Post-Game Talk: Leafs Lose in Game 7. Again.

[banks]

A close series against an evenly matched team. It's a shame they lost. But there was always a good chance they lose in round 1 again with an opponent like that.

This time the team played well most of the series, and the deciding game wasn't a choke job in my eyes. No Gardiner disasters, no soft goals from the goalie, no baffling "hobbled-Zach-Hyman takes the faceoff" coaching moves. It didn't look, to me, like there's a lot with the team that needs fixing. It's almost unfort2that the track record demands change.

One goal here or there (like the JT goal that got called back) and everyone's saying the team finally has heart and a killer instinct as they go on to round 2.

 

[Mopar]

Very disappointing loss.

Tampa was beatable. Vasilevskiy was beatable. This one stings.....a lot.

I think we have players capable of winning. They played very well and our best players were our best players which was great. But they need to learn to play right. There's a difference between playing well and playing right. Tampa put on an absolute clinic in Game 7. Even though their stars were relatively quiet. They got a couple of goals and shut it down. Blocked a ton of shots and Vas was sharp enough.

My two biggest concerns entering the playoffs were goaltending and coaching. Both cost us basically the entire series.

Keefe's lack of ability to adapt is frustrating. Top ranked PP in the NHL goes to shit once again in the playoffs. Other teams adapt in a playoff series and we fail to adjust. Running Rielly on the point with slow decision making and passing and no point shot made it easy for Tampa to shut it down. Virtually unchanged for 7 games. Then he doesn't stack a line when we're down a goal with the game winding down. Just mind boggling decision making.

Marner playing cute, looking for a perfect play like it's a pre-season game. Other players doing similar things instead of simplifying the game and getting the puck to the net.

Campbell, not good enough. Too many soft goals. It's the playoffs.....shut the f***ing door.

Kerfoot's drop pass in Game 6 that led to a goal. The back to back high sticking penalties. One in Tampa's zone while killing a penalty.

These things will all haunt us for the summer.

We had a good season and took some steps forward. I'm glad our big players made an impact as well. But they have to put it all together to win a playoff round in this league.

Winners win. They step up and perform at a very high level when it matters. They limit or eliminate errors. Whether it's a team sport or an individual. They find a way to get it done. Sometimes in incredibly high pressure situations. I've watched lots of sports and witnessed it plenty of times. Tampa did that in this series. The Leafs didn't.

Not even sure where they go from here. The pieces were there to win. They beat themselves this year.

 

[deprw]

I doubt it, although Zeke and Dicks have been wrong so many times about this team that it does make you wonder.

I think being wrong isn't 1/0 when we talk about being one bounce away kicking Lightning out of these playoffs. Would one round victory prove they were right in everything, like it was played in the series.

It wasn't humiliating failure like last year, this team was way better. We got pretty harsh opponent to first round, but in overall it's hard to sell this season as complete failure and also would be interesting message also to our players.

It still is failure and we have to assess how to move forward. It also good to examine own opinions and feelings after last year. Many of us was trading Marner away as bust, he was top3 player of this team whole season including playoffs. Would have been terrible terrible failure. You have make those decisions with level head.

It would be fair game to pivot and get better goaltender of real leader to the defense, but it isn't common to find those pieces as UFA or trough trade. How many real franchise talents G or D have been traded last decade. I think we're built that we that we can free up cap space if needed.

 

[Sypher04]

People miss the bigger picture if you defend the team's play in this series. Yes, it was "good"; they lost. And yes, they don't shoot enough, and when they do, they miss the net so often it makes me crazy. Forget the specifics of the moment. Focus on that undeniable fact --- can't win deciding games in series. I think there are leadership issues in this team and i think we overvalue who we have relative to other teams. When people "don't show up", maybe it's because they're not as good as you think they are.

Big change or nothing, no more nights in the front of the TV for nothing. Remember the Peanuts cartoon: every year Lucy would hold the football for Charlie Brown, and promise she wouldn't trick him, and every year he believed and ran at the ball to kick it -- and she would pull it away. We have to stop being Charlie Brown.

Really depends who you are claiming didn’t show up. The core showed up, played great and carried this team this series. You wanna know why the Leafs lost this series? Our depth that had been there all through this season wilted and cost us this series.

Simmonds, Clifford, Spezza, Mikheyev, Blackwell, Engvall, Kase, Kerfoot and Kampf COMBINED for a total of 3 goals that were not into an empty net. And zero through the final 4 games of the series. Zero. To make matters even worse, they were on average about a minus 2 each over those last 4 as well.

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

Really depends who you are claiming didn’t show up. The core showed up, played great and carried this team this series. You wanna know why the Leafs lost this series? Our depth that had been there all through this season wilted and cost us this series.

Simmonds, Clifford, Spezza, Mikheyev, Blackwell, Engvall, Kase, Kerfoot and Kampf COMBINED for a total of 3 goals that were not into an empty net. And zero through the final 4 games of the series. Zero. To make matters even worse, they were on average about a minus 2 each over those last 4 as well.

Dubas' loyalty to player is his only major flaw, but it's costing him big time. He's a smart GM who seems to completely lack any killer instinct.

If he survives this failure as well, I at least hope he goes big. This is the year you make the splash, you trade futures, you go all in.

We've completely wasted Matthews in a way that makes our wasting of Sundin's career look like child's play.

 

[Sypher04]

Dubas' loyalty to player is his only major flaw, but it's costing him big time. He's a smart GM who seems to completely lack any killer instinct.

If he survives this failure as well, I at least hope he goes big. This is the year you make the splash, you trade futures, you go all in.

We've completely wasted Matthews in a way that makes our wasting of Sundin's career look like child's play.

I actually don’t fault Dubas much here to be honest. This bottom 6 looked like they took a major step his season. Namely Engvall and Mikheyev. Even then he still added Blackwell, who seemed like a good add as well. This is failure to execute pure and simple. The Leafs core guys played the Lightnings top guys to a draw or better, which is what typically happens in these kinds of series, and they needed something, anything, behind them as most playoff teams do to get into the next round against a very strong opponent

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

I actually don’t fault Dubas much here to be honest. This bottom 6 looked like they took a major step his season. Namely Engvall and Mikheyev. Even then he still added Blackwell, who seemed like a good add as well. This is failure to execute pure and simple. The Leafs core guys played the Lightnings top guys to a draw or better, which is what typically happens in these kinds of series, and they needed something, anything, behind them as most playoff teams do to get into the next round against a very strong opponent

I fault him. Tampa had a decent bottom 6 this year, but JB still went out and upgraded it. He knew he had some good players but still went all in. Tampa going all in at the deadline was the difference in the series. His 3rd line dummied our bottom 6 all series long.

Kyle was married to his guys in Engvall, Mikheyev, Kerfoot, and Holl.

 

[Sypher04]

I fault him. Tampa had a decent bottom 6 this year, but JB still went out and upgraded it. He knew he had some good players but still went all in. Tampa going all in at the deadline was the difference in the series. His 3rd line dummied our bottom 6 all series long.

Kyle was married to his guys in Engvall, Mikheyev, Kerfoot, and Holl.

I’d have loved to nab Paul obviously but Ottawa never would have traded him here. Hagel, thus far, has not come even remotely close to justifying the cost Tampa paid for him, but he’s capable so we will see.

Engvall and Mikheyev had played fantastic all season and if they had continue it into the playoffs would have been major factors in this series. I think maybe another bottom 6 guy could have been acquired, but Giordano was the bigger priority as far as I’m concerned. Our third line looked set to go toe to toe with anyone. Then ghosted us this series.

 

[RoadWarrior]

Cause that will make our generational franchise centre happy with two years left on his contract.

Matthews is gone in 2 years anyway. He isn't staying in Canada.

 

[deprw]

Dubas' loyalty to player is his only major flaw, but it's costing him big time. He's a smart GM who seems to completely lack any killer instinct.

If he survives this failure as well, I at least hope he goes big. This is the year you make the splash, you trade futures, you go all in.

We've completely wasted Matthews in a way that makes our wasting of Sundin's career look like child's play.

Well wasting if interesting term if you look how often under 25yo player have won his first cup in salary cap NHL. It's pretty rare and mostly our core is in that age group with him. It's common that teams have growing pains and usually those that get trough have pushed years and mostly with one or two GM.

It's anomaly that we can't get trough first round, but playing against Tampa that isn't surprising. Last season was way worse. Feeling is still common and I hate this.

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

I’d have loved to nab Paul obviously but Ottawa never would have traded him here. Hagel, thus far, has not come even remotely close to justifying the cost Tampa paid for him, but he’s capable so we will see.

Engvall and Mikheyev had played fantastic all season and if they had continue it into the playoffs would have been major factors in this series. I think maybe another bottom 6 guy could have been acquired, but Giordano was the bigger priority as far as I’m concerned. Our third line looked set to go toe to toe with anyone. Then ghosted us this series.

We're just fans. It's up to management to see that Engvall and Mik have been outclassed in previous years and to see through the regular season results.

I hate it when people go "it's a different game in the playoffs" but god damn what I wouldn't give to have a team built more like Colorado or St. Louis.

 

[smtevo]

Matthews is gone in 2 years anyway. He isn't staying in Canada.

no doubt hes gone

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Matthews is gone in 2 years anyway. He isn't staying in Canada.

Bettman has him scheduled to rescue his boyhood team - Arizona Coyotes.

"I'm going home like JT went home".

 

[The Masters]

I fault him. Tampa had a decent bottom 6 this year, but JB still went out and upgraded it. He knew he had some good players but still went all in. Tampa going all in at the deadline was the difference in the series. His 3rd line dummied our bottom 6 all series long.

Kyle was married to his guys in Engvall, Mikheyev, Kerfoot, and Holl.

all those guys u mentioned should be gone this off-season. they produced NOTHING. And our 4th line? Ha. NON-EXISTENT.

Dubas has to get all new bottom 6 (except Kampf who was solid) then trade nylander for a power forward for the top 6 and maybe a D-man because our D still needs help.

Mrazek? he's screwed. No one touching him so they r going to bring him back and hope he plays well. Raanta from Carolina was such a solid pickup last year thats who they should have targeted.

 

[keonsbitterness]

Are we winning game 8 tonight or what?

 

[Apex Predator]

I doubt it, although Zeke and Dicks have been wrong so many times about this team that it does make you wonder.

They’re probably James Mirtle and Jonas Siegel lol

 

[57 Years No Cup]

Something that I think virtually no one acknowledges about Tampa: they conserved themselves during significant stretches of this round. They played just as well as they needed to play to win the round. The Leafs didn't get manhandled by an aggressive desperate opponent, they got beat by a measured effort by an experienced team that didn't go all for the opening round of the playoffs. Tampa lost zero players to attrition in the 1st round (it appears). Several games were regular season level of intensity. I'm convinced Tampa had way more in the (intensity/competitve) tank that the Leafs didn't force them to use. IMO, this wasn't the close miss it appears it was.

And a new avatar just dropped:

View attachment 547507

I had to update my username.

 

[All Mod Cons]

This is so dumb.

I waited the extra few days liked you asked. I saw it coming. So did others. Dubas fan club didn't. You're still trying to police the fanbase even though it's been proved time and time again part of said fanbase gets it.

We've listened to the Dubas followers for a while now, and nothing they say comes to fruition. It's time to move on.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

Here is hoping most of Leafs nation show their displeasure like this dude here. Need a new GM and need a new Coach.

That was awesome!

 

[theTTC]

Couldn't beat underdog Columbus in a short "playdown" to even get into the playoffs.
Couldn't put away underdog Montreal.
Couldn't put away Tampa, with bookies making Leafs -120 betting favorites to win the series, so consensus was Tampa as the underdog.

We come in as the favorites every series. How much "better" does this team need to be to defeat underdogs? The idea is so insane.

 

[Rob Brown]

I waited the extra few days liked you asked. I saw it coming. So did others. Dubas fan club didn't. You're still trying to police the fanbase even though it's been proved time and time again part of said fanbase gets it.

We've listened to the Dubas followers for a while now, and nothing they say comes to fruition. It's time to move on.

I'm not policing anything, it's just incredibly dumb to act like there is a big conspiracy theory where Dubas intentionally sabotaged and divided the Leafs fan base. It's fine to dislike him, but making up tinfoil hat conspiracies is bizarre.

 

[Byron Bitz]

 

[Blanche Blanche]

No team beats Tampa in the playoffs these days? So whats the excuse when Tampa doesn't win the cup this year? Always so many damn excuses, its been 6 years, time to stop drinking the koolaid honestly.

It's like Leaf fans have a disease or something, you wanna know why the NHL will never be fair about us winning the cup? Because we always show up regardless, they get their cash and can award the cup to some non traditional market.

Leaf fans will never stand up to make a difference with their time, there's always next year might as well be tattooed on all of us.

At some point you have to start seeing this team without rose colored glasses, minor tweaks for 6 years now and every time a first round exit. I guess we'll just keep doing what we're doing and hope we're not crazy.

Exactly. Make changes. Prove to fans you want to win. Or I’m wishing there are empty seats in the arena next season.

Coaching change works for me if you keep the core.

Trade Nylander or Marner if you keep Keefe.

 

[Blanche Blanche]

The successful playoff teams can quickly transition from playing one style of play, to another. The Leafs do not seem have the players to do that. I’m not sure if they’re not capable, or, just unwilling—maybe it’s both. They have great offensive capabilities, but are very lacking in other skills.

Tampa has shown they can push their offence, get ahead by a goal or two and then quickly transition to a lock it down, shut down, trap game. Where they simply clog up the neutral zone, collapse around their net, block shots and protect their lead. And when it counts most, like in the playoffs, that’s when they are most committed to that style and willing to pay the biggest price by blocking shots.

The Leafs have a really hard time playing against any team that gets up by a goal or two and does that. There are ways to break the trap and they should have the speed and offensive talent to do it, but it doesn’t seem to happen at the most critical times. If the Leafs would dump the puck in and attack the offensive zone with speed and physicality, in game one, they would force their opponents to back out off their own blue line and they could go back to using their speed on the rush. But they don’t do that. They typically continue trying to play their possession game. They try to get fancy getting into the O-Zone which doesn’t usually work, or, when they finally do resort to dumping the puck in, they don’t attack with speed, physicality and bear down on their opponents defense. So often they give up the puck, but don’t get it back.

Conversely, if the Leafs go up by a goal or two they have not shown they can successfully transition to a shut down game like the Tampa Bays of the league can. They typically try to do it but can’t hold off their opponent successfully and then seem to have trouble quickly transitioning back to their offence first game.

Until the Leafs address these issues, I don’t think they will go far in the playoffs. They might win a round or two, but eventually they’ll meet up with a team like Tampa that will just get a lead and then shut them down.

This 100%

New coach. New vision. ASAP.

Dubas can go too… we need new DNA in core.

Marner or nylander can go.

 

[TotalHomer]

Matthews is gone in 2 years anyway. He isn't staying in Canada.

If he isn't re-signing then next year will be his last in a Leafs jersey. They won't let him walk as an ufa.