Joe Bowen was at his best on Thursday; some of Bowen's most electric play calls from Game 2
Now that's more like it! The Leafs woke up for Game 2 and absolutely crushed the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 7-2 drubbing. Between all the goals and all the rough stuff, it was one of the best, most complete games I've ever seen the Leafs play. Watching the game on Hockey Night in Canada had my blood pumping, but watching the highlights back with Joe Bowen and Jim Ralph making the call? Unbeatable.
It started off right, the Matthews line started and within just 47 seconds they'd drawn a penalty and made the Bolts pay for it. Starting the game off in the exact opposite fashion to Game 1.
After the loss on Tuesday, there was a lot of talk that John Tavares needed to step up if the Leafs were to have a chance at winning this series. Well, mission accomplished. Tavares torched the Lightning for 3 goals, outscoring the entire Tampa team on his own.
Tavares' first two goals were both at 5v5, but once the game got out of reach, the Lightning began to unravel, taking some ill-advised penalties to put the Leafs up 5-on-3. Tavares decided to make a statement in this one. Take a penalty, you're gonna get burned for it.
The game was physical from the start. Of course, the Lightning didn't stop the rough stuff just because the game was out of reach. Instead, they decided to throw a temper tantrum the likes of which my 3 year old couldn't hope to match. Getting into it with fans and, in the cases of Bogosian and Jeannot, eating a few good punches along the way.
In the first it was Zach Bogosian being fed knuckle sandwiches on fresh Italian bread by Mark Giordano.
In the third, Tanner Jeannot went after Luke Schenn in a fantastic fight that ended in a bit of a draw. Both guys landed some good shots.
Finally, Justin Holl had enough of Corey Perry and elected to shed the mitts. Unfortunately for Hollsy, he's never been much of a fighter. Perry gets the decision on this one. Good on Holl for stepping up. Maybe Simmer can give him some lessons if he plans on keeping this up!
As always, credit to LeafsJellyHD on Twitter and YouTube for bringing us these awesome videos!
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 21 | 670 ANSWERS Joe Bowen was at his best on Thursday; some of Bowen's most electric play calls from Game 2 Who will win the series? | ||
| Leafs in 6 | 382 | 57 % |
| Leafs in 5 | 102 | 15.2 % |
| Leafs in 7 | 109 | 16.3 % |
| Tampa | 77 | 11.5 % |
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