Sports
Nine thoughts on Maple Leafs’ Game 5 loss and what it all means – Sportsnet.ca
So the Leafs lost Game 5 of the play-in round and go home after another season of disappointment. Let’s talk about that series-deciding game, and what it means for the team going forward.
1. The super line was super, but still a bad idea.
Towards the end of Game 4, Sheldon Keefe put together their big guns – call it their Money Line, their All-Star Game line, their Desperation Line, whatever you like – and it panned out. The Leafs came back from three goals down and won. So, come Game 5, he decided to leave them together, which resulted in a hodgepodge lineup in that group’s wake.
I imagine the thinking was this: that group can be so dominant, you have to imagine they’ll get two, maybe three goals, over 60 minutes. Columbus struggles to score, so if the rest of the lineup can at least hang on, we’ll be in a good position to win.
That logic is fine, but unfortunately the group didn’t score despite dominant play. That’s the biggest factor in it all falling apart. But in going further, it stripped the Leafs of what was supposed to be their advantage. Teams were supposed to have to choose between giving the Auston Matthews or John Tavares juggernauts their top line/pair, leaving at least one to “feast.” Again, in theory. That’s supposed to be the strength of this team, which is supposed to include a third line (Kapanen, Kerfoot, and Johnsson or whoever they decided) that’s supposed to pack offensive punch, too.
By combining their biggest offensive players on to one line it played into Columbus’ hands, because they aren’t as strong throughout their forward lineup, but have a great defensive line and D-pair. It left the Leafs with two lines that played together…not at all this year. Hyman-Nylander-Kapanen saw six seconds as a group this season, and Johnsson-Kerfoot-Mikheyev saw none. Those six players looked unfamiliar together, as you’d expect. Maybe you wouldn’t expect them to look quite so lost, but surely they couldn’t have expected too much.
If that was the ideal roster construction, you’d think they’d have rolled it out all season. There’s a reason they didn’t.
Toronto should’ve started in a more typical fashion and if frustrated, pulled out the nuclear option of the big money line later in the game. Instead they started with it, then went away from it in the third when it was clear the middle six couldn’t keep their heads above water in their first game together. It was a costly choice.
2. Missing Jake Muzzin for three games hurt, and hurt bad. That was predictable, and maybe the difference between winning and losing for this Leafs team. But if losing one player destroys the team and submarines its chances, it isn’t good enough.
3. Hot take here, but it’s OK not to have a hot take about Freddy Andersen. The Game 5 Liam Foudy goal was brutal, but in general, Andersen was at least average in the series, making a number of saves that were surely forgotten about quickly since they didn’t go in.
This is neither a defence of him nor a critique. Getting average goaltending is never a given, and the Leafs got at least that from him in this series. He was fine. There’s no guarantee they can find league average elsewhere. They know he can get hot for stretches. He’s under contract for another year. Unless another good option presents itself, Andersen is likely going to be around. He’s neither the reason for the team’s failing nor unimpeachable.
4. Going into the series I thought for sure there’d be a moment for Kasperi Kapanen where he’d blow a game open. He scored a big goal for the Leafs against Boston in Game 7 last year. He scored an OT winner against Washington in the 2017 playoffs. He scored the OT winner in the world juniors. But it just never came for him.
It didn’t come for Alex Kerfoot, either, who was flying when the Leafs all got back together. It didn’t come for Ilya Mikheyev, who was the team’s MVP during Phase 3 training camps. It just didn’t come at all for the supporting cast in a series they were supposed to be better than the other team’s middle six. The fourth line was great for much of the series – specifically Kyle Clifford and Jason Spezza – but expectations were low there. The depth offence all but no-showed.
5. I can’t believe how often the Leafs skated by the side of the net, looking for a way in or a pass across the crease instead of just throwing a leg out, and simply driving the puck to the house over the course of this series, particularly in Game 5.
Yes, they’re a skilled team that can make pinpoint plays and don’t have to get dirty to score. But given how hard scoring was in that series, and what the score was in Game 5, I think they could’ve done worse than take the puck to the paint and upset Columbus’ goalie. You remember the schoolyard basketball shooting game “21?” Sometimes when a guy has found his stroke from the free throw line you need to throw the ball off line to make them move their feet and get out of their groove. Driving the net can do the same against hot goalies.
The plays in this video below become way more dangerous if the guys try to take the puck across the paint. You rarely get drilled trying that like you used to.
6. Morgan Rielly was excellent, and Auston Matthews was too. I know Rielly’s numbers weren’t eye-popping, but he was visible, jumping, and playing the big minutes the team needed him to shoulder. Maybe he’s not Victor Hedman, but he’s still a top-end guy for the Leafs.
Matthews to me took a step into the top-top tier of forwards in the world, with Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and whoever you subjectively think starts to enter the conversation at this point.
7. Mitch Marner’s year was statistically fine if underwhelming, but he’s under the microscope now more than ever. The contract grind was not looked upon favourably by the Leafs faithful, and with the salary cap staying flat, it looks worse for the team now that they have tough decisions to make. His showing the past two playoffs isn’t helping him any in conversations about his future with the club.
My gut is the Leafs believe he’s a huge part of their vision, and that he’ll get his uninspired play sorted out and be part of the reason this team eventually gets over the hump, if they ever do. And I think that’s right. When Kyle Dubas uttered the famous “we can and we will” quote about signing his young scorers, it was about letting that core have as many cracks at the playoffs as possible, believing them too good to not eventually have success. The Capitals flailed in the post-season for years, but gave their core enough kicks at the can and were eventually rewarded. I bet Leafs management feels the same can happen in Toronto.
8. Playing Andreas Johnsson over Nick Robertson was the right call. Robertson scored in Game 3, but over the first four games of the series he regularly looked like, well, a teenager getting his first NHL games under brutal circumstances.
Johnsson plays the type of skill/grit combo game that seemed perfectly suited to this series, he had fresh legs, and he’s paid millions to be an important part of the Leafs. Imagine he was available, the Leafs lost, and fans found out they left him out of the lineup for an 18-year-old who was playing 12 so-so minutes per game. The staff would get killed for that.
Now, was Johnsson good? He was not. He had a couple great chances he couldn’t convert, but he looked a little tired at times, and just generally out of sorts. If he had been playing regularly, he probably sees Mikheyev here who simply shoots it in the open net. One more pass!
So the decision was sound, but the results just weren’t there.
9. What comes of all this now will be fascinating to follow. Do the Leafs add more small young players next season in Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljgren, Nick Robertson, and stick to the vision Dubas has staked out as the way forward?
Or do they see how welcome an addition Clifford was, acknowledge how bare the cupboard gets on defence when one of their better blueliners gets hurt, and sacrifice some of what makes this iteration of the Leafs tick in order to diversify a little? With the salary cap flat, a lack of success, and the weaknesses of this Leafs group exposed, taking this group from good to great won’t be easy. There are tough decisions to be made in the months ahead.
Sports
Utah NHL owner Smith says season ticket deposits now top 20,000 – TSN
Owner Ryan Smith told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun Friday that Utah’s NHL team has received just over 20,000 season-ticket deposits.
The news comes less than 24 hours after the NHL’s Board of Governors unanimously approved sale of the Arizona Coyotes from Alex Meruelo to Smith and subsequent relocation to Salt Lake City for the 2024-25 season.
<twitter-embed blockquotehtml="
Just got off the phone after doing an interview with Utah NHL owner Ryan Smith and he said the updated total is now at just over 20,000 season-ticket deposits.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun)
April 19, 2024“>
The team is expected play out of the Delta Center in the city’s downtown core, the home of the Utah Jazz, which currently has about 12,000 unobstructed seats for hockey. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday Smith and his ownership group will raise the seating capacity to about 17,000 after renovations.
“As everyone knows, Utah is a vibrant and thriving state, and we are thrilled to be a part of it,” Bettman said in a statement. “We are also delighted to welcome Ashley and Ryan Smith to the NHL family and know they will be great stewards of the game in Utah. We thank them for working so collaboratively with the League to resolve a complex situation in this unprecedented and beneficial way.
“The NHL’s belief in Arizona has never wavered. We thank Alex Meruelo for his commitment to the franchise and Arizona, and we fully support his ongoing efforts to secure a new home in the desert for the Coyotes. We also want to acknowledge the loyal hockey fans of Arizona, who have supported their team with dedication for nearly three decades while growing the game.”
The move ends years of uncertainty surrounding the Coyotes franchise and wraps up a nearly three-decade existence of mostly poor on-ice results and chronic mismanagement over the course of multiple owners.
Utah’s team will not carry over the Coyotes moniker and will instead develop a new brand identity. LeBrun reported on Thursday’s edition of Insider Trading the franchise may take until beyond the start of next season to pick a team name and Smith has hired a firm to look into branding for the NHL’s newest franchise.
The Coyotes finished the 2023-24 campaign 36-41-5, missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth time in a row and 11th time in the past 12 seasons.
Sports
Marchand says Maple Leafs are Bruins’ ‘biggest rival’ ahead of 1st-round series – NHL.com
BOSTON – Forget Boston Bruins-Montreal Canadiens.
For Brad Marchand, right now, it’s all about Bruins-Toronto Maple Leafs.
“You see the excitement they have all throughout Canada when they’re in playoffs,” Marchand said Thursday. “Makes it a lot of fun to play them. And I think, just with the history we’ve had with them recently, they’re probably our biggest rival right now over the last decade.
“They’ve probably surpassed Montreal and any other team with kind of where our rivalry’s gone, just because we’ve both been so competitive with each other, and we’ve had a few playoff series. It definitely brings the emotion, the intensity, up in the games and the excitement for the fans.
“It’s a lot of fun to play them.”
The Bruins and Maple Leafs will renew their rivalry in their first round series, which starts Saturday at TD Garden (8 p.m. ET; TBS, truTV, MAX, SN, CBC, TVAS). They’ll be familiar opponents.
Over the past 11 seasons, the Bruins have faced the Maple Leafs four times in the postseason, starting with the epic 2013 matchup in the first round. That resulted in an all-time instant classic, the Game 7 in which the Bruins were down 4-1 in the third period and came roaring back for an overtime win that helped propel them to the Stanely Cup Final.
That would prove to be the model and, in the intervening years, the Bruins have beaten them in each of the three subsequent series, including going to a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference First Round in 2018 and 2019.
Which could easily be where this series is going.
“Offensively they’re a gifted hockey club,” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said Thursday. “They present a lot of challenges down around the netfront area. We’re going to have to be really sharp there. We’re a pretty good team defensively when we stick to what our principles are. So I expect it to be a tight series overall.”
But if anyone knows the Maple Leafs — and what to expect — it’s Marchand. In his career, he’s played 146 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 11th most of any active player. Twenty-one of those games have come against the Maple Leafs, games in which Marchand has 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists).
“They’re always extremely competitive,” Marchand said. “You never know which way the series is going to go. But that’s what you want. That’s what you love about hockey is the competition aspect. They’re real competitors over there, especially the way they’re built right now. So it’s going to be a lot of fun, and that’s what playoffs is about. It’s about the best teams going head-to-head.”
But even though the history favors the Bruins — including having won each of the past six playoff matchups, dating back to the NHL’s expansion era in 1967-68 and each of the four regular-season games in 2023-24 — Marchand is throwing that out the window.
“That means nothing,” he said.
The Maple Leafs bring the No. 2 offense in the NHL into their series, having scored 3.63 goals per game. They were led by Auston Matthews and his 69 goals this season, a new record for him and for the franchise.
“You have to be hard on a guy like that and limit his time and space with the puck,” forward Charlie Coyle said. “He’s really good at getting in position to receive the puck and he’s got linemates who can put it right on his tape for him. You’ve just got to know where he is, especially in our D zone. He likes to loop away after cycling it and kind of find that sweet spot coming down Broadway there in the middle. It’s not just a one-person job.”
Nor is Matthews their only threat.
“They have a lot of great players, skill players, who play hard and can be very dangerous around the net and create scoring opportunities,” forward Charlie Coyle said. “You’ve just got to be aware of who’s out there and who you’re against, who you’re matched up against, and play hard. Also, too, we’ve got to focus on our game and what we do well and when we do that, we trust each other and have that belief in each other, we’re a pretty good hockey team.”
Especially against the Maple Leafs.
Marchand, who grew up in Halifax loving the Maple Leafs, still gets a thrill to see their alumni walking around Scotiabank Arena in the playoffs. And it’s even more special to be on the ice with them, to be competing against them — even more so when the Bruins keep winning.
But that certainly doesn’t mean this series will be easy.
“They’ll be a [heck] of a challenge,” Marchand said.
Sports
NHL sets Round 1 schedule for 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Daily Faceoff
The chase for Lord Stanley’s silver chalice will begin on Saturday.
After what could be described as the most exciting season in NHL history that saw heartbreaks and last-ditch efforts to clinch playoff spots, players and staff now get ready as 16 teams go to battle.
We saw the Vancouver Canucks have a massive year and finish first in the Pacific Division with captain Quinn Hughes leading all defensemen in points. The Winnipeg Jets set a franchise record for most points. The Nashville Predators went on a franchise-record winning streak in order to lock themselves into a Wild Card spot, and the Washington Capitals clinched the last Wild Card spot in the East after a wild finish that saw the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers see their playoff hopes crumble in front of them.
While Auston Matthews missed out on scoring 70 goals, Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid and Tampa Bay Lightning standout Nikita Kucherov became the first players since 1990-91 to record 100 assists in a single season. They joined Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr as the only players to do so.
With the bracket set, it’s time to expect the unexpected.
Here is the schedule for Round 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Eastern Conference
#A1 Florida Panthers vs. #WC1 Tampa Bay Lightning
Date | Game | Time |
Sunday, April 21 | 1. Tampa at Florida | 12:30 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 23 | 2. Tampa at Florida | 7:30 p.m. ET |
Thursday, April 25 | 3. Florida at Tampa | 7 p.m. ET |
Saturday, April 27 | 4. Florida at Tampa | 5 p.m. ET |
Monday, April 29 | 5. Tampa at Florida | TBD |
Wednesday, May 1 | 6. Florida at Tampa | TBD |
Saturday, May 4 | 7. Tampa at Florida | TBD |
#A2 Boston Bruins vs. #A3 Toronto Maple Leafs
Date | Game | Time |
Saturday, April 20 | 1. Toronto at Boston | 8 p.m. ET |
Monday, April 22 | 2. Toronto at Boston | 7 p.m. ET |
Wednesday, April 24 | 3. Boston at Toronto | 7 p.m. ET |
Saturday, April 27 | 4. Boston at Toronto | 8 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 30 | 5. Toronto at Boston | TBD |
Thursday, May 2 | 6. Boston at Toronto | TBD |
Saturday, May 4 | 7. Toronto at Boston | TBD |
#M1 New York Rangers vs. #WC2 Washington Capitals
Date | Game | Time |
Sunday, April 21 | 1. Washington at New York | 3 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 23 | 2. Washington at New York | 7 p.m. ET |
Friday, April 26 | 2. New York at Washington | 7 p.m. ET |
Sunday, April 28 | 2. New York at Washington | 8 p.m. ET |
Wednesday, May 1 | 2. Washington at New York | TBD |
Friday, May 3 | 2. New York at Washington | TBD |
Sunday, May 5 | 2. Washington at New York | TBD |
#M2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. #M3 New York Islanders
Date | Game | Time |
Saturday, April 20 | 1. New York at Carolina | 5 p.m. ET |
Monday, April 22 | 2. New York at Carolina | 7:30 p.m. ET |
Thursday, April 25 | 3. Carolina at New York | 7:30 p.m. ET |
Saturday, April 27 | 4. Carolina at New York | 2 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 30 | 5. New York at Carolina | TBD |
Thursday, May 2 | 6. Carolina at New York | TBD |
Saturday, May 4 | 7. New York at Carolina | TBD |
Western Conference
#C1 Dallas Stars vs. #WC2 Vegas Golden Knights
Date | Game | Time |
Monday, April 22 | 1. Vegas at Dallas | 9:30 p.m. ET |
Wednesday, April 24 | 2. Vegas at Dallas | 9:30 p.m. ET |
Saturday, April 27 | 3. Dallas at Vegas | 10:30 p.m. ET |
Monday, April 29 | 4. Dallas at Vegas | TBD |
Wednesday, May 1 | 5. Vegas at Dallas | TBD |
Friday, May 3 | 6. Dallas at Vegas | TBD |
Sunday, May 5 | 7. Vegas at Dallas | TBD |
#C2 Winnipeg Jets vs. #C3 Colorado Avalanche
Date | Game | Time |
Sunday, April 21 | 1. Colorado at Winnipeg | 7 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 23 | 2. Colorado at Winnipeg | 9:30 p.m. ET |
Friday, April 26 | 3. Winnipeg at Colorado | 10 p.m. ET |
Sunday, April 28 | 4. Winnipeg at Colorado | 2:30 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 30 | 5. Colorado at Winnipeg | TBD |
Thursday, May 2 | 6. Winnipeg at Colorado | TBD |
Saturday, May 4 | 7. Colorado at Winnipeg | TBD |
#P1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #WC1 Nashville Predators
Date | Game | Time |
Sunday, April 21 | 1. Nashville at Vancouver | 10 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 23 | 2. Nashville at Vancouver | 10 p.m. ET |
Friday, April 26 | 3. Vancouver at Nashville | 7:30 p.m. ET |
Sunday, April 28 | 4. Vancouver at Nashville | 5 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 30 | 5. Nashville at Vancouver | TBD |
Friday, May 3 | 6. Vancouver at Nashville | TBD |
Sunday, May 5 | 7. Nashville at Vancouver | TBD |
#P2 Edmonton Oilers vs. #P3 Los Angeles Kings
Date | Game | Time |
Monday, April 22 | 1. Los Angeles at Edmonton | 10 p.m. ET |
Wednesday, April 24 | 2. Los Angeles at Edmonton | 10 p.m. ET |
Friday, April 26 | 3. Edmonton at Los Angeles | 10:30 p.m. ET |
Sunday, April 28 | 4. Edmonton at Los Angeles | 10:30 p.m. ET |
Wednesday, May 1 | 5. Los Angeles at Edmonton | TBD |
Friday, May 3 | 6. Edmonton at Los Angeles | TBD |
Sunday, May 5 | 7. Los Angeles at Edmonton | TBD |
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