Post-Game Talk: Hit em with the 4 like AM34. Leafs lose 4th straight game 7 to Boston: 2-1

[HamiltonNHL]

Mitch scored a beauty goal that game they were arguing on the bench. He also missed 14 games down the stretch with an ankle injury when his mobility is crucial for his offensive game. But don't let reality keep you from hating on Marner.

Fear not.
The goal isn’t to win cups (it’s to make money for shareholders). If Mitch will wear a Milk sponsor hat here and there - that’ll be fine.

 

[Darcy Tucker]

Defending Marner after he ruined the franchise is crazy

I'm not defending him that poster said he didnt score which is simply not true.

 

[MSZ]

This post from 2017 is a comedy gold.

 

[Evilhomer]

They had home ice against CBJ and Montreal. Couldn't score in those deciding games.

I understand, but it doesn't change the fact that putting yourself in the best position to win (i.e., playing the Capitals) is important.

 

[GoonieFace]

Snot factor was definitely a factor in the last three games, but once again the high priced talent choked……..

It’s really that simple, but yet people on here want to blame goaltending. They scored 12 goals in 7 games, that’s pathetic. At least Willy did something

 

[stealth1]

If you look at this core, most of the players do care.

Matthews definitely cared. If Samsonov could stop choking and allowing muffins on the shot after a goal he's praised for that pass on the GWG.

Nylander definitely cared.

Tavares cares - he's just on the decline. Made a solid play to win Game 5.

Rielly cares

Marner? I'm not sure he cares. He might care - but he puts himself before the team. He's terrified of physical contact. Swayman gave him the puck and instead of stopping and trying to beat Swayman to the open net, he went around the net into a position where he won't get physical contact before trying to pass the puck gently into Swayman's arms.

They do care. IMO as good as they are in the regular season, they don't have that next gear when it comes to the playoffs. At this point they need to do a major re-tool of this team.

 

[FerrisRox]

Nonsense......the angle of the rebound from the boards made it an extremely risky play and it would have taken an outstanding play by Samsonov to intercept it. The fault is 100% on Reilly for not recognizing the play developing until it was too late.

I wouldn't put 100 percent of the blame on Reilly.

Marner is essentially beside Pasternak before that dump in, and he just doesn't seem interested in covering him, he doesn't really pursue him into the zone so he goes in and wins that race entirely uncontested. Marner seems content to let his goaltender or defense handle it and is actually just coasting on the back check.

I would definitely place some blame on Mitch Marner.

 

[Evilhomer]

It’s really that simple, but yet people on here want to blame goaltending. They scored 12 goals in 7 games, that’s pathetic. At least Willy did something

I think the reality is that while the Leafs definitely played better defensively in this series than in year's past, there is no way this defense was going to hold up against Florida, and then the Rangers/Hurricanes, and then Colorado/Dallas/whoever. The team's offense basically wasted the best defensive performance this team could probably pull off against the most fortunate match-up outside of Washington/Islanders. In other words, a lot of good things actually fell into place for the leafs in the series, but the offense let them down again. I don't think people should discount the injuries (what happens if Nylander plays the whole series?), but you can't spend that much money on offense with those results.

 

[Community]

Lots of overreactions in here in my opinion after yet another disappointing year. I get it, this group is excruciating to watch at times. They played a Boston team that I believe they should've run over, even with some injuries/illnesses.

Unfortunately, this team needed to be healthy to win the series. And they probably would've won I'd they were healthy for the whole series. However, you gotta figure a way to win this game so that you can get guys back for round 2 and they still had more skill in the lineup than the other team.

Sammy let in a soft one and the OT winner was a clusterf***. Sammy should've been the first one to the puck, Mitch should've been staying with Pastrnak, and Rielly should've been in a better position for support. However, we shouldn't have put ourselves into a situation where 1 bounce decides the game AGAIN.


Keefe is a fine coach and could easily have success elsewhere.... However, its clear he has to go. If the Leafs win in OT, would that have been the worst special teams to win a round ever? Has to be close... powerplay barely changed strategy from game 1 of the regulsr season to game 7 playoffs... ridiculous. In addition, we struggle with consistency. Players take some responsibility, but so should the coaches and their easier to replace.

I'd keep Mitch and JT and see how next year goes without a coach. Let Mitch and JT walk if we have to if they won't sign reasonable extensions and play poor for another playoff round. I'd imagine you re-sign JT on the cheap and Mitch sticks to a 12m ask and walks. Don't think his dad/agent will be too hyped about waiving his NTC and potentially going to a non-offensive team in a contract year.

 

[Trapper]

One can hope, they are high end players, it’s just this team is like ice cream and ketchup, apart they’re great, together, not so much……..

We don’t even need a superstar for Marner. It’s great if you can get a Tkachuk sure but even a younger O’Reilly type and a solid puck moving D can change things.

 

[MSZ]

Lots of overreactions in here in my opinion after yet another disappointing year.

8 straight years of garbage playoff results. This isn't overreacting man.

 

[shaner8989]

Has it been mentioned that Morgan Rielly is a fraud. He was f***ing trash all series and that final play is him in a nutshell.

This coming from a guy who has loved him for years. Time to go

Keefe
Shanahan
Marner
Reilly
Samsonov
Tavares if you can get a puck for him

Bye bye

 

[57 Years No Cup]

A lot of this is extremely unfair, they played with a ton of heart this series, this isn’t like past years.

So where's the lineup for the Participation Ribbons?

 

[kevsh]

I guess all the losing finally convinced me of this team's fate, because there wasn't a moment watching the game last night were I believed they would win.

And when Willy potted that goal I honestly didn't cheer, didn't even get excited. I said out loud "Boston will tie this up within the next 5 minutes guaranteed." They did in less than two.

I'm suffering from the same thing many Leafs fans are: Learned Helplessness.

Learned helplessness: Examples, symptoms, and treatment.

So I fully expect in the post-season presser Tre will congratulate the players on fighting hard, showing resilience, blah blah blah. It's just gibberish at this point.

They lost. Again. 8 years, $40M in star players, for 1 series victory and 3 game 7 losses to our arch nemesis Boston. Unacceptable for any franchise with any self-respect. And massive changes won't mean a thing, this team won't win until this core is completely gone and there's a fresh set of stars, leaders and depth players.

Why? Because the players are suffering from the same thing: Learned helplessness. It's now a toxic cloud over all their heads and it won't go away until they're wearing a different jersey or retired.

 

[thewave]

I guess all the losing finally convinced me of this team's fate, because there wasn't a moment watching the game last night were I believed they would win.

And when Willy potted that goal I honestly didn't cheer, didn't even get excited. I said out loud "Boston will tie this up within the next 5 minutes guaranteed." They did in less than two.

I'm suffering from the same thing many Leafs fans are: Learned Helplessness.

Learned helplessness: Examples, symptoms, and treatment.

So I fully expect in the post-season presser Tre will congratulate the players on fighting hard, showing resilience, blah blah blah. It's just gibberish at this point.

They lost. Again. 8 years, $40M in star players, for 1 series victory and 3 game 7 losses to our arch nemesis Boston. Unacceptable for any franchise with any self-respect. And massive changes won't mean a thing, this team won't win until this core is completely gone and there's a fresh set of stars, leaders and depth players.

Why? Because the players are suffering from the same thing: Learned helplessness. It's now a toxic cloud over all their heads and it won't go away until they're wearing a different jersey or retired.

You didnt cheer when Willy scored? You knew Keefe would toss out L4 and the D would just watch the push back? I hear ya, Keefe is stupid and cant get his teams playing right mentally. Special Teams is the most hilarious. No timeouts. No logical line adjustments. Just 100% dumb coach.

 

[Shak19]

The last goal was a mistake by Marner (who it disinterested in getting a body on Pastrnak to impede his way NOR even hustle back to cover him. Reilly was super slow to react and Samsonov was the last straw.

Order of blame:
1. Marner
2. Reilly
3. Sammy

 

[Commander Clueless]

I'm impressed with the level of disappointment this fanbase can still muster.


Usually disappointment is expectations vs results. I don't know how anyone has any expectations anymore. It's been 8 years.


If they win this series, I'm excited and happy beyond belief....but lose?

This is where we live.


Bring on the off-season! Let's make some trades and signings. I'm ready.

 

[colchar]

I wouldn't put 100 percent of the blame on Reilly.

Marner is essentially beside Pasternak before that dump in, and he just doesn't seem interested in covering him, he doesn't really pursue him into the zone so he goes in and wins that race entirely uncontested. Marner seems content to let his goaltender or defense handle it and is actually just coasting on the back check.

I would definitely place some blame on Mitch Marner.

He deserves most of the blame. Had he not let Pasternak blow by him, and had instead skated with him to disrupt his ability to get the puck and stick handle with it, then the play would not have developed as it did.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

So much of this series was utter horseshit. From Nylander getting debilitating migraines after playing all 82 regular season games, to Matthews getting severe food poisoning, to Woll carrying us to Game 7 and then waking up with “stiffness” on the day of, and of course to the ridiculously unlucky bounce that led to the OT winner. Officiating was better than in past series, but even there, Boston got the edge in PPs in the deciding game (of course they did).

At the same time, the fact is that they didn’t lose Game 1 because Nylander wasn’t playing and they didn’t lose Game 4 because Matthews wasn’t playing. They did not show up in 2 games in a best-of-7. They put themselves down 3-1 in the series. They were 1/21 on the PP and only marginally better on the PK. They even had the lead midway through the 3rd period in this game and managed to give it up (naturally to the JVR and Brazeau line). They made themselves vulnerable to one bullshit bounce and that bounce ended their season and ultimately should end this core’s time together (it should have ended two years ago).

Because if you didn’t know this team, if you brought a movie script of this series to a producer, that producer would dismiss it out of hand: It is just not beleafable that a team would suffer such a sequence of misfortunes. But we know this team, we know who they are, and we know that they have an unparalleled ability to find ways to lose big games and to lose series. If you’re surprised, you’re not a Leafs fan. Such a shame to have wasted an era that began with such promise.

 

[egd27]

All season I blathered on about how important it was for the Leafs to win the division. Maybe next season.

Did you? I may be mistaken but weren't you often posting that complaining about the effort in "meaningless" games was pointless?

 

[colchar]

Keefe is a fine coach

Really? When is he going to start proving that?

I'd keep Mitch and JT and see how next year goes without a coach.

Wait, what????

A lot of this is extremely unfair, they played with a ton of heart this series, this isn’t like past years.

They played with a ton of heart for a couple of games.

 

[henryasteroidlionnet]

Has it been mentioned that Morgan Rielly is a fraud. He was f***ing trash all series and that final play is him in a nutshell.

This coming from a guy who has loved him for years. Time to go

Keefe
Shanahan
Marner
Reilly
Samsonov
Tavares if you can get a puck for him

Bye bye

He sure is! He is not meeting expectations with only 3 assists in 7 games in these playoffs, despite being paid millions to anchor the powerplay (which has been abysmal) and score goals. I would explore trades for him as well. Time for a major shakeup!

 

[Blanka]

f*** this team. I’m done

Me too. See you next October?

 

[m1ker]

It’s really that simple, but yet people on here want to blame goaltending. They scored 12 goals in 7 games, that’s pathetic. At least Willy did something

Both scoring and goaltending were an issue. I mean Sammy wouldn’t have started and Woll gets injured too easy so it’s self explanatory. I think the thought process is remove some money spent on scoring for a goalie since we don’t score anyways

 

[Suntouchable13]

Ah, where's Patrick Lalime when you need him? That's the last time this franchise won a game 7. God damn it. Anyway, I'll be very interested in how the Boston-Florida series goes and seeing if Florida can make Swayman look ordinary.