Stanley Cup Playoffs What To Watch For: Can Maple Leafs, Oilers take back control?

While not every game has been close, the series are and Tuesday night presents us with an evening of three Round 1 matchups all tied at 2-2. Who can take control and who will be put on the brink for Thursday?

Here's what we're watching for ...

Another chance for a statement from the Maple Leafs

There have been times in this series where it's looked and felt like these Leafs were different, that they were primed to finally take the first step out of Round 1 with this core. And, like in Game 4, there have been times where it's looked like the same old Leafs.

We're left with a best-of-3 series with Toronto holding home-ice advantage against the Tampa Bay Lightning, starting Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

"We responded well when we've lost previously. We lost in a tough fashion on home ice and went out on to the road at a time there where you could say that's a big game at that point in time because you need a response, you don't want to put yourself in position to lose two on the road when you've already lost one on home ice. That was a huge win for us at a key time," coach Sheldon Keefe said of the Game 3 bounce back, a 5-2 win in which they jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

"I think there's enough there for our team focusing on this season in the here and now that we have a tremendous amount of belief in our team. Most importantly, they're just excited about a chance to compete against a very good and challenging opponent. I think our guys will respond."

By now you've seen the records. These Leafs are 1-8 in series they lead in the Matthews-Marner era, the only W in that column coming last season when they took a 3-1 series lead on Montreal. They're 7-3 when trailing in series this era. With the series tied, as it is going into tonight's game, Toronto is 7-10.

The ghosts of playoff disappointments past hang over head and you could be pessimistic about things for sure. Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner struggled when Tampa had last change and forced a matchup with the Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn line. The second line hasn't been the advantage it should be; John Tavares and William Nylander are still looking for an impact performance -- and Keefe made some changes to the lines at morning skate. Justin Bourne called Game 4's loss a worst-case scenario for this team, for a few reasons.

But there is also reason for hope, as outlandish a statement as that is for the most cursed NHL franchise. Toronto has last change again and in Games 1 and 2 at home, Matthews and Marner had far more impact. Jack Campbell has been more than up to the task. Tampa's Andrei Vasilevskiy hasn't dominated a game yet and has an un-Vasilevskiy like .888 save percentage. Toronto's two wins were just as convincing as Tampa's two.

Which Leafs team will show up, though?

"What's in the past is the past," Matthews said. "I think the only thing we can focus on and control is what we have here, what we have now and the task in front of us."

Ah yes, the Maple Leafs and playoff drama. A tradition unlike any other.

Will the Brad Marchand-Tony DeAngelo soap opera have a second act?

There's obviously a lot on the line in Tuesday's Game 5 between the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes. The Bruins have roared back from a 2-0 series deficit as the Perfection Line was reunited and came through with breakout performances. Jeremy Swayman has settled their crease. But the series goes back to Carolina, where the Canes were the dominant side to open the series.

Special teams and discipline will continue to be key. This is the most penalized series in the playoffs so far, so keeping a cool head will be important. And as Brad Marchand ramps up, that's going to get harder and harder to do.

Which brings us to a storyline we'll be watching: Marchand vs. Tony DeAngelo.

It's the Round 1 rivalry we didn't know we needed.

DeAngelo had a couple notable run-ins with the Bruins in Game 4: A cross-check on Curtis Lazar and an end-of-period scrum that was dissipating until DeAngelo skated over to chirp Marchand, who sniped back for a social-media moment.

“It wasn’t much of an exchange,” Marchand said about it. “I didn’t even know he was around. Kind of came out of nowhere. There wasn’t really much of one. Just saying hi. How’s your Mother’s Day?"

At the end of the game, too, Marchand approached Carolina's empty net to ice it and DeAngelo threw his stick at the puck to try to disrupt the play (which would have been ruled a good goal anyway).

As the emotions heighten in Game 5 and beyond, and knowing Marchand's propensity to know precisely which buttons to push on his opponents and when, this won't be the final run-in between the two, will it?

"I don't know what emotions we're talking about here," DeAngelo said of the stick-tossing play. "It's playoff hockey, we're losing the game right so obviously we're a little frustrated. I don't think anything happened. Nothing happened in the game. Everyone wants to write a little story or something but we're trying to win a series here so if you don't have any fire then you're not going to win. So I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. I'm not concerned what anybody thinks."

It's good for Edmonton that momentum means nothing in its series against Los Angeles

Like Toronto, there is pressure on the Oilers to win a playoff round now after a few years of letdowns, especially considering they're facing a comparatively young and inexperienced Kings squad. And, like Leafs fans, Oilers supporters are going to wake up Wednesday either feeling refreshed and great about their team's situation, or perhaps dreading an inevitable feeling of another disappointment.

It all depends what happens Tuesday night.

After a narrow 4-3 win in Game 1 for Los Angeles, the Oilers took over the next two games with 6-0 and 8-2 wins and at that point it felt like they had turned a corner. The stars were getting theirs -- Connor McDavid somehow is still levelling up as a player -- the goaltending was solid. It felt like they could win four in a row and take the series in five games.

Game 4, then, presented a chance to really take control and start to shift perceptions. Instead it was *fart noise*. It was a game that sustained questions about Edmonton's playoff ability to close out four wins. The 4-0 Kings win saw Jonathan Quick throw it back a decade and Leon Draisaitl be a non-factor. The latter, at least, is not likely to happen two games in a row.

"I think you're going to see an Edmonton Oilers team that's going to come out prepared, they're going to come out hard and they're going to be a team that realizes there's no shortcuts to playoff success," head coach Jay Woodcroft said.

"This series there's been moments for both teams. In the end the team that continues to evolve and improve is the one that going to move on."

Can the Blues find their balanced scoring?

With a blue line that is battered with injuries, and an interesting goalie situation with Jordan Binnington returning for a win in Game 4, the Blues are needing to count on the strength of their forward unit to lead the way through Minnesota.

While much has been made about the Blues having nine 20-goal scorers this season, it is notable that only four of them have scored once in this series so far (seven Wild players have scored). David Perron has had a couple huge games including a hat trick, and Jordan Kyrou had a two-goal effort in the big win Sunday that pulled the Blues back into the series. The third line has been almost absent on the score sheet, with Vladimir Tarasenko converting just once.

This is another series that has been hard to get a read on because none of the games have been all that close. But, the team that has scored first has won every game in this series so far and so that could be an important factor again as Game 5 shifts back to Minnesota. The Blues' firepower should give them an edge here, but that depth of weaponry hasn't fully come through yet.