Post-Game Talk: Leafs lose 5-4 in OT

[LastOne2100]

The Leafs have to own this loss by coasting in the 3ed.

But also worth remembering the Leafs absolutely destroyed the Avs 8-3 just a few weeks ago. I'm not so sure I'd agree the Avs are built better....

The 8-3 win was against a goaltender that isn't NHL caliber, don't forget.

However, we've proven we can hang with the Avalanche, we just have a really bad habit of trying to turtle with leads instead of playing our game.

 

[Havoc]

The Leafs have to own this loss by coasting in the 3ed.

But also worth remembering the Leafs absolutely destroyed the Avs 8-3 just a few weeks ago. I'm not so sure I'd agree the Avs are built better....

If we lost to the Avs 8-3 and beat them 5-4 in OT today, the final conclusion would be Avs are miles ahead.

 

[steam whistle]

I was thinking a timeout would have been a good idea there.

I don't get why coaches rarely use them in those situations. I get that they're saving it to draw up some last minute play but f*** that.

Most coaches choose to let it just go on for some reason.

Keefe is miles away from the coach of the Canes. I have to admit it.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

One of the best defensive teams in the league... this....

hate the hot takes after a loss, so many bad ones.

Tavares sucks now too haha

Tavares did have a bad game though. Nylander was better but that whole line was lacklustre tonight.

 

[Cleetus]

Im a leaf fan....

you should probably get the trade right, it was not Kadri for Brodie, leaf fan would of never posted a trade that does not exist

 

[Stephen]

Sucks to lose like that, hard to matchup when every second shift in the 3rd period its one of MacK/Landy/Rantanen/Makar coming over the boards.

You need all the skill you can get when you're facing a top team, having Marner / Kase / Engvall over Ritchie (rocks for brains), / Clifford / Seney.

Tavares wasn't very good tonight, Muzz/Holl wasn't very good tonight, I'll keep saying it, they need to find a replacement for Holl at the 4 spot and slid him down into 5/6 pair.

Tavares didn’t do much tonight at all. That certainly did not help.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Imagine if Justin Holl was good at his job didn't stare at the puck like an idiot, and attempted to go get it the 2nd goal would not have happened and we'd be talking about a win.

But Justin Holl is an idiot and he did stare at the puck and did not attempt to go get it and the 2nd goal did happen and we are talking about a loss.

and before anyone says "he thought there was a penalty." because I know that's the response.

So what? We have a top 10 PK that went 4 for 4

Go get the puck

 

[CincoHolio]

Well that was unpleasant

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

I don't get what all the complaining is about regarding the refs this was a textbook, perfectly officiated game. This is the type of game the league uses when training their refs.

 

[Confucius]

The Avs had 75+ Shot attempts and what 47 shots? Not on Campbell, defending in front of him let him down on multiple occasions.

I remember the years it seemed we outshot everybody, not too many thought that mattered back then.

 

[BertCorbeau]

The Leafs have to own this loss by coasting in the 3ed.

But also worth remembering the Leafs absolutely destroyed the Avs 8-3 just a few weeks ago. I'm not so sure I'd agree the Avs are built better....

Funny thing about that game. the Leafs went up 3-0 and the Av's cut it to 3-2 before the Av's goalie let in a softie and momentum swung. Tonight their normal goalie tandem came though and shut the door when needed.

In that first game it was almost the same script but goaltending was the difference.

Seems to be an issue with the Leafs when they get up in a game, they seem to make it harder on themselves. Teams push back and sometimes the Leafs can't handle it. That being said, this year they have been a lot better with them.

 

[Cleetus]

Tavares didn’t do much tonight at all. That certainly did not help.

he looked behind the play all night.... tough night for him

 

[HockeyVirus]

One of our main issues is Muzzin's sudden decline. I'm wondering if he is going to snap out of it. It's not like he is slower than the game or something, he is just making stupid decisions. If that pair was the shutdown pair they were the last 2 seasons we'd be the best defensive team in the league.

Dubas need to move on from Muzz at the draft, try and get a first for him. This is how you afford to keep Campbell and keep the cheap depth coming. 2 picks in the first would be huge.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Besides from the Brodie call (which was quite obviously a terrible call), what other calls did you guys disagree with?

None of the Leafs penalties were non-penalties. Avs just got away with multiple trips and other infractions that the refs refused to call.

 

[Smif]

Lmao.

"Stats are stoopid....except for shots on goal they mean everything!"

Most of the time I agree with your numbers and stats, tonight, no chance. Just give it up on this one. There's no stat out there that can tell me they should've won that I'll agree with.

 

[LastOne2100]

Funny thing about that game. the Leafs went up 3-0 and the Av's cut it to 3-2 before the Av's goalie let in a softie and momentum swung. Tonight their normal goalie tandem came though and shut the door when needed.

In that first game it was almost the same script but goaltending was the difference.

Seems to be an issue with the Leafs when they get up in a game, they seem to make it harder on themselves. Teams push back and sometimes the Leafs can't handle it. That being said, this year they have been a lot better with them.

They basically decide to stop playing their game which they are so good at and are so successful at and just try to nurse leads. It's baffling.

 

[Aashir]

No he didn't. You let in 5 goals you deserve your result. He put in an amazing 50 minutes to give his team a chance and it fell apart for all of them down the stretch.

And he still had a .900…………….
Team let him down, couldn’t stop the Avs, they just dominated

 

[notbias]

Tavares did have a bad game though. Nylander was better but that whole line was lacklustre tonight.

The bad game doesn't mean he sucks, that is all I was pointing out, people overreact a lot

 

[BTP]

That's the difference between a bunch of guys getting underpaid / reasonably paid (Kadri 4.5, Mackinnon 6.3, Makar 9.0, Landeskog 9.0, Rabtanen 9.2) vs a team with guys getting paid at a super premium level (Matthews 11.2, Tavares 11.0, Marner 10.8) and one of them not even on the ice tonight.

Depth matters. Colorado has a ton of it because they have some guys on absolute steals for contracts.

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Kerfoot - Tavares - Nylander
Mikehyev - Kampf - Kase
Engvall - Spezza - Simmonds

The bolded being out drastically changed how Sheldon coached this game. With them in our line up is significantly deeper than it was tonight. And they needed 4 Powerplays and 3 on 3 OT to beat us by 1.

They had like 18 shots on their powerplays. 4-1 powerplay advantage is rare in the playoffs.

 

[PromisedLand]

As soon as they said the Leafs are 17-0-0 this season leading after two, I had a bad vibe.

First I read this post
GDT: - Leafs Vs Avs 7pm Saturday

then Mack scored

Then I read the other post
GDT: - Leafs Vs Avs 7pm Saturday

I knew the leafs gonna lost the game

@Menzinger dude take it easy with the jinx posts man

 

[notbias]

And he still had a .900…………….
Team let him down, couldn’t stop the Avs, they just dominated

Dominated is a weird word when they were the worse team for over half the game

 

[CelticDruid]

One of the best defensive teams in hockey. So no, not for sure.

Campbell has been brilliant and has covered up a lot of D mistakes, there is nothing wrong with upgrading the blue line.

 

[Perratrooper]

It was more the complete lack of calls the other way. Multiple uncalled trips, interference, etc.

The Ritchie call was iffy .. The Av's player was running a pick interference play on him and Ritchie just went through him to the puck carrier.

Also noticed a couple of trips that weren't called in the third.

wasn’t about that really. All but the Brodie penalty were legit penalties. It was the non calls that were pissing us off

Fair enough. Obviously I’m bias the other way and will have a different perspective than you guys, but I thought there were missed calls both ways with the Brodie penalty being the major outlier of bad calls.

Thanks for the feedback without chewing my head off, hope to see the two teams in the finals! (Although my dad and I might not talk for a month after if that happens )

 

[Jojalu]

That's the way she goes. You're playing an excellent team, you're down 3 regulars, but you find yourselves up 3 goals, twice.

But you can't handle the pressure, despite your goalie playing excellent hockey and your stars can't push back and quell the momentum.

After all that, your superstar still has the puck on the doorstep, all alone, in overtime, and he just whiffs.

You get beat.

Take the point. Learn a lesson (you have to keep playing) and can't get outshot 50/25 if you want to be a Cup contender.

You can be badly outshot and 100% outplayed if you are a cup contender. You just can't make a habit of it.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

You can’t blame the refs on this one. The Leafs were outclassed and dominated in the second and third. They were not even in the game. They sat back and let McKinnon run circles around them. There was no offensive zone time at all.

It was actually a pretty even game 5 on 5. So yes, the refs deserve partial blame because we couldn't buy a call in the 3rd despite a few obvious penalties.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Funny thing about that game. the Leafs went up 3-0 and the Av's cut it to 3-2 before the Av's goalie let in a softie and momentum swung. Tonight their normal goalie tandem came though and shut the door when needed.

In that first game it was almost the same script but goaltending was the difference.

Seems to be an issue with the Leafs when they get up in a game, they seem to make it harder on themselves. Teams push back and sometimes the Leafs can't handle it. That being said, this year they have been a lot better with them.

Tonight showed why Marner is such a key piece with Matthews. We really needed another skill player when they started pressing.