Weekly Takes - Monday, April 24th Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, April 24th Edition

1. An embarrassing and pathetic game one loss for the Leafs.

Ilya Samsonov was awful in net, and everyone outside of Ryan O’Reilly and Jake McCabe played with zero energy.

I have zero ideas how a team lays an egg like this in a playoff game, let alone on home ice. They were flat right from the get-go, while the dynasty on the other side was anything but.

They flipped the switch, while the Leafs played at a preseason pace.

Inexcusable.

They now have to find a way to beat Tampa four times in six games. Possible, but not likely, more so with Michael Bunting rightfully done for two or three games given he will be suspended for his gutless head hit on Erik Cernak.

Buckle up. We are about to find out when the going gets truly tough if this group can respond or not.

There is no reason to believe they can, but they have a chance to write their own script.

2. We also have to talk about Sheldon Keefe.

The players were awful and the main culprits, but Keefe had an awful game.

The “treat it like any other game,” message prior to the game was ridiculous, and chasing the matchup game was even worse.

Just because Jon Cooper goes to his fourth line on the road does not mean Keefe needs to go with his. Go double-shift the Auston Matthews line. That is the whole point of having home-ice advantage.

3. As for the officiating, it was awful.

There was only one time in the game when the Leafs showed signs of life and it was when McCabe made a big hit with the score 3-2.

And instead of giving Nick Paul a penalty for chasing McCabe around the ice, David Kampf ended up getting called for a “slashing” penalty moments later.

Cannot happen. Officiating was not the reason why the Leafs lost, but one surely has to expect this series will be closer the rest of the way. The officiating cannot be this bad again, otherwise, it will determine the result of a game, if not multiple games.

4. My three stars from the Leafs game two victory…

1. Matthew Knies

2. Morgan Rielly

3. Ryan O’Reilly

Tough to leave John Tavares, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander off the list given how dominant they were, but that goes to show how many players brought it.

Not sure how they could play like this 48 hours after being so bad, but nonetheless. The stretch they had in the second period prior to the Ian Cole goal was the most impressive stretch of play the Leafs have had under Keefe.

Knies sure looks like a stud in the making, too.

5. My three stars from the Leafs stunning game three victory in Tampa…

1. Samosnov

2. Matthews

3. O’Reilly

The Leafs were taken to school after the first 20 minutes, but Samsonov delivered one of the best playoff performances from a Leafs goaltender in a generation and their best skater was their best skater.

When both of those things happen, you have a chance on the road and that is what happened.

Now let’s see if they can go up 3-1 in this series instead of being content with a split on the road. That might be the truest sign as to whether or not this team is different.

6. It is impossible to tell if firing Nick Nurse was the right decision, as the lack of three-point shooting, bench scoring, a natural centre for the first half of the season, etc was not his fault.

There is an argument out there that the core was ready for a new voice, but if the Raptors end up doing a fire sale this summer and moving on from many of their core players, the core being done with Nurse means nothing.

Regardless, he is still an elite head coach, even if he was no longer a great fit for this team. So when you fire an elite head coach, you better make one hell of a hire to replace him.

7. As for Nurse’s legacy in Toronto, it is pretty simple: He helped provide the greatest moment the city of Toronto has experienced in an entire generation.

He is a Toronto sports icon forever.