he placed the puck into the tracker.

The bruising power forward deserved the honour as he scored twice, including the game-winner, and added an assist in the Game 1 victory. Thatcher Demko and Elias Lindholm also had big games, as Hughes alluded to during his mini-speech before picking the winger as the player of the game.

Joshua’s contributions helped the Canucks take a 1-0 series lead on a truly special night at Rogers Arena. The crowd was the loudest than it had been in years.

The team will have the chance to add another puck to the Stanley Cup tracker tomorrow night when they take on the Predators in Game 2. The puck drops at 7 pm PT.

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Following a frustrating Game 1 in which many familiar playoff issues reared their ugly heads, the Maple Leafs will need a cleaner and tighter performance in Game 2 if they’re to bring the series back to Toronto tied at 1-1 (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet, CBC, ESPN).

The reactions to Game 1 on both sides of the spectrum have been… well, reactionary. On the one hand, the Leafs also got blown out in Game 1 a year ago against the Tampa Bay Lightning, yet rebounded to win the series in six games. On the other hand, the Leafs are now 2-7 in Game 1s in the Matthews era and just 1-5 since Sheldon Keefe took the reins as head coach. To state the obvious, a 0-1 series deficit makes a difficult task — one that the Leafs have only completely successfully once in the last 20 years — that much more difficult.

It’s also true that the five-on-five play was a lot closer than the final Game 1 scoreline reflects. Even if we removed the third period when score effects were in full swing at 4-0, Natural Stat Trick pegged the 5v5 expected goals at 2.03-1.88 in favor of Toronto, and shot attempts were 29-28 Bruins over the opening 40.

The Leafs gave the Bruins five power-play opportunities, and it wasn’t only a case of some dodgy officiating. The Leafs took some sloppy penalties, including one from each member of the top line, with Tyler Bertuzzi and Auston Matthews taking high-sticking calls in front of the Bruins’ net. They also were off to a positive start to the game before giving up a 2-on-1 goal, and on the PK, Jake DeBrusk’s goal was far too easy. Those are the types of looks the Bruins simply did not afford the Leafs over the course of the game.

The other big storyline continues to be the Leafs’ infamous streak of scoring two goals per game in the playoffs (now at eight games). Some of the challenges were due to Jeremy Swayman, and some were Toronto’s offensive approach in the game. The (possibly) good news is that one of the team’s best offensive weapons was on the ice this morning and is not ruled out for tonight.

William Nylander was seen at the Leafs’ optional skate Sunday morning with the Leafs’ projected scratches and again participated in the morning skate on Monday. With all due respect to Nick Robertson, he’s nowhere near the calibre of the play-driving threat Nylander is both at five-on-five and on the power play. On paper, a new-look third line of Järnkrok-Holmberg-Nylander could give the Bruins some matchup headaches after Game 1 played out in a fairly straightforward manner for Jim Montgomery.

As was the case in Game 1, with Keefe staying mum in the media, we won’t know for sure about Nylander until close to puck drop.

Maple Leafs’ Keys to Game 2

via Anthony Petrielli

– The Bruins have scored first in all five games this season, and the Leafs have not led a single game at any point. The first goal would provide Toronto with some confidence and allow them to settle down.

– The Leafs need to play more north/south and attack the net. There was too much east-west in Game 1.

– There was a lot of focus on the PK, the defense, and the goaltending after Game 1, all of which are real issues, but the Leafs have eight goals in five games vs. Boston this season. Cut it any way you want, but the Leafs are not going to win consistently with that poor of an offensive output. They need to get inside on Boston, crash the net, shoot more, and win battles in front of the net.

–  The Leafs’ penalty kill needs to do a better job of pressuring. They can’t allow a player like Jake DeBrusk to curl up top with the puck, go downhill, and shoot untouched. That’s far too easy.

– The Leafs need to limit time in the box and not get carried away physically or with the overall emotions of the game.

–  Put simply, the Leafs need some saves and for their stars to be stars. The Bruins’ top players have outplayed the Leafs’ in all five games so far this year. In Game 1, Boston got away with matching Brandon Carlo vs. Auston Matthews. It is very difficult for any team in the league to win when its best players don’t deliver.

Game Day Quotes

Jim Montgomery on his starting goalie for Game 2:

I don’t like keeping you guys in the dark. Do any of you play Wordle? The starting goalie tonight has two vowels in his first and last name.

Montgomery on why he keeps his goalie decision tight to his chest:

I don’t know why we would divulge information. If you are preparing for a game, there are parts of the goaltender that are a part of your pre-scout. That is an advantage for us, right? We don’t know who is starting.

I don’t tell my wife. I am not telling [the media].

Montgomery on what he is hoping to repeat about the team’s Game 1 performance:

I liked our physicality. That has to be repeated. I liked how we got over top of people. We didn’t give up too much off the rush. That is really important against such an electric offensive team.

Sheldon Keefe on the expectation for his team in Game 2:

I expect our team to come out and play hard, play well, and play — in a lot of ways — like we did the other night. Just make a few fewer mistakes and finish a few of our chances. We don’t have to change much more than that. Quite honestly, we liked a lot of things about our game. We just have to get back to it.

Keefe on shifting Tyler Bertuzzi onto PP1:

Bert is good around the net. It gives you a second guy similar to John in the sense that he can hound the puck and be good around the net. That is really it.

Keefe on the message to Max Domi after his slashing penalty in Game 1:

It is playoff hockey. I don’t even have to talk to Max about these things. He has been through it a lot. It is all part of the intensity. I don’t need Max to change anything about who he is and how he plays.

He is an important guy for us. I love the intensity he brought the other night. He got caught on a penalty. Their guy is probably going to give the same slash 10 times over the rest of the series. We’ll see if he gets called on it.

I love Max’s intensity.

Keefe on the group of six defensemen he’s started the series with, with TJ Brodie on the outside looking in:

We looked at how the season has gone, how the group has come together, how the pairs fit, the opponent, and the type of matchups and intensity you expect early in the series. Those are the guys we are going with.

Head-to-Head (Regular Season) Stats: Maple Leafs vs. Bruins

In the regular-season statistics, the Leafs hold the advantage over the Bruins in five out of five offensive categories, but the Bruins hold the advantage in three out of five defensive categories.

Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines*

Forwards
#59 Tyler Bertuzzi – #34 Auston Matthews – #11 Max Domi
#23 Matthew Knies – #91 John Tavares – #16 Mitch Marner
#89 Nick Robertson – #29 Pontus Holmberg – #19 Calle Jarnkrok
#24 Connor Dewar – #64 David Kampf – #75 Ryan Reaves

Defensemen
#44 Morgan Rielly – #46 Ilya Lyubushkin
#2 Simon Benoit – #22 Jake McCabe
#20 Joel Edmundson – #37 Timothy Liljegren

Goaltenders
Starter: #35 Ilya Samsonov
#60 Joseph Woll

Extras: TJ Brodie, Mark Giordano, Conor Timmins, Noah Gregor, Martin Jones, Cade Webber
Injured: Bobby McMann, William Nylander

Boston Bruins Projected Lines*

Forwards
#43 Danton Heinen – #18 Pavel Zacha – #88 David Pastrnak
#63 Brad Marchand – #13 Charlie Coyle – #74 Jake DeBrusk
#94 Jakub Lauko – #39 Morgan Geeke – #11 Trent Frederic
#19 John Beecher – #70 Jesper Boqvist – #61 Patrick Maroon

Defensemen
#27 Hampus Lindholm – #73 Charlie McAvoy
#48 Matt Grzelcyk – #25 Brandon Carlo
#22 Kevin Shattenkirk – #52 Andrew Peeke

Goaltenders
Starter: #35 Linus Ullmark
#1 Jeremy Swayman

Extras: James van Riemsdyk, Parker Wotherspoon, Mason Lohrei
Injured/Out: Justin Brazeau, Milan Lucic, Derek Forbort

*Note: At playoff time, with neither coach forthcoming on lineup decisions or injury situations, the final lineups won’t be known until close to puck drop.

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BOSTON — William Nylander will not play for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Monday because of an undisclosed injury.

The 27-year-old forward had participated in the morning skate after missing Game 1 of the best-of-7 series on Saturday, a 5-1 loss. Despite taking the ice with the full team Monday, he did not participate in line rushes and stayed on for extra skating with projected scratches.

Nylander also did not participate in special-teams drills. Forward Tyler Bertuzzi was elevated to the top power-play unit, while forward Calle Jarnkrok moved down to the second unit. Toronto went 0-for-3 with the man-advantage Saturday, and its only goal came from David Kampf on the fourth line.

Nylander played all 82 games in the regular season, finishing with an NHL career-high 98 points (40 goals, 58 assists), which ranked 10th in the League. His offensive ability was missed in Game 1, but his teammates said they received a boost just by seeing him on the ice Monday.

“Obviously, a really good sign,” Maple Leafs captain John Tavares said. “We know what he means to our hockey club, so obviously great that he was out there.”

After Game 1, Keefe and multiple players pointed to how Toronto overcame key absences during the regular season, and it’ll have to do the same in Game 2 with Nylander unavailable.

“They’re taking care of him, so it’s [only] a matter of time until he’s back in the lineup,” Maple Leafs forward Nicholas Robertson said. “We’ve got to do what we can without him and hopefully get a win tonight.”

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