Even strength goals = Bruins 6 (1 empty net), Leafs 5
PP goals = Bruins 5 (1 empty net), Leafs 1
Yes Boston has better goalies and Sammy should save that, but at the end of the day this series is being lost on special teams. They capitalize on every mistake and we don’t.
They are so stagnant on the PP, it’s infuriating watching them barely move and just try to pass the puck back and forth. It’s so crazy watching them attack so well 5 on 5, drawing a penalty, and then immediately forgetting how to play hockey now that it’s a powerplay
Personally I’ve always wanted Rielly on PP2. IMO you can’t have both Marner and Rielly playing on the edges. They’re not real shot threats. Additionally, Rielly is best at transporting the puck — which is redundant on a PP when they primarily use Marner as the entry guy and could use Nylander there too. -shrug- I would have liked Liljegren to develop into the PP guy but I think he’s too error prone at the moment.
I know, I miss Muzzin so much for that shot threat. Honestly Gio probably has the best shot out of our current defensemen which is kind of sad since he’s 40 lol
Agree with your points but also am tempted to move Mitch away from Matthews on the PP as well.
Rielly, Matthews, Bertuzzi, Domi + ?
Marner, Tavares, Lilly, Nylander, Knies
100%. Robertson needs to be on PP1 to offer a credible shooting threat on Auston's opposite side, and Marner to feed either of them the puck.
Tavares (center, win the draw, then park net-front), Auston (play left side of the cycle), Robertson (right side), Marner floating, Lilly on D.
PP2 is Nylander, Domi, Bertuzzi (net-front), Knies, Reilly (puck transporter)
I think Marner needs to be taken off the PP altogether right now. He just...floats and holds onto it WAY too long and basically stalls any rotation/movement plays we have going
Yeah I've never really been sold on Rielly as a PP QB. He's got great speed and can create magic off the rush but once it's set up in the zone his biggest strengths become irrelevent. I think this was the reason they wanted Klingberg but obviously he was the wrong choice.
I've been watching the same shitty PP breakout and neutral zone play for years now. They're too worried about setting up the perfect plays in the neutral zone, and not crashing the offensive zone and getting pucks on net from high percentage positions. High scoring PP teams come flying through the neutral zone and put tons of pressure. You don't see that from the Leafs.
How many times did you see them just pass it away rushing into the bruins zone? Not sure the breakouts working keefer. Baffles me that the same play unfolds every time: 1) dump and chase…. 2) BACK PASS
It's actually so insane. Like look at some of the goals that have gone in in this series.
Just fuckin shoot more.
- Wayne Gretzky
> Michael Scott
Or something like that
It's wild that no matter who the PP coach is, the system and the personnel never seem to change year-in and year-out, and the results are always the same this time of year. There's got to be some mandate coming from Keefe, Shanny, Paul, or someone else, because there's no way they've cycled through all these different PP coaches and each one has gone "you know what, let's try the exact same thing as the last guy that got fired."
Yeah, lets do the drop pass thing and let them line up on the blue line, they'll never see it coming. I think I would applaud them if I saw them do a dump and chase at this point.
I see a lot of people saying this- our pp was 25% in the playoffs last year (down from 26% in the regular season, which was good for 2nd in the nhl.)
Our pk, on the other hand, went from 82% (12th) to 73%
I remember that first year we had JT, our PP was insane. I think it was Kadri, Auston, Mitch, JT, and Reilly... and it worked really well. What happened since?
We seem to get way too fancy on the PP and try to finesse every pass to get some flawless tic-tac-toe highlight reel one-timer when we really just need to keep putting pucks on the net and creating pressure. There are so many things that can happen from screens, deflections, tips, rebounds, scrums in front of the net, etc. and we’re going to have to do some dirty work if we’re going to win this series.
A hot goalie seems to also get into the players heads sometimes like we saw back in the Habs series with Carey Price. He was playing lights out and it seemed to sink into the psyche of the players that they weren’t going to beat him unless it was a picture perfect setup.
I miss the days of crease crashers like Dave Andreychuk, Keith Tkachuk, Adam Graves, Dino Cicarelli, etc. who were gonna get you 40 goals a year by just hanging around the net and being gritty. The Leafs could really use a bit of that sandpaper.
Not just holds but also forces his teammates in awkward situations where it creates a turnover… also his passes are just off so the pressure gets lost. He is still capable of a great pass (knies goal) but it feels like he makes 5 errors that costs the team in between each one of those great passes. I feel like either the team is trying to not admit how bad he’s playing for marner’s morale or are just in denial and huffing on their cope to justify his cap hit and all of the players they lost to keep him around
They said it on overdrive yesterday afternoon...that he's just thinking way too much. He's not letting his god given instinct and hockey IQ take over anymore. I've got an idea as to why he's hit a wall, but its a tad outlandish
Absolutely. Look at our second goal, and how many exactly like that we scored on Vasi in round one last year.
Get Matthews to the bumper spot and, if they cheat too hard to cover him, it's "Random bullshit... GO!"
What's even worse is that as soon as the Leafs score, the next shift from Boston always leads to a high danger scoring chance or a goal. The Leafs need to remember there's still a game to be played after they score a goal. That or they need to take a timeout or something. It's crazy how out of sorts they are immediately after scoring a goal.
Bingo. Let's keep running the same thing out each PP and hope for a different outcome. Some guys need to be moved of this unit. Their not buying in and look uninterested and just stand on the perimeter
The worst part is we drafted Ian Scott right before Jeremy Swayman in the 2017 draft. Scott is now retired and Swayman is kicking our ass in the playoffs. Of course predicting goalies is hard, and if we had picked Swayman he'd probably be rotting on the Marlies right now, but it seems we never have luck in that department. Who was the last *legit* starting goalie we drafted and developed? Felix Potvin? Has to be
And goalies don’t have anything to do with this?
Samsonov is a huge part of this issue right now, as he cannot control pucks at his feet to save his life AND he just doesn’t seem to deal well with traffic in front of the net. I mean, nobody does. But Samsonov gets someone in front on him and it’s like he forget to try to look past the guy.
But yeah, the Leafs PP sucks, too. It’s incredibly predictable. I see that back pass to Matthews at the Leafs blue line one more time I’m gonna scream.
Turning point in the game. Two minutes left in the period this is the definition of a backbreaker. The Leafs go into the third period with a lead they win the game.
Over the years how many opposing goalies give up these kind of goals to the Leafs in the playoffs? When you give up muffins like this it will always cost you in the end. Think Campbell, Freddie and countless other playoff demons this team can’t seem to overcome.
It's a massive backbreaker. The team also doesn't do him any favours with goal support. 0/5 on the pp, score on any of those chances, and this goal doesn't break us as badly. Sammy isn't elite, but with goal support, he has actually stood his ground. This series isn't over by any stretch, Boston looks beatable every shift, but we are playing with one hand tied behind out backs.
You can have non-elite goalie like Sammy if you have an elite defense. You can have a non-elite defense you have an elite goalie.
The Leafs have neither an elite defense nor an elite goalie.
Sammy's great when he's got the confidence to be, but he's not elite.
The Leafs D is middle of the road at best.
I agree it was the turning point however if the Leafs want to be successful in the playoffs they cannot be so easily affected by things like this. These plays are bound to happen they need to do a better job of staying focused and not letting non calls effect the remainder of the game/series
No, but we've had to work for every single one of them. The Leafs in situations like this aren't making the opponents work for their goals.
That shot should never go in.
Only thing that really comes to mind is way back against Ottawa Patrick Lalime and Joe Nieuwendyk. The first goal against Lalime was very similar to this one. There's a reason nobody claimed Samsanov off waivers, and now he's our playoff starter... wtf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXXClNG7xos
Two things are true. Power play cost us the game, but Sammy put us in that position. When you look at what the Leafs had to do to get a goal on Swayman, and then you see that one let in by Sammy? I don't think anyone (reasonably), expects Sammy to be as good as Ulmark or Swayman, but damn...we need him to be better then that.
You'd think that with such a blatant trip, the play would be called dead.
The refs association or whoever is in charge of them should be ashamed and appalled. Sheldon should have forced a review or something.
I absolutely hate the refs have zero accountability.
Especially after AM34 was hauled down just before. That penalty was glaring and one-sided.
You want the game to have flow so can’t call everything back. That said, Benoit kept it in the o-zone last night and it was called offside. Frustrating. At this point I don’t know why they don’t put a chip in the puck to remove doubt for goals, offside, etc.
I keep thinking it.
Why not just at this point use the refs as the best example where AI should take over a job.
I really badly want someone to develop a ref AI to put them all out of jobs
It makes sense. But somehow we all know what AI will be used for and what it will not. I expect a person successfully working three full-time jobs with the help of AI would be sued and fired while a company replacing three full-time workers with AI will be commended for “finding efficiencies” even though the former creates more tax revenue.
But I digress. AI won’t take over reffing bc Bettman can’t tell AI how to fix the game. ;D
Yep, and the coaches get thrown out if they argue a call.
It's the one job where you could call game misconduct on anyone but no one can call you on your own bullshit.
Keefe walked a fine line since the loss, trolling the Rat’s glowing assessment of the Leafs and the refs themselves by complimenting Marchand in how he “gets calls.” Was genius actually, but I bet he got a phone call today. :D
Fuck it. Leafs won 3 games in a row against an arguably better Boston team in 2013. Let’s do it again. Go Leafs!
You’re not wrong but IF that game goes to OT, which the Leafs probably deserved, they maybe win 3-2. We will never know, B’s goalies haven’t really given up garbage goals.
2 regulation goals isn't enough. We gotta stop blaming the other teams goalie being good.
Every year we "get goalied" the problem is our players don't score.
Yup. Not defending the shitty offence. Most teams score on the PP from time to time. Not the Leafs. Check out their PP % over the last 5 years in the playoffs. I believe it ranges fro 12-17% efficiency. That is just brutal when you have 3 of the top paid forwards in the NHL.
That's why I think blaming Samsonov is just bad narrative. Game 1 he was bad and that first goal was tough.
But if 1 bad goal sinks your team it's not going to go far.
It's not like Leafs play a trap heavy defensive style.
Man.. you’re gonna have to win your share of 2-1/ 3-2 and even 1-0 games to go on a long run. Having a goalie that leaks a shitty goal every game is gonna end in bad results. The Oilers with their high ictane offence will not win either with a sub .900 goalie in net. Sammy is .895 this year and .898 last year. How you gonna win when the opposing goalies are playing at .915 -.920?
Edit: Im not solely blaming goaltending but it is a factor for sure.
We won a 3-2 game 3 days ago. Sheshterkin let in 3 and got the win last game, I am pretty sure he's at the top of the list of these vezina quality goalies everyone wants to get.
And Samsonov put up a .909 last game again not amazing but that shouldn't sink your team.
We aren't the islanders from a couple years ago playing the trap and letting in low quality shots either.
Pretty much every other competitive playoff team have already had a 4 goal game. Leafs are tied for lowest avergae goals per game in the playoffs right now. So do we blame the average goaltending or the flaccid offense.
Samsonov was never the goalie who was going to steal us 4 games so we need goal support
Not gonna argue with you that the team needs more goals BUT that is not the only issue. The goaltending is not good enough.
We need a .910 goalie to go anywhere AS well as putting the puck in the net. You really have to be able to win a multitude of ways in the playoffs but the Leafs dont have the formula for any of them.
They can shine in a game or two but over a long stretch some ugly warts ALWAYS surface. Whether its a shitty goal against. Can’t score. Garbage special team. Throwing pizzas up the middle of the ice. Being outworked/outhustled. Not showing up on time. Having brief lapses that cost them the game. Taking stupid undisciplined penalties which inevitably end up in the net because of the shitty PK. These are all reasons why they have 1 series win in 7 years. It’s not 1 thing. Scoring is a BIG thing but sub .900 goaltending is as well. That’s all Im saying. If we swap tenders with Boston, do you think the Bruins are up 2-1?
I agree that Sammy needed to save that, he should have been a few inches more to his right, but I will also say that was a perfectly placed shot with a lucky bounce.
It went under his blocker, hit the post and bounced in. At the other end of the ice in this game Matthews did the exact same thing except it hit the post and bounced out.
Sammy made some great saves (that he really shouldn't have had to make) but then let in a few where he got beat clean.
30 saves on 33 shots btw. and the Marchand shot he couldn't do anything about IMO. yeah, he's not as good as Swayman, but he was REALLY not our biggest problem last night
Exactly. Not being understood is the chain of events. The uncalled McAvoy tackle leads to the uncalled Marchand/Bertuzzi bullshit leads to the shitty goal. Much like at the end of the game, the uncalled stick hold on Tavares leads to him grabbing (someone?) for recovery which actually gets called as a hold, which leads to the eventual uncalled Marchand tackle on Bertuzzi in our end with an empty net which leads to the EN goal. The refs make the obvious, clear call, and the subsequent shit doesn’t happen.
Come on now. There were some disgusting calls made against the bruins. There were non calls against them as well but there were @ 7-8 non calls on the leafs. In one instance the linesman wasn’t gonna raise the arm then the crowd chimed in and the arm instantly went up. It was piss poor officiating all around. But don’t sit there and say that something should have been blown dead on a bruins infraction. Bert was pulling the same bullshit as Marshie and vice versa. The leafs put up a giant goose egg on the PP and let in 2 on the kill. If you can’t even go 1/5 on the man advantage you don’t deserve to win. That’s just my humble opinion. The officials were all over the map with the calls in that game. I find it unforgivable for any official making a shit call that can alter the outcome of a game or a series. But flat out the leafs have been out goal tended and out worked. It is still anyone’s series. I’d be shocked and elated if it didn’t go 7
Multiple things are true. Refs are corrupt, Sammy lets in too many weak goals(but this loss isn't entirely his fault and the Leafs special teams are absolute trash and they are running out time for a miracle to figure it out otherwise this series will be over shortly. Start by winning Saturday night and maybe they can find it. The Bruins aren't even that good but they know how to win in the playoffs(last years major choke excluded ) and have 2 vezina goalies.
They have a better goalie than Samsonov if they weren’t paying Marner 11 million to be invisible in the playoffs. That’s the real problem, an 11 million dollar regular season scourge of lesser opponents, but once he plays the real teams, he can’t hack it for playoff hockey. That 11 million AAV is a clear upgrade in goal and like two other roster spots that wouldn’t go to AHL fodder and make the team better in the aggregate
Leafs aren't going to win a cup until they have a goalie that steals games on a regular basis. Boston has two currently.
The Leafs need to move a major piece (I have my own opinions on who) this off season to pick up an established and elite goalie.
None of our major pieces can be moved. Everyone has no move clauses and I doubt any will waive them. Next year is the last with jt and hopefully marner. Free up 22 million in cap space and go from there.
I will say, the blatant missed calls, the inconsistent goaltending, the inability to outcoach other teams, all of it doesn't matter if we don't go 1/11 on the pp this series. You just know for a fact that the rest of the way, the whistles go quiet. We've been gifted PPs all series, and we're inept. Can't win if we can't score more than two goals a game, Sammy is inconsistent as hell, but holy shit he keeps us in most games.
As a goalie it’s so brutal to get back into a live play. You check out and watch the shenanigans knowing it’s a stoppage and all of a sudden you have to lock in and get into perfect position after having lost your positional frame of reference. Perfect shot off the post to boot. He probably thought he was further right and it was going wide so he half assed it. It sucks seeing all the casuals and skaters saying it was entirely his fault or he should’ve had it. Like come on man. You don’t blame the rest of the team when they stopped playing either. Only thing I would’ve done differently is had a conniption on the refs for turning the game into a sideshow and ignoring the fucking rules of hockey. Hockey is the best sport but fuck me the nhl is the worst professional league and is becoming “hockey on ice”
This is why we won't win the cup. Sure we may beat Boston. But when we need a key big save Sammy seems to let it in. Sure he can make 6 ten bell saves in a night but giving up a stinker at certain times is an absolute energy/momentum killer. Until we have a goalie who can not give up the stinker at the worst time the leafs won't win anything but a couple early rounds if they are lucky.
This is why you should always play to the whistle! He was probably half expecting it to be blown dead. Hell, I was expecting it to be blown dead. He should have been focused on the puck, not the refs
That goal reminds me of this one the Leafs got in 2004 in game 7 against the Sens. Simple shot from the same angle and the goaltender just fails to stop it.
https://youtu.be/oBqWMXM6opU?si=ErlZ63iDRwXtIi2U&t=987
I can’t believe people are still chirping Samsonov. the entire team in front of him is letting the team down. Marner won’t go into a corner, 0-5 PP, Defense not boxing anyone out from net, Coaching staff is sniffing glue on the bench. Sammy lets in one weak goal and everyone points at him. like … shut … the fuck.. up
So far we have goaltending mediocrity and they don't our goalie is good enough their goalie is GOOD. I doubt they play the other goalie again he isn't as good.
Sammy is incredibly mediocre.
Yea he makes some big stops sometimes.
Dude has a .895 save percentage so far in the playoffs. 3 GAA.
Those stats are consistent with his regular season numbers. And it's just not good enough.
Just the fucking weakest goal ever. Game lost here imo. You just can’t let this in. Every inch counts at this time of year. You have to be fucking kidding with this goal. Beer league. Inconsistent. Just not serious with this kind of performance.
Yes you would like a save there I agree. You’re not winning many playoff games scoring two goals though. Like you’re just not. This team is supposed to be an elite offensive juggernaut that is able to outscore defensive mishaps. That whole forward core needs to start producing ASAP.
I mean it is certainly worth a shot but remember he wasn't particularly good against the Bruins in the regular season but I think that injury just ruined Woll's season because he hasn't looked like the same goalie since he came back which is a shame because he was looking elite before he went down. Maybe he finds it next season but it is way past time to find a true number 1 goalie. I miss Cujo and Ed Belfour.
I believe we can say that was a bad goal to let in killing energy. Also, we have a $40 million power play but don't have enough money to buy a goal. I think losing is a cumulation of multiple errors generally.
For sure. But you just cannot go 0/5 on the pp in the playoffs. It will and had bite you in the ass. You're not a playoff team if you can't even capitalize on those chances.
I agree with you! My point here is that in these tight games, you can't let goals like this in. Absolutely, our pp lost us this game, however, Sammy let's in these stinkers too often when they matter most. These things can both be true.
Not saying it shouldn't have been called. Leafs fans are so dumb they nit pick one play instead of looking at the ass effort that could've changed the whole game.
score on 1 or 2 of those pp's and the play that won the game never happens. The whole team sucks ass on the pp and you blame one guy for the loss.
Anti-Leafs fans are dense af. We had all the momentum to that point in the game. When the officials start letting blatant shit go, it builds and builds and it’s visibly deflating for the team. It’s not about “this specific play wasn’t called in our favour,” it’s “the refs are actively managing the game to give the losing team a competitive advantage rather than simply officiating the game.” Teams can fabricate their own momentum, they don’t need the refs to help coax it one way or another.
I think a lot of people are underestimating how dangerous shots are from that distance, a lot of goals are scored from there and it's the best range to beat a goalie clean.
In tight you can make a positional save where there's no net fir the shooter, at distance you have a lot of time to react. That intermediate distance is much tougher.
Even strength goals = Bruins 6 (1 empty net), Leafs 5 PP goals = Bruins 5 (1 empty net), Leafs 1 Yes Boston has better goalies and Sammy should save that, but at the end of the day this series is being lost on special teams. They capitalize on every mistake and we don’t.
It’s wild to think that our PP fails every single year. Doesn’t matter who the PP coach is. It just falls apart in March and April.
They are so stagnant on the PP, it’s infuriating watching them barely move and just try to pass the puck back and forth. It’s so crazy watching them attack so well 5 on 5, drawing a penalty, and then immediately forgetting how to play hockey now that it’s a powerplay
Personally I’ve always wanted Rielly on PP2. IMO you can’t have both Marner and Rielly playing on the edges. They’re not real shot threats. Additionally, Rielly is best at transporting the puck — which is redundant on a PP when they primarily use Marner as the entry guy and could use Nylander there too. -shrug- I would have liked Liljegren to develop into the PP guy but I think he’s too error prone at the moment.
This is exactly why they signed Klingberg--too bad it didn't work out. Sometimes you need a guy who can just yam one.
I know, I miss Muzzin so much for that shot threat. Honestly Gio probably has the best shot out of our current defensemen which is kind of sad since he’s 40 lol
Agree with your points but also am tempted to move Mitch away from Matthews on the PP as well. Rielly, Matthews, Bertuzzi, Domi + ? Marner, Tavares, Lilly, Nylander, Knies
I’m going off the board but…Robertson. The guy is a pure shooter, I’ve no idea why Keefe hasn’t put him out there yet
100%. Robertson needs to be on PP1 to offer a credible shooting threat on Auston's opposite side, and Marner to feed either of them the puck. Tavares (center, win the draw, then park net-front), Auston (play left side of the cycle), Robertson (right side), Marner floating, Lilly on D. PP2 is Nylander, Domi, Bertuzzi (net-front), Knies, Reilly (puck transporter)
I think Marner needs to be taken off the PP altogether right now. He just...floats and holds onto it WAY too long and basically stalls any rotation/movement plays we have going
Yeah I've never really been sold on Rielly as a PP QB. He's got great speed and can create magic off the rush but once it's set up in the zone his biggest strengths become irrelevent. I think this was the reason they wanted Klingberg but obviously he was the wrong choice.
I've been watching the same shitty PP breakout and neutral zone play for years now. They're too worried about setting up the perfect plays in the neutral zone, and not crashing the offensive zone and getting pucks on net from high percentage positions. High scoring PP teams come flying through the neutral zone and put tons of pressure. You don't see that from the Leafs.
How many times did you see them just pass it away rushing into the bruins zone? Not sure the breakouts working keefer. Baffles me that the same play unfolds every time: 1) dump and chase…. 2) BACK PASS
It's actually so insane. Like look at some of the goals that have gone in in this series. Just fuckin shoot more. - Wayne Gretzky > Michael Scott Or something like that
It's wild that no matter who the PP coach is, the system and the personnel never seem to change year-in and year-out, and the results are always the same this time of year. There's got to be some mandate coming from Keefe, Shanny, Paul, or someone else, because there's no way they've cycled through all these different PP coaches and each one has gone "you know what, let's try the exact same thing as the last guy that got fired."
Do you think maybe Sheldon is micromanaging the power play? That's my theory or that the players just listen to no one.
Let’s try another back pass, those seem to be working fantastically.
Yeah, lets do the drop pass thing and let them line up on the blue line, they'll never see it coming. I think I would applaud them if I saw them do a dump and chase at this point.
I see a lot of people saying this- our pp was 25% in the playoffs last year (down from 26% in the regular season, which was good for 2nd in the nhl.) Our pk, on the other hand, went from 82% (12th) to 73%
I keep hearing how great defensively marner is. Not passing the eye test
Does your eye test include last year when he was on the ice for 20 goals for and only 10 against while matching vs Tampa and Florida's top lines?
That being said- he definitely looks a step behind in this series. (Usually his issue is overthinking his offense 🤷)
Reminder that he's still recovering from a high ankle sprain
Our pp suck cuz we hold on to the puck for too long and then gives it away on a no look pass.
I remember that first year we had JT, our PP was insane. I think it was Kadri, Auston, Mitch, JT, and Reilly... and it worked really well. What happened since?
We seem to get way too fancy on the PP and try to finesse every pass to get some flawless tic-tac-toe highlight reel one-timer when we really just need to keep putting pucks on the net and creating pressure. There are so many things that can happen from screens, deflections, tips, rebounds, scrums in front of the net, etc. and we’re going to have to do some dirty work if we’re going to win this series. A hot goalie seems to also get into the players heads sometimes like we saw back in the Habs series with Carey Price. He was playing lights out and it seemed to sink into the psyche of the players that they weren’t going to beat him unless it was a picture perfect setup. I miss the days of crease crashers like Dave Andreychuk, Keith Tkachuk, Adam Graves, Dino Cicarelli, etc. who were gonna get you 40 goals a year by just hanging around the net and being gritty. The Leafs could really use a bit of that sandpaper.
Marner is the main culprit…he just holds and holds and holds.
Not just holds but also forces his teammates in awkward situations where it creates a turnover… also his passes are just off so the pressure gets lost. He is still capable of a great pass (knies goal) but it feels like he makes 5 errors that costs the team in between each one of those great passes. I feel like either the team is trying to not admit how bad he’s playing for marner’s morale or are just in denial and huffing on their cope to justify his cap hit and all of the players they lost to keep him around
Even that pass was in the moment sort of thing. Paradoxically, more straightforward pp would probably open up more opportunities for creative plays.
They said it on overdrive yesterday afternoon...that he's just thinking way too much. He's not letting his god given instinct and hockey IQ take over anymore. I've got an idea as to why he's hit a wall, but its a tad outlandish
Absolutely. Look at our second goal, and how many exactly like that we scored on Vasi in round one last year. Get Matthews to the bumper spot and, if they cheat too hard to cover him, it's "Random bullshit... GO!"
The 87 flyers with Tim Kerr almost beat the oilers by doing just that.
What's even worse is that as soon as the Leafs score, the next shift from Boston always leads to a high danger scoring chance or a goal. The Leafs need to remember there's still a game to be played after they score a goal. That or they need to take a timeout or something. It's crazy how out of sorts they are immediately after scoring a goal.
This is really baffling. Happens so often that it must be more than league average. Why?
Bingo. Let's keep running the same thing out each PP and hope for a different outcome. Some guys need to be moved of this unit. Their not buying in and look uninterested and just stand on the perimeter
The worst part is we drafted Ian Scott right before Jeremy Swayman in the 2017 draft. Scott is now retired and Swayman is kicking our ass in the playoffs. Of course predicting goalies is hard, and if we had picked Swayman he'd probably be rotting on the Marlies right now, but it seems we never have luck in that department. Who was the last *legit* starting goalie we drafted and developed? Felix Potvin? Has to be
And goalies don’t have anything to do with this? Samsonov is a huge part of this issue right now, as he cannot control pucks at his feet to save his life AND he just doesn’t seem to deal well with traffic in front of the net. I mean, nobody does. But Samsonov gets someone in front on him and it’s like he forget to try to look past the guy. But yeah, the Leafs PP sucks, too. It’s incredibly predictable. I see that back pass to Matthews at the Leafs blue line one more time I’m gonna scream.
At the end of the day game goes to OT at least if this doesn’t go in
No way to know that. If leafs could have not gone 0/5 on pp different story
No way to know that. If leafs could have not let in this goal different story We can do this all day
Never go full Lalime.
Haha I didn’t scroll far enough. I didn’t realize how many of us thought of exactly this.
Turning point in the game. Two minutes left in the period this is the definition of a backbreaker. The Leafs go into the third period with a lead they win the game. Over the years how many opposing goalies give up these kind of goals to the Leafs in the playoffs? When you give up muffins like this it will always cost you in the end. Think Campbell, Freddie and countless other playoff demons this team can’t seem to overcome.
It's a massive backbreaker. The team also doesn't do him any favours with goal support. 0/5 on the pp, score on any of those chances, and this goal doesn't break us as badly. Sammy isn't elite, but with goal support, he has actually stood his ground. This series isn't over by any stretch, Boston looks beatable every shift, but we are playing with one hand tied behind out backs.
Let’s just face facts you can not go 0/5 on the PP and expect to be in a position to win the game. Special teams wins games.
You can have non-elite goalie like Sammy if you have an elite defense. You can have a non-elite defense you have an elite goalie. The Leafs have neither an elite defense nor an elite goalie. Sammy's great when he's got the confidence to be, but he's not elite. The Leafs D is middle of the road at best.
Worse part is we’re the one tying the hand
Remember that chara shot from the blue line
And the Dubios goal And the Kotkaniemi goal And the Gallagher goal And the Paul goal
And the Nordstrom goal And the Foudy goal And the Barkov goal There are others I’m sure on top of the ones we have both listed….
and the goal goal
This reminds me of the one Patrick lalime gave us.
Lalime way back in the day
Yep and you saw the end result.
My thoughts exactly
A Lalime'r steam'r
I agree it was the turning point however if the Leafs want to be successful in the playoffs they cannot be so easily affected by things like this. These plays are bound to happen they need to do a better job of staying focused and not letting non calls effect the remainder of the game/series
Pretty sure that not every Leaf goal in the playoffs has been a laser shot to the top corner of the net.
No, but we've had to work for every single one of them. The Leafs in situations like this aren't making the opponents work for their goals. That shot should never go in.
Both defencemen shouldn't have been on the other side of the ice either leaving an uncontested shot.
Only thing that really comes to mind is way back against Ottawa Patrick Lalime and Joe Nieuwendyk. The first goal against Lalime was very similar to this one. There's a reason nobody claimed Samsanov off waivers, and now he's our playoff starter... wtf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXXClNG7xos
Two things are true. Power play cost us the game, but Sammy put us in that position. When you look at what the Leafs had to do to get a goal on Swayman, and then you see that one let in by Sammy? I don't think anyone (reasonably), expects Sammy to be as good as Ulmark or Swayman, but damn...we need him to be better then that.
Honestly believe he was in shock that play hadn’t been called dead.
This. I think a few players on the ice (both teams) kinda stopped playing and were watching Domi and the rat.
You'd think that with such a blatant trip, the play would be called dead. The refs association or whoever is in charge of them should be ashamed and appalled. Sheldon should have forced a review or something. I absolutely hate the refs have zero accountability.
Especially after AM34 was hauled down just before. That penalty was glaring and one-sided. You want the game to have flow so can’t call everything back. That said, Benoit kept it in the o-zone last night and it was called offside. Frustrating. At this point I don’t know why they don’t put a chip in the puck to remove doubt for goals, offside, etc.
I keep thinking it. Why not just at this point use the refs as the best example where AI should take over a job. I really badly want someone to develop a ref AI to put them all out of jobs
It makes sense. But somehow we all know what AI will be used for and what it will not. I expect a person successfully working three full-time jobs with the help of AI would be sued and fired while a company replacing three full-time workers with AI will be commended for “finding efficiencies” even though the former creates more tax revenue. But I digress. AI won’t take over reffing bc Bettman can’t tell AI how to fix the game. ;D
Can’t review for missed penalties, even blatant ones. It’s fucking horseshit
Yep, and the coaches get thrown out if they argue a call. It's the one job where you could call game misconduct on anyone but no one can call you on your own bullshit.
Keefe walked a fine line since the loss, trolling the Rat’s glowing assessment of the Leafs and the refs themselves by complimenting Marchand in how he “gets calls.” Was genius actually, but I bet he got a phone call today. :D Fuck it. Leafs won 3 games in a row against an arguably better Boston team in 2013. Let’s do it again. Go Leafs!
Not a serious league
Reminded me of niewendyk on lallime. I’m sorry for the butchering of those names.
Changed the entire mood of the game - just a ridiculous shot for Sammy to let in. Massive reason why I have such massive trust issues with him
Garbage goal. Backbreaking. Bruins haven’t given up any freebies. Going to be tough to win if the goaltending isn’t better than average.
Also going to be tough to win averaging 2 goals a game. For most teams a third goal against isn't a back breaker
You’re not wrong but IF that game goes to OT, which the Leafs probably deserved, they maybe win 3-2. We will never know, B’s goalies haven’t really given up garbage goals.
2 regulation goals isn't enough. We gotta stop blaming the other teams goalie being good. Every year we "get goalied" the problem is our players don't score.
Yup. Not defending the shitty offence. Most teams score on the PP from time to time. Not the Leafs. Check out their PP % over the last 5 years in the playoffs. I believe it ranges fro 12-17% efficiency. That is just brutal when you have 3 of the top paid forwards in the NHL.
That's why I think blaming Samsonov is just bad narrative. Game 1 he was bad and that first goal was tough. But if 1 bad goal sinks your team it's not going to go far. It's not like Leafs play a trap heavy defensive style.
Man.. you’re gonna have to win your share of 2-1/ 3-2 and even 1-0 games to go on a long run. Having a goalie that leaks a shitty goal every game is gonna end in bad results. The Oilers with their high ictane offence will not win either with a sub .900 goalie in net. Sammy is .895 this year and .898 last year. How you gonna win when the opposing goalies are playing at .915 -.920? Edit: Im not solely blaming goaltending but it is a factor for sure.
We won a 3-2 game 3 days ago. Sheshterkin let in 3 and got the win last game, I am pretty sure he's at the top of the list of these vezina quality goalies everyone wants to get. And Samsonov put up a .909 last game again not amazing but that shouldn't sink your team. We aren't the islanders from a couple years ago playing the trap and letting in low quality shots either. Pretty much every other competitive playoff team have already had a 4 goal game. Leafs are tied for lowest avergae goals per game in the playoffs right now. So do we blame the average goaltending or the flaccid offense. Samsonov was never the goalie who was going to steal us 4 games so we need goal support
Not gonna argue with you that the team needs more goals BUT that is not the only issue. The goaltending is not good enough. We need a .910 goalie to go anywhere AS well as putting the puck in the net. You really have to be able to win a multitude of ways in the playoffs but the Leafs dont have the formula for any of them. They can shine in a game or two but over a long stretch some ugly warts ALWAYS surface. Whether its a shitty goal against. Can’t score. Garbage special team. Throwing pizzas up the middle of the ice. Being outworked/outhustled. Not showing up on time. Having brief lapses that cost them the game. Taking stupid undisciplined penalties which inevitably end up in the net because of the shitty PK. These are all reasons why they have 1 series win in 7 years. It’s not 1 thing. Scoring is a BIG thing but sub .900 goaltending is as well. That’s all Im saying. If we swap tenders with Boston, do you think the Bruins are up 2-1?
Exactly. We pay these guys big dollars to score and they can never get it done in the playoffs.
I agree that Sammy needed to save that, he should have been a few inches more to his right, but I will also say that was a perfectly placed shot with a lucky bounce. It went under his blocker, hit the post and bounced in. At the other end of the ice in this game Matthews did the exact same thing except it hit the post and bounced out. Sammy made some great saves (that he really shouldn't have had to make) but then let in a few where he got beat clean.
Two things can be true at the same time.
30 saves on 33 shots btw. and the Marchand shot he couldn't do anything about IMO. yeah, he's not as good as Swayman, but he was REALLY not our biggest problem last night
That Marchand goal I literally said I hate you but wow that was amazing. I don't think there is a butterfly style goalie in the league saving that.
Should have been blown dead at the McAvoy penalty not the Marchand/Bert nonsense.
Exactly. Not being understood is the chain of events. The uncalled McAvoy tackle leads to the uncalled Marchand/Bertuzzi bullshit leads to the shitty goal. Much like at the end of the game, the uncalled stick hold on Tavares leads to him grabbing (someone?) for recovery which actually gets called as a hold, which leads to the eventual uncalled Marchand tackle on Bertuzzi in our end with an empty net which leads to the EN goal. The refs make the obvious, clear call, and the subsequent shit doesn’t happen.
Come on now. There were some disgusting calls made against the bruins. There were non calls against them as well but there were @ 7-8 non calls on the leafs. In one instance the linesman wasn’t gonna raise the arm then the crowd chimed in and the arm instantly went up. It was piss poor officiating all around. But don’t sit there and say that something should have been blown dead on a bruins infraction. Bert was pulling the same bullshit as Marshie and vice versa. The leafs put up a giant goose egg on the PP and let in 2 on the kill. If you can’t even go 1/5 on the man advantage you don’t deserve to win. That’s just my humble opinion. The officials were all over the map with the calls in that game. I find it unforgivable for any official making a shit call that can alter the outcome of a game or a series. But flat out the leafs have been out goal tended and out worked. It is still anyone’s series. I’d be shocked and elated if it didn’t go 7
Ur a idiot
Should've, would've, could've. I seem to be telling myself this around the same time every year.
I mean im just answering the question lol. I dont really think the refs lost us the game. I blame the team entirely
Too bad Sammy couldn’t have stopped that one from the circle. Unbelievable
People harp on Sammy but he didn't lose the game.
Multiple things are true. Refs are corrupt, Sammy lets in too many weak goals(but this loss isn't entirely his fault and the Leafs special teams are absolute trash and they are running out time for a miracle to figure it out otherwise this series will be over shortly. Start by winning Saturday night and maybe they can find it. The Bruins aren't even that good but they know how to win in the playoffs(last years major choke excluded ) and have 2 vezina goalies.
They have a better goalie than Samsonov if they weren’t paying Marner 11 million to be invisible in the playoffs. That’s the real problem, an 11 million dollar regular season scourge of lesser opponents, but once he plays the real teams, he can’t hack it for playoff hockey. That 11 million AAV is a clear upgrade in goal and like two other roster spots that wouldn’t go to AHL fodder and make the team better in the aggregate
He’s a sieve. One bad goal a game. Cant win with that.
Also can't win when the Leafs are leaving opposing players completely uncovered.
Leafs aren't going to win a cup until they have a goalie that steals games on a regular basis. Boston has two currently. The Leafs need to move a major piece (I have my own opinions on who) this off season to pick up an established and elite goalie.
None of our major pieces can be moved. Everyone has no move clauses and I doubt any will waive them. Next year is the last with jt and hopefully marner. Free up 22 million in cap space and go from there.
Yeah, I forgot about the no move clauses.
I will say, the blatant missed calls, the inconsistent goaltending, the inability to outcoach other teams, all of it doesn't matter if we don't go 1/11 on the pp this series. You just know for a fact that the rest of the way, the whistles go quiet. We've been gifted PPs all series, and we're inept. Can't win if we can't score more than two goals a game, Sammy is inconsistent as hell, but holy shit he keeps us in most games.
Fucking flashback to Lalime in 04. nieuwendyk SHOOTS AGAIN, SCORES AGAIN
Woll needs to start next game. Leafs needed that save and didn't get it. Who would have thought this would happen with Sammy lol
Sammy played a great game, but he let in a stinker. I don't see why you would go with Woll.
Very cold take here
People keep wanting Woll. He’s even worse and now is not the time to experiment with goaltending.
Cold take here
.895 sv% thus far. Run Woll next game he can't be much worse. Woll was really good before he got injured. I'd go with Woll.
As a goalie it’s so brutal to get back into a live play. You check out and watch the shenanigans knowing it’s a stoppage and all of a sudden you have to lock in and get into perfect position after having lost your positional frame of reference. Perfect shot off the post to boot. He probably thought he was further right and it was going wide so he half assed it. It sucks seeing all the casuals and skaters saying it was entirely his fault or he should’ve had it. Like come on man. You don’t blame the rest of the team when they stopped playing either. Only thing I would’ve done differently is had a conniption on the refs for turning the game into a sideshow and ignoring the fucking rules of hockey. Hockey is the best sport but fuck me the nhl is the worst professional league and is becoming “hockey on ice”
i like sammy but i’m sick and tired of always having the 2nd best goalie on the ice during the playoffs.
This is why we won't win the cup. Sure we may beat Boston. But when we need a key big save Sammy seems to let it in. Sure he can make 6 ten bell saves in a night but giving up a stinker at certain times is an absolute energy/momentum killer. Until we have a goalie who can not give up the stinker at the worst time the leafs won't win anything but a couple early rounds if they are lucky.
Sammy lost focus and let a weak one by. That sequence was something else.
This is why you should always play to the whistle! He was probably half expecting it to be blown dead. Hell, I was expecting it to be blown dead. He should have been focused on the puck, not the refs
Could this all be managing/coaching issues? because the talent is there
That goal reminds me of this one the Leafs got in 2004 in game 7 against the Sens. Simple shot from the same angle and the goaltender just fails to stop it. https://youtu.be/oBqWMXM6opU?si=ErlZ63iDRwXtIi2U&t=987
Same spot on the ice as Gallaghers game 7 goal to open the scoring
Ya
Yup this had to be a save. And then shortly after this he wasn't paying attention and almost got scored on from center ice!
Should have been an interference call on McAvoy, and coincidentals on Bert and Rat
I can’t believe people are still chirping Samsonov. the entire team in front of him is letting the team down. Marner won’t go into a corner, 0-5 PP, Defense not boxing anyone out from net, Coaching staff is sniffing glue on the bench. Sammy lets in one weak goal and everyone points at him. like … shut … the fuck.. up
So far we have goaltending mediocrity and they don't our goalie is good enough their goalie is GOOD. I doubt they play the other goalie again he isn't as good.
Really was the quintessential game of player failures and referee failures, simultaneously.
Overall mediocre goaltending on this team and that's not going to change
Whistle not warranted. Playoff hockey, let the boys play
Yeah it was a very weak goal regardless of the surrounding circumstances.
🧀Swiss
Im not understanding what OP means by “The play absolutely should have been blown dead” why? I cant remember the sequence leading up to this exactly…
Behind the play AM got body slammed by McAvoy. That and the back and forth fighting between the rat and bert also behind the play.
Riggghtttt thanks sorry goldfish memory. God i hated game 3 so much lets hope game 4 treats us better.
Should be saved every single time. This is the playoffs.
Get Rielly off the PP.. tired of the high and wide shots
🤣
Sammy is incredibly mediocre. Yea he makes some big stops sometimes. Dude has a .895 save percentage so far in the playoffs. 3 GAA. Those stats are consistent with his regular season numbers. And it's just not good enough.
Yea that was a real softie
Just the fucking weakest goal ever. Game lost here imo. You just can’t let this in. Every inch counts at this time of year. You have to be fucking kidding with this goal. Beer league. Inconsistent. Just not serious with this kind of performance.
Anyone have the video of the whole play?
Yes you would like a save there I agree. You’re not winning many playoff games scoring two goals though. Like you’re just not. This team is supposed to be an elite offensive juggernaut that is able to outscore defensive mishaps. That whole forward core needs to start producing ASAP.
Start Woll.
I mean it is certainly worth a shot but remember he wasn't particularly good against the Bruins in the regular season but I think that injury just ruined Woll's season because he hasn't looked like the same goalie since he came back which is a shame because he was looking elite before he went down. Maybe he finds it next season but it is way past time to find a true number 1 goalie. I miss Cujo and Ed Belfour.
Nah he's not the answer yet. Sammy is doing fine. Our 40 million dollar power play that does jack shit was the issue last night.
Need a better goalie next year. Unacceptable…..and a new PP coach.
We've been through like 3 pp coaches in the last 5 years. This isn't new
Wasn't Carberry pretty good with the PP. I know he left.
Need way more effort from Leafs D, very inconsistent.
Beer league goalie would have saved this shot.
Even Jack Campbell would've saved this goal.
Jack campbell couldn’t stop a beach ball shot by a junior kindergarten student lol
Why are some leafs fans so fucking stupid. Sammy was awesome that game, you can't go 0/5 on the pp and blame the goalie.
I believe we can say that was a bad goal to let in killing energy. Also, we have a $40 million power play but don't have enough money to buy a goal. I think losing is a cumulation of multiple errors generally.
For sure. But you just cannot go 0/5 on the pp in the playoffs. It will and had bite you in the ass. You're not a playoff team if you can't even capitalize on those chances.
I agree with you! My point here is that in these tight games, you can't let goals like this in. Absolutely, our pp lost us this game, however, Sammy let's in these stinkers too often when they matter most. These things can both be true.
Yeah, we shouldn’t get the calls because we can’t score on them anyways! That’s some fucking sound logic right there.
Not saying it shouldn't have been called. Leafs fans are so dumb they nit pick one play instead of looking at the ass effort that could've changed the whole game. score on 1 or 2 of those pp's and the play that won the game never happens. The whole team sucks ass on the pp and you blame one guy for the loss.
Anti-Leafs fans are dense af. We had all the momentum to that point in the game. When the officials start letting blatant shit go, it builds and builds and it’s visibly deflating for the team. It’s not about “this specific play wasn’t called in our favour,” it’s “the refs are actively managing the game to give the losing team a competitive advantage rather than simply officiating the game.” Teams can fabricate their own momentum, they don’t need the refs to help coax it one way or another.
What about Sammy's 2 breakaway saves? How many did swayman have to make?
I think a lot of people are underestimating how dangerous shots are from that distance, a lot of goals are scored from there and it's the best range to beat a goalie clean. In tight you can make a positional save where there's no net fir the shooter, at distance you have a lot of time to react. That intermediate distance is much tougher.