Three Takeaways from the Bizarre, Unpredictable, and Thrilling TFC-Impact Playoff Game

Holy hell, is it ever nice when games live up to the hype.

The Montreal Impact stuffed over 61,000 fans into Olympic Stadium on Tuesday night, and held on for a 3-2 win over Toronto FC in the first leg of the MLS Eastern Conference Championship. The classic Canadian rivals will meet in the second leg next Wednesday at BMO Field, with a spot in the MLS Cup championship game up for grabs.

To get ready, let's look back at a first leg that was equal parts bizarre, unpredictable and thrilling, to hopefully get some idea of what might be in store next week.

With two quick goals out of the gate, and the Big O on the verge of collapsing from the crowd celebration, Montreal looked ready to coast to the MLS Cup on Tuesday.

But two late away goals from TFC mean that, in a way, the Reds head back to BMO Field with the momentum. A 1-0 or 2-1 home win for Toronto would now be enough to send it to the title game.

Over the years, though, Montreal has proven adept at scoring away goals in just these sorts of situations. So, if you're feeling like predicting how this will all end up… you're better off doing literally anything else instead.

A 3-5-2 formation worked well for Toronto FC in the final stretch of the regular season and thus far in the playoffs. But Montreal's attacking corps of Ignacio Piatti, Dominic Oduro, Matteo Mancosu and an extra-motivated Patrice Bernier sliced and diced it for much of the first leg.

But TFC manager Greg Vanney adjusted his tactics in the second half, including bringing in the experienced Will Johnson, and success would then follow. That forced a countermove from Montreal manager Mauro Biello, who brought in Didier Drogba for the game's final 20 minutes.

Will Vanney stick with the 3-5-2 or revert to a more traditional lineup in the second leg? Will Biello give Drogba the start, or stick with a lineup more conducive to his team's lethal counterattacking potential? These questions will keep fans in both cities up at night for the next week.

Ridiculously enough, incorrectly painted penalty areas caused Tuesday's kickoff to be delayed by 35 minutes. When the game did get going, players on both teams had to adjust their play to accommodate the infamous artificial turf at the Big O.

They'll have to adjust again on Wednesday at BMO Field; the Grey Cup is being played there just three days prior, and forecasted showers over the next seven days mean it's anyone's guess what shape the field will be in. And that's to say nothing of the late-November chill on the shores of Lake Ontario.

In the end, it may all come down to which team can best deal with the harsh natural elements. How Canadian.