This is an extension of Podcast 112: What teams need to do to advance in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs; Here are my thoughts on what needs to be done for North Division teams to advance.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens have a historic rivalry in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and they look to renew it in the 1st round of the 2021 playoffs. Contrary to popular belief, I don't think this will be a cakewalk for the Toronto Maple Leafs, because the Montreal Canadiens are a tough team to play against. Toronto should be aware that Montreal in the playoffs is a completely different team than Montreal in the regular season.
Toronto is obviously the better team on paper, but Montreal is not as bad as most people think. The Maple Leafs are top 6 heavy, while Montreal has tremendous depth and role 4 lines and 3 D pairs.
It has been said before that the teams that do well in the postseason have better role players, if that is the case then Montreal should have the advantage because their team has an abundance of role players, but the issue is they don't have that star offensive player that puts them over the top. Carey Price is a great postseason goalie, and always has risen his level of play; it would surprise me if he led the Canadiens past the Maple Leafs.
If Toronto is to win this series, they will need the other players outside of Matthews, Marner, Tavares to score. In the case that one of their star players gets injured, they will need some of their role players like Alex Kerfoot, Nick Foligno, and Alex Galchenyuk to step up. Players like Joe Thornton, Zach Hyman, Jason Spezza, Wayne Simmonds will need to be productive if the Leafs want to advance.
Montreal is the worst matchup in the North division for the Leafs because they have to go against a team that is built for the postseason, and a goalie that is considered by many as the best postseason goalie right now.
Edmonton Oilers vs Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets lead the best of 7 series, 1-0, as they were able to shut down the high power Edmonton offense in Game 1. Winnipeg doesn't need to change anything, if it's not broke don't fix it. On the other hand, Edmonton needs to make a few adjustments, since is a different Winnipeg team than the one they saw in the final month of the season.
The first adjustment is to swap Ryan Nugent Hopkins and Dominik Kahun, so RNH plays with McDavid and Puljujarvi, and Kahun plays with Drasiaitl and Yamamoto. These changes help both McDavid and Draisaitl because RNH supports the puck better than Kahun, and Kahun has much better chemistry with Draisaitl. Secondly, the Oilers need to adjust their playstyle a bit; they can't hold onto the puck for too long because the Jets are defending in layers. What the Oilers should be doing is keep the Defense on their heels by moving the puck to the points, and get point shots with traffic in front, looking for tips or screens, but they can't let Hellebucyk get a clean look at point shots. The Jets raised the level of intensity, look for the Oilers to come out more physical, to match the intensity.
I still think the Edmonton Oilers can win this series, they just were not prepared for what Winnipeg was doing defensively in game 1.
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