This team did show a lot of effort in games five and six, they showed that they wanted to win those games really badly. This loss still left me very very sour because regardless of the effort, the end result is pretty similar through every playoff series in the era of Auston Matthews.
The main differences in this series is that the top four forwards are producing offensively, at different key points, so they’ve done their job in that regard. I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about Mitch Marner’s game last night though, felt he could’ve been much better. The same could absolutely be said for Alexander Kerfoot, just a brain dead giveaway to give Tampa Bay life and the first goal in the first period. I’m also a little upset with his penalty in the third period, but anyone that watched that game and saw the replays knows that it was a phantom high sticking and should’ve never been called, but still pissed me off.
even though the effort was there through most of the game and they absolutely limited Tampa Bay’s chances in the third period and overtime, the same end result still happened, so if you can’t score the fourth goal, then the effort is pretty much meaningless if you don’t have that killer instinct to finish them off. Tampa Bay looked pretty lifeless to me in overtime until the final two minutes, just one mistake and it ends up in the back of our net, it just feels like the same script to me but one year later.
So this loss left me really, really sour, so much so that I will probably miss my first Leafs playoff game in nearly 20 years. Why? Because there’s no need to put myself through that much frustration and heartache in game seven if they don’t get the job done, it’s not worth getting myself stressed over that much. I will check the score at the end of the game, if they win, I will watch the highlights and watch round two.
With that said, I think they have the best ability to finish off Tampa Bay and to win the series because of how the series has gone. Both teams have won one game apiece, let’s see if Toronto can continue that trend, they have home ice, they get their line matchups, if they can’t win this game, then it’s time to make some huge changes, managerial and personnel on the ice. No more excuses.
