The Toronto Maple Leafs looked like crap in their opening game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
There is no sugar coating this one: the Toronto Maple Leafs played an absolutely horrible, undisciplined, unmotivated game.
Yes it is true that the referees were absolutely horrible and if any of us did our jobs as badly as Wes McCauley did his last night we wouldn’t have one. The league appears to go out of its way to look like it doesn’t favour the richest team.
The Lightning had seven power-plays in the opening two periods, and scored four power-play goals. Sure, Ilya Samsonov was brutal, and the Leafs played like crappola, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that they were called for a cross check and a slash that simply did not happen.
Not to mention, both the Leafs first two goals were followed by immediate penalties.
Michael Bunting deserved two minutes for interference, but if the NHL called a match-penalty on that play consistently, there would be one every single game.
The Lightning even got credit for a goal that didn’t go in.
Toronto Maple Leafs Still Have No Excuses
That said, the Leafs, from their coach on down, were as bad as the refs.
Sheldon Keefe dressed Luke Schenn over Timothy Liljegren, which is so stupid it’s actually hard to comprehend. The guy the Leafs sat has been close to their best defenseman for the last two seasons. He wins 60% of his minutes.
Schenn mostly loses his (and always takes dumb penalties).
To be fair, Schenn had a great night, easily his best since joining the Leafs, but it’s still a terrible decision.
Keeping with Keefe, not only were the Leafs unmotivated to start the game, but it could be because despite being the favorite, and having home ice advantage, the coach was busy being cute with matchups.
They ended up down 1-0 (on a BRUTAL Justin Holl play) before Auston Matthews even saw the ice.
Matthews skated less at 5v5 than Noel Acciari and Luke Schenn. OK then.
For game two, Keefe needs to act with confidence. Put his best players on the ice and let Tampa do what they have to. He also needs to dress his best lineup.
In the meantime, Brendan Shanahan should register an official protest with the league over the biased and horrible officiating.
Matthew Knies needs to be in the lineup.
And, for the love of god, play O’Rielly on the third line so that there are 3 #1 centres. It’s impossible to play against a team that is dominant down the middle. The Leafs aren’t even taking advantage of their biggest strength which is depth down the middle. (stats naturalstattrick.com).
This game sucked, and the Leafs played badly. They need to regroup and remember that they lost a series last year after winning game one 5-0.