I don’t want to sit here and say this game was simply a case of everything that could have gone wrong going wrong.
That would downplay the reality that Tampa Bay thoroughly outplayed the Leafs in the third period of Game 3, and even at the start of Game 3 before taking an early penalty and conceding the 1-0 goal. In Game 2, the Lightning started really tilting the ice at 5v5 as well. In this game, Tampa simply carried it over at 5v5, except they didn’t take a bunch of penalties along the way.
The Lightning forecheck is giving the Leafs fits. Toronto can’t break out cleanly and therefore aren’t generating enough offensively. Special teams were the story early in this series, but now the 5v5 battle is taking shape.
All of that said, this is a tied series and the Leafs still own home-ice advantage. There is still plenty of time to sort this out, and the friendly confines of Scotiabank Arena is on the Leafs‘ side (they have been great at home this season). But they need to figure out what’s happening at 5v5 in order to get back on track.
This series was always going to go deep, and now we are assured of it. Tampa isn’t going to end their championship reign without a fight.
Your game in 10:
1. This is the first game that the Leafs started their checking line on the first shift, which was perhaps a bit of a stick tap for their really strong Game 3. It did not go well.
First off, Tampa Bay avoided the matchup with their top players and instantly put their energy line out. They won the faceoff, got it deep, there was a big hit by Ross Colton on Mark Giordano, and the Lightning hemmed the Leafs in. They were able to get a full five-man line change in, while the Leafs changed two of their forwards.
Even still, the Leafs had the puck and a split second to make a play, and while many are focusing on Justin Holl on the Lightning 1-0 goal, the issue there was really Ondrej Kase.
Why is he blowing the zone? Holl should 10/10 times try to pass to the winger in this situation. He was already on for a long shift and the matchup had changed. The Leafs needed controlled possession until at least the red line (a dump-in or skate-in) so he could change. If Holl rifles it off the wall and ices it, Tampa has a loaded-up offensive zone faceoff with their top scorers on against a tired pairing and one tired forward.
The Leafs’ game is not blowing the zone. Kase has to curl and open up or stop, not skate up the ice and watch Ondrej Palat come off the bench and undercut him for the puck. That started a sequence in which the puck went back to Kase’s side, where he didn’t block the shot as Tampa scored.
The Leafs aren’t breaking out cleanly, and it’s generally on their wingers. Literally, no matter what Holl did there, it was going to be a turnover. Even earlier in this shift, Holl put one cleanly on Ilya Mikheyev’s tape, but he got stuffed and Tampa retained possession.
2. On the first goal, the Leafs were tilted from puck drop, and while that generally continued to happen right after Stamkos scored, the second goal was more the result of a bad bounce.
It’s a relatively harmless play. Jake Muzzin misjudged the puck coming off the wall, Jack Campbell tried to make up for it, and the puck bounced right to Pierre-Eduourd Bellemare, who buried it.
At this point, the Leafs couldn’t break out cleanly and they hadn’t really gotten out of their zone through five minutes. I was surprised that Sheldon Keefe didn’t call a timeout in an attempt to calm the team down. They were not sharp or ready for Tampa Bay’s forecheck.
It’s one thing to be down early 2-0 on bad bounces, but they were getting thoroughly outplayed. A timeout seemed sensible to settle the players down. The Leafs going down two with 55 minutes to go is not the end of the world. Instead, they let it play out…
3. It only got worse from there. Morgan Rielly and Alex Kerfoot were to blame on the 3-0 goal.
Kerfoot is supposedly playing on the top line to at least somewhat help on the defensive side of the puck over Michael Bunting. Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews were both applying pressure up ice. That means Kerfoot is the high guy in the neutral zone. Instead, there were three Tampa Bay forwards behind him.
Rielly obviously had to read it correctly, and there was no reason to step up on a player standing still at center. But he did, Pat Maroon got in behind him, and Maroon buried it.
This is in part why the Leafs’ coaching staff probably should have used a timeout at 2-0 – the players were clearly rattled and were making uncharacteristic plays. Right after, Jason Spezza — of all people — took an undisciplined penalty. His whole purpose is PP2 and maybe the odd 5v5 scoring chance, so that simply can’t happen. He should never engage with Pat Maroon, especially after he scored and the team is getting crushed.
On the following power play for Tampa Bay, Brayden Point coasted through the Leafs’ penalty kill and got robbed on a mini breakaway.
Later on, Matthews did hit a crossbar and the Leafs went on a power play late to try and make it a two-goal game, which would have been a huge win after a disaster of a period. The Leafs generated almost nothing. When we talk about having a good power play, that’s the time when a good power play needs to do something.
4. At 3-0, I think it was perfectly reasonable not to pull Jack Campbell. The Leafs are more than capable of exploding offensively, so a three-goal lead with 40 minutes to go is not an out-of-the-question, this-game-is-over scenario. They also don’t have a good enough backup to pull Campbell and not essentially declare that they are punting the game.
If the Leafs won the second period, they would have been, at worst, down two goals. Again, a two-goal lead going into the third period is not a terrible situation to be in, all things considered.
5. Of course, the second period did not play out that way. It did not seem like the Leafs were ever really going to generate a pushback and make the game interesting, but at 3-0, it was not out of the question. The fourth goal was simply a backbreaker.
Ross Colton broke in and scored on a rather weak wrist shot that Jack Campbell simply missed with his glove. It’s a terrible goal, but something notable happened right beforehand. Ryan McDonagh and Ilya Mikheyev were racing for a puck, Mikheyev knocked him down, Colin Blackwell tried to swoop in to grab the puck, and McDonagh — who was down on the ice — poked it by him. It should have been a 2v1 going the other way. You can’t lose that battle on a Tuesday in November, never mind the playoffs.
And yet Morgan Rielly still had the puck and moved it up to Mikheyev, who had the puck poked off of him this time before Tampa went down and scored the weak, back-breaking goal.
It was the story of the game: How many battles can the Leafs lose on the wall? Tampa seemingly won them all.
6. John Tavares is having a nightmare series to this point. He’s generating nothing on offense, and in the second period, he took a tripping penalty when chasing… Corey Perry. Right off the draw, David Kampf shot the puck out and Tampa essentially went to a full 5v3. Of course, Perry scored.
There’s not much to say here. Nikita Kucherov loves the fake slapshot pass, and he got the Leafs with it. It was a 5v3, and Tampa was rolling all night. The odds of killing it were slim.
Now Keefe had to really want to pull Jack Campbell, but it was still the middle of a power play, and nobody wanted to throw Erik Kallgren into that situation. At some point, it’s just cruel.
7. It’s time to discuss the fourth lines. Tampa’s is outclassing the Leafs by such a big margin at this point that it’s comical to think back on the series of events.
The Leafs came out insanely hyped up, dressed their two enforcers in the first game — in some part a response to Tampa’s big fourth line — and Kyle Clifford took a five-minute major almost instantly. In Game 2, Perry scored on a breakaway. In Game 3, the Leafs really paid them no mind, and that was fantastic. In Game 4, the Lightning fourth line scored twice at 5v5 and Perry scored on the 5v3.
Conversely, the Leafs’ fourth line has done almost nothing. Colin Blackwell scored coming off of a penalty kill. Wayne Simmonds took some bad penalties in Game 2. Clifford was ejected, as noted. Even Jason Spezza has done basically nothing since rejoining the lineup. Michael Bunting is almost certainly playing hurt and is doing very, very little, to put it nicely. At some point, either Bunting has to get healthier, play better, or both, but having him in to provide nothing isn’t working for anyone involved.
8. I’m not going to say much about the third period. It was nice the Leafs broke the shutout on principle alone. They scored another, and some empty-net back-and-forth stuff occurred. Honestly, I thought this was a waste of a period.
The Leafs barely mixed up the lines. Michael Bunting, playing through injury, was moved up to the top line and did nothing. The third line remained together – fair enough. The fourth line remained ineffective. The defense pairings were not really shaken up.
Erik Kallgren was in (and kudos to him for acquitting himself well in relief and giving up zero goals), the Leafs were down five, and they were throwing in the towel. They scored a few times, but they didn’t really do anything to build towards the next game. It really just felt like waiting for the buzzer so the team could head home.
Morgan Rielly did show some fire after Brayden Point two-handed him, but it was a lost opportunity to try out a few things in the team’s last chance to do so. It’s a best-of-three series now. Two of those games are at home. There is almost no room for error at this point.
9. I do think it’s noteworthy that Tampa went 1/8 on the power play in this one. They had chances, but the Leafs did well to mitigate the damage. The one goal was a 5v3. 1/8 is not nothing.
The Leafs’ most common penalty killers were the usual suspects: David Kampf, Ilya Mikheyev, Mitch Marner, Alex Kerfoot, Ondrej Kase, Jake Muzzin, TJ Brodie, Mark Giordano, and Justin Holl.
That’s why I would understand if Holl remains in the lineup. He’s a staple on a good unit in an important part of the game. Beyond that, the biggest issue is the top of the Leafs’ defense.
I know fans love Ilya Lyubushkin, but he has problems moving the puck. He had some heroic moments in Game 3, but by and large, he has been targeted and worked over by Tampa. Morgan Rielly has been most effective alongside Brodie. I would switch Lyubushkin out for Timothy Liljegren, place Liljegren alongside Muzzin, and keep the third pairing together (which gives them penalty-killing options, and they have been respectable, generally speaking).
10. There are all sorts of things to figure out at the forward position.
The top line is getting crushed in their matchup against Cirelli – Point – Killorn / Hedman – Cernak. Either the Leafs have to load up the top line all the way (meaning, William Nylander moves there), or they have to split up Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner to give Tampa something else to think about. Otherwise, the Leafs are praying that the two break through against an elite unit. Everything else stems from there.
They have to get something from John Tavares. He is posing zero threat at the moment, so whether he needs to play with Marner or they play him with two skilled grinders (Michael Bunting and Ondrej Kase, let’s say), they need to figure out how to get him rolling.
The recipe for success cannot be special teams, hoping for the third line to score, and banking on Jack Campbell playing excellently (which is how they won Game 3, and I would argue to some extent it’s how they won Game 1, although that was largely on the back of an awesome penalty kill).
The Leafs’ fourth line again needs mixing up. Jason Spezza has not brought the spark many (myself included) thought he would. Does that mean they return to letting Kyle Clifford and Wayne Simmonds run around? As long as they don’t take penalties, there’s some value there, especially at home, but can the Leafs really trust them not to take penalties?
Also, if a game goes to overtime, the Leafs are a three-line team while Tampa is a four-line team. They can have one of Bunting/Kase/Kerfoot there with Colin Blackwell, in theory. Maybe Keefe throws in Simmonds and calls it a day. That would make some sense.
VANCOUVER – As the Major League Soccer season ticks down, Vanni Sartini wants his Vancouver Whitecaps to make a declaration — the team is ready to compete.
“The time of hiding ourselves, I think it’s over,” the coach said after the ‘Caps earned a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.
“We need to really say that we are here to try to be at the ball until the end and trying to shoot for the highest position. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make it, but we have the quality to do it.”
With seven games left on their regular-season schedule, the ‘Caps (13-8-6) sit in fifth spot in the congested Western Conference, just two points out of fourth.
Saturday’s loss officially eliminated the last-place Earthquakes (5-21-2) from post-season action.
Vancouver has been on a hot streak since returning from the Leagues Cup break and is unbeaten (3-0-1) in its last four outings across all competitions. The team has not allowed a goal in those matches.
“It’s the fact that we play really well,” Sartini said of the clean sheets. “We have the ball a lot, we finish our attack most of the time in their box. So it’s really hard for the other team to attack us. And then when they attack us, in the rare times that they arrive in the final third, we’re very solid.”
Recent additions have bolstered the team’s ranks, including the club’s newest designated player, Stuart Armstrong. The 32-year-old Scottish midfielder scored his first MLS goal Saturday.
Three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Alessandro Schopf, Armstrong gave Vancouver a two-goal cushion in the 87th minute.
Midfielder Pedro Vite dished a short pass to ‘Caps captain Ryan Gauld, who tapped it toward Armstrong. The former Southampton FC player then blasted a shot into the top of the net for his first strike in a Whitecaps’ jersey.
He was mobbed by teammates in the corner of the field.
“I think everyone was happy. Also for the first goal, but also that it was an important three points,” said Armstrong, who signed with the ‘Caps on Sept. 3.
“It kind of felt a little bit like last week, when we had a lot of chances and we didn’t get the three points. So today, I think everyone was just relieved to have that two-goal cushion.”
Vancouver was the dominant team from the outset Saturday and did not relent, outshooting the visitors 19-5 and controlling 54.1 per cent of possession.
Fafa Picault also found the back of the net for Vancouver, while Gauld contributed a pair of assists.
Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka stopped both shots he faced to collect his seventh clean sheet of the year, while Daniel made nine saves for the Quakes.
Gauld and Picault teamed up in the 22nd minute when Gauld curled a cross in and the Haitian striker headed it down toward the net, only to see Daniel catch a piece of the shot with his forearm and redirect it out of harm’s way.
The duo connected again in the 35th minute on a Vancouver corner. Gauld swung a ball in and Picault jumped up from the pack to send a glancing header in past Daniel for his ninth MLS goal of the season.
San Jose briefly appeared to level the score in the 68th minute when an unmarked Ousseni Bouda collected the ball, froze Takaoka and tapped a shot into the Vancouver net. An official quickly raised the offside flag and waved off the tally.
Daniel kept San Jose’s deficit to a single goal with a pair of solid stops in the 82nd minute.
First, the Brazilian ‘keeper dove sideways on his line to tip away a bomb from Alessandro Schopf. He was tested again on the ensuing corner and jumped up to send a header from Picault over the crossbar.
“I think we created a lot of chances again,” Gauld said.
“We probably should have put the game out of their reach sooner. But we’d be more worried if we weren’t creating the chances. Three clean sheets in a row in the league, I think it’s a big thing for us. And it gives us a good platform to go forward.”
NOTES
Vancouver played without leading scorer Brian White for a third consecutive game as the American striker works his way back from a concussion. … Gauld’s second assist marked his 15th goal contribution (six goals, nine assists) in his last 15 Whitecaps games across all competitions. … An announced crowd of 21,309 took in the game at B.C. Place.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps kick off a two-game road swing Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo. The Earthquakes host the Seattle Sounders the same night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Not good enough. That was Arne Slot’s verdict after his first defeat as Liverpool manager on Saturday.
A shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League ended Slot’s perfect record since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at the end of last season.
“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three (or) four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession,” said the Dutchman, who suggested his team should not be losing to the likes of Forest.
“If you lose a home game it’s always a setback, especially if you face a team … we never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for Champions League tickets, but normally this team is not ending up in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”
Slot won his first three games in charge, including a memorable 3-0 victory against Manchester United before the international break.
But that run came to an end after Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the 72nd with a curling effort from the edge of the box and beyond goalkeeper Alisson.
Liverpool’s defeat leaves Manchester City as the only team with a 100% record in the league after a 2-1 win against Brentford kept the defending champion at the top of the table.
United won at Southampton 3-0 to end its two-game losing streak.
Unstoppable Haaland
Erling Haaland moved to 99 goals for City after scoring twice against Brentford.
The Norwegian’s double came after Yoane Wissa fired Brentford ahead with just 22 seconds on the clock.
Haaland scored his 98th and 99th goals in his 103rd City appearance in all competitions. And he was the width of the post away from his third consecutive hat trick after trebles against Ipswich and West Ham.
“He’s been really, really good. Yeah, I would say he’s the best (he’s been), but it’s only four fixtures (this season),” City manager Pep Guardiola said.
Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, has nine goals in four league games. He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 for $63 million.
Haaland’s first goal after 19 minutes evened the game following Wissa’s opener, which stunned the Etihad Stadium crowd. Haaland turned and swept a shot past goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a slight deflection off Ethan Pinnock.
He was then too strong for Pinnock when shaking off the defender and running through for his second in the 32nd.
He was inches away in the 81st; the shot came back off the post after beating the keeper.
Rashford snaps run
Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as United beat Southampton.
Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
The win came after back-to-back defeats for United.
Rashford hadn’t scored since March in United’s win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute.
Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward.
“For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Like a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said.
De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the offseason, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th.
It could have been a different story if Cameron Archer converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho.
Villa comeback
After three straight defeats to start the league, Everton looked set for its first win when leading Aston Villa 2-0.
Goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Sean Dyche’s team in control until Ollie Watkins struck twice to even the game.
Jhon Duran completed Villa’s comeback and sealed a 3-2 win in the 76th to leave Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and the only top flight team without a point.
Late drama
Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a stoppage time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw for Crystal Palace against Leicester.
Leicester led 2-0 at Selhurst Park after goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.
But Mateta sparked Palace’s response with a goal in the 47th, a minute after Mavididi doubled Leicester’s advantage.
Conor Coady fouled Ismaili Sarr in the box right near fulltime and Mateta was cool enough to convert.
West Ham left it even later to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
Danny Ings struck in the fifth minute of added time after Raul Jimenez’s goal looked like earning Fulham the win.
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, the manager of the month for August, was frustrated as his team was held to 0-0 at home by Ipswich.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
