The Toronto Maple Leafs played a solid game on Saturday night but were rewarded with an extremely frustrating regulation loss.
The only thing anyone is going to remember about that game is that Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman, and newly crowned folk-hero Morgan Rielly crosschecked a guy in the face for acting like a loser on a breakway.
Rielly will deservedly be suspended, but the NHL is pretty light about things like this, so I doubt he'll get as many games as such a play deserves.
But to my eye there were two things much more offensive than what was - really - a pretty typical and traditional hockey play.
There Were 2 Much More Offensive Things In Leafs vs Sens Game
The first thing is that the Leafs started Martin Jones. They deserve to lose just for having him on their roster at this point.
"GM" Brad Treliving has had months to fix the Leafs emergancy goaltending situation and he hasn't lifted a damn finger. It is inexcusable to start Ilya Samsonov at this point, and it's even worse to start Jones.
How either of these guys is on a team that is supposed to be competing for the Stanley Cup is beyond me. Jones is a #3 and did fine when they had no choice to call upon him, but it's inexcusable to not acquire someone to push him back into the #3 role.
The real story of last night's Leafs game is that the referees (zero Ottawa penalties) and Brad Treliving's idiotic management of his team's goaltending situation combined to give Ottawa a win that the Leafs skaters earned. #LeafsForever
— Editor in Leaf (@EditorinLeaf) February 11, 2024
As for Samsonov, he's been brutal, and he never should have been called back up once waived. He did great against injury plauged Seattle and Winnipeg lineups, but has now had another two games in a row with a save percentage under .900. He is not a goalie you can trust.
The fact that Treliving hasn't addressed this is a joke, and an indictment on his ability to run a team.
The most offensive thing about the Ottawa game was that the Leafs didn't get a single power-play for the entire game. There were at least 10 incidents that could have earned the Senators a minor penalty which no one would have complained about.
It is literally impossible to play an entire 60 minutes and not deserve at least a couple minor penalties. In a game in which the Leafs dominated 5v5 (even if their goalies suck) a power-play or two would have made all the difference.
The Leafs players deserved to win. The referees and the Leafs GM (due to the goalies) cost them the game. The Rielly hit was pretty bad, but the refs and the GM offended me more.