Im just trying to look at the big picture.
I mean, not talking about player production at all, if Tampa had the injury issues and goaltending in elimination games the Leafs received, do they even make it out of the first round? If comparables like Stamkos, McDonaugh and Gourde are knocked out of the series and Kucherov is having trouble finishing due to a wrist that needs surgery while, at the same time, your goalie goes from making huge saves and .955% in big games to sub .900% and giving up softies AND the Panthers goalie is Price instead of Bobrovsky, do you best a hungry Panthers team?
These are "ifs" just like your if but the fact still remains that what happened this playoffs is that the big three players for the Leafs outperformed the top 3 stars in every other series against the Habs, or should I say "the Carey Price show". It's hard to even win games when depth players give them away in spectacular fashion when your up against the Cinderella goalie of the playoffs (again somehow). Can you name a more insane giveaway than Galchenyuks unpressured pass to give the Habs a 2-0 in overtime less than a minute in after a huge comeback by the Leafs? Price was stopping the entire league in the playoffs and the last thing to do was to be giving games away like that. With the Matthews/Marner line being maybe the best defensive line in the first round, we didnt have to worry about that from them. Only from the playoff plugs that were a far bigger element in losing the series.
Too much time is being spent on attacking on of the best parts of the team. I'm not making these things up. If anything, this last playoffs showed me these guys really do have playoff gear (their underlying stats and defensive game were elite, unlike the Babcock years) We're not going to run into insane goaltending and injuries like this again I dont think but even if we do, our top players numbers this year should have been enough ( like Tampa's lesser numbers were) The top players and the top 4 D were really good in spite of the adversity and the goaltending remains the big question mark. It's why Andersen's decline was really sad to see as I think 2017-2018 Andersen would go on a massive run with this group. I've liked almost everything thats been done too as it's addressed exactly what I thought was needed. Get more guys that go to the net, replace Andersen, replace PP coaching and keep positive despite the bad injury luck. The players seem focused and ready and I think they'll do well next time.
