Riding high after stealing back home-ice advantage from the Lightning, the Maple Leafs look to put the back-to-back champs on the brink of elimination tonight in Game 4 (7 p.m. EST, Sportsnet/CBC).
It seemed unlikely for the Leafs to beat the Lightning in a game in which neither of their top two lines was effective, but they found a way to snatch a game in Tampa Bay to retake a series lead thanks to a few key performances.
One of those came from the third line, which started off as Mikheyev-Kampf-Kerfoot but quickly saw Engvall take over for Kerfoot as Keefe juggled the lines. The Leafs‘ third line was able to provide some steady minutes and generate a goal by way of a Kampf snipe on the rush. Mikheyev also added two empty-netters to secure the win.
The other key performance was Jack Campbell, who stole the show in the third period by making multiple enormous saves, including robbing Nick Paul in tight and sliding across to make an incredible pad save on a Steven Stamkos one-timer. Without Campbell, the Leafs simply do not make it out of that game with a win.
At some point in this series, they will need more significant contributions from two of their stars who have been non-factors up to this point: John Tavares and William Nylander. Through three games in the series so far, they have combined for just one point, a secondary assist from Tavares on Auston Matthews’s power-play goal in Game 1. As the matchup game starts to become established and the series (likely) tightens up as it wears on, the Leafs will need some signs of life from the second line.
Another key to Game 4 success will be a bounce-back effort from the top line. The Matthews line got caved in by the combination of the Brayden Point line and the Hedman-Cernak defense pair. Michael Bunting was having such a rough go that Keefe put Kerfoot back on the top line, which appears to be how the lines will start tonight. The top line pushing back and winning those tough minutes for the Leafs would be a huge leg up in the game, but the difficulty of those minutes for Matthews-Marner also speaks to how much the second line really needs to be a factor in the cushier matchup situations.
The Leafs should be well versed in what the Lightning are capable of when their backs are against the wall following a loss in the playoffs. Tampa Bay boasts a 15-0 record in such contests in the last three postseasons.
Jon Cooper and his team believe they have started to find the formula for tilting the ice on Leafs in the latter half of Game 3. In the third period especially, the Leafs really struggled on D-zone retrievals and exits, which resulted in too many failed breakouts and turnovers against the Tampa forecheck. If the Leafs let the Lighting start rolling around in their zone, it can be very difficult to break their cycle. There were several instances, particularly in the third period, where Tampa was able to extend offensive zone time thanks to smart and aggressive pinches by their defensemen inside the blue line.
Despite the struggles in that area of the game, Sheldon Keefe is sticking to the same defensive pairs. In fact, the personnel is staying the exact same throughout the lineup. The lineup will be the same as it was in the third period of game 3, with Kerfoot playing on the top line and Bunting dropping down to the fourth line. However, Keefe did note that just because he is starting on the fourth line, Bunting may be used all over the lineup depending on different situations that may arise in the game. There has been a lot of fluidity to the Leafs’ lines depending on zone starts/the scoreboard/performances, so we can expect more of the same tonight.
The Lightning are winning the xGoals battle at 5-on-5 5.2-4.94 through three games.
The Lightning are decisively winning the high-danger chances share at even strength 28-17.
Brandon Hagel narrowly holds the lead for ixGoals at 5-on-5 with 0.88. David Kampf is close behind with 0.82.
Jack Campbell has a .952 save percentage at even strength through three games compared to Andrei Vasilevsky’s .892.
The Leafs-Lightning series is the closest in terms of CF% over all situations in the playoffs, with the Leafs holding a slight edge at 50.14%.
Morgan Rielly is tied for the fifth-most blocked shots at 5-on-5 in the playoffs so far with seven.
Jack Campbell has faced 19 rush attempts, the most amongst all goalies in the playoffs.
Game Day Quotes
Sheldon Keefe on how the Matthews line can establish more zone time in a difficult matchup:
Part of it is matchup, and part of it is just our team game. If we can get some positive momentum flowing as a team shift over shift, they’re in better spots that way. You look at the first period, and at times where they had really good shifts, it’s because it was a continuation of a good shift prior to them.
In the third period, they had their best chances, obviously, and a lot of that came from pace coming out of our end and breakouts and stuff. A lot of is tied into what we need to do better as a team
Keefe on the utility of a positionally-versatile player like Alex Kerfoot:
I’ve gotten the question a lot. It’s important. It’s important all the time. It’s really important this time of year. You need to be able to adjust to what the other team is doing. You need to, at times, fill in because of injuries or performance what have you. You need to give a line a boost.
He’s just always been that guy for us that’s stepped up whenever we needed it. You look at last season’s playoffs with John getting injured, and he steps up and plays in the middle and does a terrific job for us there. He’s a very important player for us.
Keefe on the motivation to take a 3-1 series lead on the defending champs:
You want to win because you want to win. Every game is important and valuable. Of course, you would love an opportunity to go home up 3-1. You come out on the road here — not unlike their mindset I’m sure when they were in Toronto — and you want to win.
You’d like to get a split, but then you come in and you win the first game. Well, let’s get greedy here and win the second one. That’s our mindset today.
I think you know that, when you’re playing against a team like this and their experience, they respond very well after a loss, so we’re expecting their absolute best game of the series here tonight. And I’m expecting our team to play its best game of the series.
When I look back at the three games here so far, I think we’ve done a lot of really good things as a team, but I don’t think we’ve played our best hockey yet, and that’s exciting.
Keefe on how the Leafs have defended Kucherov and Stamkos at 5-on-5:
We’ve done a good job. It’s early, though. It’s only been three games. But that was a priority for us coming in.
We, of course, know what they can do on the power play, but they are also very dangerous at 5-on-5, and we’ve seen that. We’ve got to continue to be diligent with the puck when they’re out there, be good defensively, and be in good spots.
We can’t get too excited about it because it is early in the series and we’ve got to stay focused on doing the job.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper on what made his group effective against the Matthews line:
It’s good players vs. good players. What’s the line? “You can only hope to contain them,” and I thought they did a pretty good job containing them. Again, I don’t think anywhere in this series one line has dominated another.
Special teams have shown up, and that’s a whole different animal. But Point-Cirelli-Killorn neutralized those guys pretty well, but it still didn’t translate to a win. That’s unfortunate, but if we keep doing that, it’s good for us.
Cooper on what he appreciates about what Kucherov can do on the half-wall of the power play:
What isn’t there to appreciate about him? He’s a special player, especially in that area. And that’s why he’s so hard to defend because you can have guys pressure him and he’ll make plays through you. You can not pressure him. He’ll still make plays through you.
That’s an art. Some of it I don’t know if it’s teachable. His instincts are incredible and his feel for where guys are and where they’re going to be is pretty impressive.
Michael Bunting on what his first playoff experience has been like so far:
It’s been great anytime you’re in the playoffs for any league. When I was in the American League or even here — it’s just obviously an upper scale — it’s a lot of fun. It’s intense. It’s fast hockey, and it’s rough. It’s right up my alley, so I’ve been enjoying it.
Alex Kerfoot on the atmosphere of the playoffs:
It’s really cool. This is my third year here and I haven’t been able to play in front of Leafs fans yet, so stepping out there at home was a pretty special experience. You can’t beat playing in Toronto in front of a home crowd in the playoffs.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards #15 Alex Kerfoot – #34 Auston Matthews – #16 Mitch Marner #88 William Nylander – #91 John Tavares – #25 Ondrej Kase #65 Ilya Mikheyev – #64 David Kampf – #47 Pierre Engvall #58 Michael Bunting – #11 Colin Blackwell – #19 Jason Spezza
Defensemen #44 Morgan Rielly – #46 Ilya Lyubushkin #8 Jake Muzzin – #78 T.J. Brodie #55 Mark Giordano – #3 Justin Holl
Goaltenders Starter: #36 Jack Campbell #50 Erik Källgren
Healthy Scratches: Wayne Simmonds, Timothy Liljegren, Nick Abruzzese, Kyle Clifford Injured: Rasmus Sandin, Petr Mrazek
Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines
Forwards #18 Ondrej Palat – #91 Steven Stamkos – #86 Nikita Kucherov #38 Bradon Hagel – #21 Brayden Point – #71 Anthony Cirelli #17 Alex Killorn – #79 Ross Colton – #20 Nick Paul #14 Patrick Maroon – #41 Pierre-Edouard Bellmare – #10 Corey Perry
Defensemen #77 Victor Hedman – #81 Erik Cernak #27 Ryan McDonagh – #24 Zach Bogosian #98 Mikhail Sergachev – #52 Cal Foote
Goaltenders Starter: #88 Andrei Vasilevskiy #1 Brian Elliot
Healthy Scratches: Riley Nash, Jan Rutta Injured: None
The Toronto Raptors’ Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban from the NBA over a betting scandal.
If you think that’s a crisis for the NBA, think again: The NBA is happy to make an example of Porter.
The NBA — and lots of other institutions — really wants sports betting to thrive. This move is supposed to give bettors confidence to keep betting.
How dumb do you have to be to throw away an NBA career in a betting scandal?
Or, if you don’t like that framing, try this: How much trouble do you have to be in — financial or otherwise — to throw away an NBA career in a betting scandal?
In fact, you can argue that Porter’s case is good for the NBA: It allows the league to set a clear-as-day bright line for any other players dumb or desperate enough to do this stuff. And, crucially, it allows everyone else to believe that Porter’s case is an anomaly and that they should get right back to betting on NBA games.
You can debate the accuracy of that theory — yes, people are betting tons of money on sports now ($120 billion in the US last year alone). But is that a narrow-but-deep niche of bettors or a wide swath of people who occasionally drop a couple dollars on a game? And you can also debate the morality of the theory — even if gambling is something people like to do, should we encourage it?
You may see some tweaks in the future to make it even less likely to see future Porters — even though sports betting scandals keep cropping up in allkinds of sports. NBA boss Adam Silver, in a statement about Porter’s ban, referenced “important issues about the sufficiency of the regulatory framework currently in place, including the types of bets offered on our games and players.”
Silver is presumably talking about “prop bets,” which move beyond basic who’s going to win/by how much bets even non-betters may have heard of, and to much more narrowly focused bets, like how many points an individual player might score — or even how long the national anthem might last at a Super Bowl.
Sportsbooks often push props because they can entice betters with big payouts. (The entire plot of “Uncut Gems” hinges on the preposterous, low-odds, high-return prop bets Adam Sandler’s character makes.) But you can see the obvious downside there, especially with prop bets focused on individual players — it gives players the ability to directly affect the results.
And that’s reportedly happened with Porter: The NBA says a bettor placed an $80,000 prop bet that could have won $1.1 million wagering that Porter would have a bad game — and then Porter took himself out of that game after a few minutes, saying he was sick.
But these are details: What the NBA can’t — or at least thinks it can’t — allow is to give lawmakers a chance to rethink their stance on sports betting and make it illegal again. There’s simply too much money at stake.
Last Updated Wednesday, April 17, 2024 11:10PM EDT
TAMPA, Fla. – Auston Matthews won’t be joining the NHL’s 70-goal club this season.
The Maple Leafs sniper was held in check for the second straight night Wednesday in Toronto’s 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, finishing the schedule with 69 goals in 81 games.
Matthews was also unable to find the back of the net in Tuesday’s 5-2 defeat to the Florida Panthers after scoring 10 times in his previous eight contests.
The 26-year-old centre was looking to become just the ninth player in league history to reach the 70-goal plateau alongside Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Mario Lemieux, Phil Esposito, Teemu Selanne, Alexander Mogilny, Jari Kurri and Bernie Nicholls.
Selanne and Mogilny are the last two players to register 70 goals when both hit 76 in 1992-93.
Another significant milestone was eclipsed Wednesday when Lightning star Nikita Kucherov became just the fifth player to pick up 100 assists in a campaign after setting up Brayden Point on a second-period power play. He joins Gretzky, Lemieux, Bobby Orr and Connor McDavid, who registered his 100th assist on Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2024.
The hope the Canadiens can make the playoffs next season, which will be the third full season of his rebuilding plan. At the team’s golf tournament last September, Gorton wouldn’t even use the “P word” when asked about the playoffs.
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The Canadiens finished last season with a 31-45-6 record and they improved by eight points this season, finishing 30-36-16.
Twenty-seven of the Canadiens losses this season were by one goal, which is a sign of hope for the future. So was the play of captain Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky, along with Cole Caufield regaining his scoring touch at the end of the season with eight goals in the last nine games. There was added hope and excitement when offensive-minded defenceman Lane Hutson joined the team for the final two games after finishing his NCAA career at Boston University.
“We’re at the point where we have a lot of assets, we have a lot of good players,” Gorton said when he and Hughes met with the media for their post-mortem news conference Wednesday in Brossard. “It’s moving in the right direction and that’s for Kent and I and Marty to figure out what that is.”
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Playoffs is no longer a taboo word.
Hughes said his priorities moving forward are to add more offensive talent, improve the special teams and bring more physicality to the lineup. The GM is aware he doesn’t have a lineup to win the Stanley Cup now and that it can’t be done in 24 hours. But Hughes does believe he can build a lineup for next season that can compete for a playoff spot.
“As far as the playoffs are concerned, I want to make the playoffs,” Hughes said. “Jeff wants to make the playoffs. Are we prepared to sit here today and say it’s a zero-sum game that we failed if we didn’t (next season)? No.
“First year, end-of-year press conference, we didn’t think that was something that needed to be discussed,” the GM added. “We were coming off a last-place finish. We’ve improved from year to year and we expect there to be improvement. How big that is, we’ll see. I think (team owner/president) Geoff Molson said we’d like to be in the (playoff) mix and I think that’s a fair characterization. Whether we push it over the threshold, I don’t know. But we need to be better. We understand that. The fans deserve that and we’re going to try to do what we can. But we won’t do it at the expense of this long-term goal.”
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Gorton said if there’s a free agent available this summer who can help speed up the rebuild he will be looking for him. Same thing when it comes to trades.
“It’s a team that’s showed us a lot and I think we’ll spend the summer trying to figure out if we can move that forward,” Gorton said.
“There’s a lot of good players here,” he added. “There’s a lot of good young players coming. It’s really exciting. We’re excited. It’s a big job. This is the part right now that’s probably going to be the hardest where we’re identifying who’s going to be part of that as we move forward. It’s really exciting, but it’s also the fun part of putting a team together and hopefully we’re right in what we’re doing.”
Gorton had a lot on his plate when he took the job and his patience is starting to pay off. I asked him during Wednesday’s news conference what he’s most proud of in his work so far.
“The thing I’m most proud of is the fact that bringing Kent and Marty in, it’s worked really well,” he said. “They work great together. I think the three of us work really well together. We have a plan. We’re sticking to it, we all believe in it. All the people that we’ve brought into the organization are there with us and have been very good hires and very capable people. We have a lot of work to do.
“We didn’t come here to work here to have fun,” he added. “We came here to win. That’s what we’re trying to do. That’s the plan, that’s our long-term plan. We all want it to be sooner than later. Hopefully it plays itself out.”
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