Weekly Takes - Monday, May 1st Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, May 1st Edition

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs shocking and thrilling game four victory in Tampa Bay…

1. Auston Matthews

2. Morgan Rielly

3. Matthew Knies

A comeback for the ages, as Matthews and Rielly in particular continue to rewrite their legacy. This group has officially done everything a team can possibly do without actually winning a playoff series.

Now it is time to win a playoff series. They have three cracks at it. It is now or never. This is it. They can either win or they cannot. We are about to find out.

2. My three stars from the Leafs tough game five loss to the Lightning…

1. John Tavares

2. Rielly

3. Knies

The Leafs played their best game since game two but lost. Unfortunate, but this is why you give yourself three shots to close a series out. Goaltending was the biggest difference, followed by the Leafs fourth line and second defensive pairing.

Here are the lines I would roll for game six…

Forwards…

Calle Jarnkrok - Matthews - Nylander

Knies - Tavares - Mitch Marner

Michael Bunting - Ryan O’Reilly - Noel Accari

Alex Kerfoot - David Kampf - Zach Aston-Reese

Defence…

Jake McCabe - T.J. Brodie

Rielly - Luke Schenn

Mark Giordano - Timothy Liljegren

3. My three stars from the Leafs curse-breaking game six overtime win over Tampa Bay…

1. Samsonov

2. Matthews

3. Rielly

They did it. They went into Tampa Bay and ended a dynasty, off the back of a legendary goaltending performance from Samsonov and an unbelievable game from Matthews, who was a threat every time he was on the ice.

They were not the better team in this series, which makes this all much more fitting. They were due to catch the ultimate break and they did.

The only thing more fitting is that Tavares was the one to score the goal. He came home to live out his childhood dream. Now he has provided the fanbase with their greatest moment in a generation.

And he did it on a Vintage Tavares goal. It was the exact type of play people in this city watched for years he came up through the GTHL. He is a special, special player and he showed it when it mattered the absolute most.

Now there is no telling how far this team can go. The monkey is off their back. The goal from this point forward for this core is to win a Cup. Everyone’s job is safe and everyone knows this team can finally do it when it matters the absolute most. Now go win a Cup.

4. Not enough can be said about the play of Rielly in this series either.

Yes, he had clutch goals, but regardless of what he did on the scoresheet, he was fantastic, completely redeeming himself from a tough regular season.

Playoff Mo is a real thing. Worth every penny.

5. Outside of the “Core Five” finally showing they can deliver in the playoffs once and for all, the biggest development for the Leafs was the play of Samsonov.

The Leafs, at last, finally have their franchise goalie.

6. Rick Bowness’ postgame press conference on Thursday should spell the end of the Winnipeg Jets core group.

Josh Morrissey’s value will never be higher coming off a career year, Connor Hellebuyck is a year away from free agency, and Pierre-Luc Dubois clearly wants to be anywhere but Winnipeg.

Blow it up and begin a rebuild in better shape than most rebuilding teams could even dream of.

7. There is no other way to describe the Panthers upset over the Bruins other than calling it the biggest upset in hockey history.

The best regular season team ever was up 3-1 in the series against an eight-seed, who trailed game seven on the road with a minute to go.

The ultimate shocker.

For as good as the Panthers are, with an explosive defence and a number of elite forwards up front, the Leafs have a clear path to the Eastern Conference Final.

8. The Bucks should fire Mike Budenholzer.

Yes, he won a championship with the very core that collapsed against the Heat, but you can truly argue that they won in spite of him, not because of him.

This is the second time in his Bucks tenure that he was completely out-coached. The first time was against Nick Nurse and the Raptors in 2019 and he certainly got out-coached by Erik Spoelstra this time around.

That can’t happen. You cannot have your coach get outclassed and waste the remaining prime years of one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

9. Dillon Brooks has the right to attempt to be the NBA’s “bad boy,” but it is only going to work if you play the act when you lose as well as win.

Otherwise, you are just a fake.

Sure looks like Brooks is a fake.

10. My favourite picks from the NFL Draft…

• Jalen Carter (Eagles)

• Devon Witherspoon (Seahawks)

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seahawks)

• Christian Gonzalez (Patriots)

• Joey Porter Jr. (Steelers)

• Brian Branch (Lions)

• Darnell Washington (Steelers)

The Seahawks should be ecstatic with their draft, as should the Texans for landing both CJ Stroud and Will Anderson. Franchise-changing drafts.

The Eagles, Lions, and Steelers made out very well, too.