LFR19 – Game 25 – Did Something – Maple Leafs 7, Penguins 2

LFR19 – Game 25 – Did Something – Maple Leafs 7, Penguins 2

Dude, I can’t think of a single thing to complain about with that game. Well, I can’t. What could you possibly complain about with that game? Well, I hate the fact that it’s over. Let’s go. It starts with an A and ends with anxiety. Off the chart levels of this be with you wherever you are. Welcome to LFO. [Applause] Oh, this one’s got to come from the deepest depths of your soul. Leafs win 7-2 over the Pittsburgh Penguins. You know what? You know what? We’re taking advantage of a good mood. Victory puppies big time on this one. And we’re raising the roof. We’re raising the standard here because I said for victory puppies this year I was gonna give 20 bucks to the Humane Society of Durham Region for every Leafs win. Screw that. We’re doing 50. Now, you might think that that has something to do with the fact that the Leafs have won a lot fewer games than I thought they would. Possible that you’re right, but also screw it. I like dogs and other animals. It’s not just dogs. So, that’s what we’re doing. And another thing, Movember, this atrocity sticks around for only a few more hours. So, I am only going to bother you about it one more time. Me and the SDPN guys, we’re trying to raise as much money as possible from Movember. We’re in a neckand-neck race against Michael Pazetta, who is an actual professional hockey player and uh can actually grow a mustache. It took me like a month. Like, I cheated. Like, I cheated to get it this long. And it’s still bad. This is like This is like six weeks. There’s a reason I call it Movevember and not all of the time. Anyway, Movember, donate. Humane Society Animal St. Donate to anyone. Take advantage of your own good mood. It’s Christmas. American Thanksgiving’s over. It’s a It’s officially Christmas, dude. There are wins and then there’s that. The only thing I didn’t like is Oel didn’t finish the game. Craig Baru said it’s not serious. Again, the Leafs and their injuries. Oel could be done for the season. He could be back uh Tuesday. I don’t know. Probably a lot closer to he’s coming back Tuesday. God, I hope he comes back Tuesday. He’s so good. If you watched my stream of this game on the STP YouTube channel, you know I started the game mopey and sad. And that is because the way the Leafs have played has left me left me mopey and sad. They lost in a bad way yesterday and it left me mopey and sad. The first roughly five minutes of this game kind of made me mopey and sad. I didn’t think they looked very good. I mean, what are we doing here? You got Max Doy on the top line and then he’s a healthy scratch and he’s right back on the top line again. Robertson on the fourth line. Oh, Ben Wis not in the lineup for personal reasons. So, Meyers has got to play. He was brutal the last time we saw him. Joseph Wool is making 10 bell saves every night and now he’s not there to bail you out. It’s Dennis Hill to be. So through the first 5 minutes or so, yeah, I was a grumpy goose. In fact, we’re nearly 7 minutes into the game. Leafs don’t have a shot on goal yet. But when the Leafs finally do get a shot on goal, it is a play born of outworking the other team. Matthew Ny in the corner with the puck. I like our odds. Carlson can’t get it off him. That’s not Carlson’s strength, but he manages to keep Ny at bay. He’s along the wall now. Austin Matthews has his stick on the ice like, “Give me the puck.” And maybe you could have done that, but also the penguins are all standing around. And Oliver Ecman Larson sees the Penguins standing around and he goes, “I’m going to skate where they aren’t standing.” So he does that and Matthew Ny just trickles the puck through all these standstill bodies for a limp pass that hits the boards and Oel collects it. Now, two things happen when Oel fires the puck. One of them is hard work, the other’s just fortune. Eastston Cowan comes in and he takes a defenseman with him because by driving the net, that defenseman has to take him seriously. And so he follows him. Not only does Wtherspoon turn his back on the play, but also the Puckets escape and there’s a rebound. Eric Carlson has to make the split-second decision between, do I just completely abandon my post, leave the front of the net wide open, maybe there’s a cross crease pass or I don’t know, or do I just hope for the best? Maybe my D partner will help me out. Oh, wait. He’s behind the net because Eastston Cowan went to the net. So, Oliver Ecman Larson gets the easiest rebound he’s ever gotten in his life and snipes it. He has turned the clock all the way back and the Leafs on their first shot of the game are up one- nothing. Now, that’s not dominance yet. That’s that’s good. Let’s be honest. First shot of the game, it’s like seven minutes in. Leafs are up one- nothing. That’s just funny. You’re like, “Ah, this could go away at any minute.” And funny thing, it did. And like annoyingly too, Penguins get on the power play. I hated that the Penguins were on the power play of Getty Malin getting a little bit of the veterans whistle just holding on to the stick. The Leafs would do it right back later in the game. And I actually thought it was fine because it’s fun when our team does it. Anyway, it’s a power play. Penguins go to make a pass. Scott Lton breaks it up with his stick. Hey, that’s good. I think things are going well. There’s a battle in front and the puck is chipped into the air and Ben Kindle slaps it out of the air. I’m told that after watching this goal, the Pittsburgh Pirates called and told him they were interested until they found out that they had to pay him money and then they told him they were no longer interested. Ben Kindle’s sixth of the season. Do you understand? Three of his six goals have been scored against the Leafs. Half of Ben Kindle’s career goals are against the Toronto Maple Leafs. And this happens like a minute and a half later. So, we don’t even get to feel good for any real amount of time. And I am immediately grumpy again. And I immediately assume I’m going to hate this game and the way that the Leafs play. And then the darnest thing happened. Eastston Cowan decided to say that he’s arrived and the Leafs ran the Penguin show. Cowan getting a massive opportunity as a rookie. He’s up on the second line with John Tvaris who’s had an unreal year. William Knander who’s had an unreal year. It’s cowing to Knander to Cowan. Ew. On one hand, if you’re a Penguins fan, you might look at CEOs and go, “Okay, that was a nice goal, but also you weren’t even close.” But that fake shot pass from William Knander. Cowan’s third of the season and two goals in quick succession for the kid. Has he arrived? I think he has. And the Leafs take the 2-1 lead. In fact, they hold on to the 2-1 lead into the second period. Fellas, it’s not even my birthday, gents. Now, here’s the way things have gone this season. The Leafs will well, I was about to say the Leafs will have the lead, they’ll go into the next period, and then they’ll play terrible and cough up the lead. That is how it goes sometimes. But even more concerningly, the way it has gone most of the time is they will go into the next period losing and they will play worse. That super didn’t happen here and it’s because every member of the new look third line scored. One of them was on the power play. We’re going to ignore that because it doesn’t fit my narrative. Barely over two minutes into the second period, Bobby McMahon goes to work creating all kinds of problems deep in the Penguin zone and the Leafs have the puck, which I don’t know if you know this is important. Oliver Ecman Larson and Morgan Riley are working it back and forth, which I like and please be okay. Oel Riley throws it on. McMahon with the perfect tip and Joshua with the perfect screen. Zero chance COVID is seeing this thing. There’s nothing he can do about it. And the Leafs now have a twogoal 3-1 lead. Hey, that’s pretty good. I wonder if they could hope that there’s more. I’ve been getting into it with some people who are talking about the way the Leafs play and the team that fans asked for. Well, you didn’t want Marty anymore, so you wanted this gritty team. And gritty teams stink is basically what they’re saying. And this is how you know you can just dismiss that person immediately. Have the Leafs played gritty this season, boys and girls? No. And anyone who’s watched a single game of theirs knows that. But gritty doesn’t mean shoving people around and punching guys in the face and laying a bunch of hits. It means working and winning puck battles. That’s exactly what this third line did. Take the fourth goal for example. Dakota Joshua behind the net says up your nose with a rubber hose. That’s mine. He gets it to McMahon who gets it to Stetcher who puts it on. When Stetcher puts it on, it’s blocked by Laten. Good for the Penguins. Plays over. They clear it. Kidding. They don’t because they want a block battle. Nick W chips it to Dakota Joshua who spins and fires and scores. Should Seavs have stopped that? I don’t actually give a hoot. He doesn’t play for my team. He plays for the other one. And I’m happy when my team scores against them. I don’t know if you noticed this or not, but the Leafs did not punch the puck into the net. They simply outworked their opponent and now they have a threegoal lead because of it. What’s funny is it it was actually selective grit that gave the Leafs their fifth goal because they’re driving the net. They’re causing problems. The Penguins actually it was Jarry because he loves got pulled. He covers it up. Weatherspoon grabs Matthew Nise. He initiates the conflict. N gives him the stinky glove which is sometimes a penalty but usually not. Weatherspoon lowers NY’s head and pops him with an uppercut, which is always a penalty except for the playoffs when you’re playing in Florida. And NY instead of being like just goes to the ref and goes, I’m positive that’s not allowed. The ref said, I agree, Matthew. And Witherspoon goes to the box. At the very end of the power play, Max Doy hustles, grabs the puck, sets up, says, “Where are my friends?” finds a friend, passes to Wah, buries it, and even though it gave his team a fourgoal lead, which is typically just about at the threshold for a blowout, Nick Wah celebrates like he just scored in the playoffs. It’s his second of the season. He needed it. Doi was a healthy scratch last night. He needed it. What did DOI do? He worked to get the puck. What did W do? He went to the net and banged it in. This that this this is what we asked for. I don’t expect you to win every night. I don’t expect you to score seven every night. I do expect you to do these things that led to this Btox kicking. Now, about four and a half minutes into the third period, uh they uh the Leafs sort of forgot Sydney Crosby exists. And I um don’t do that. Kevin Hayes with a pretty cheeky pass to Sid who passes Dave Andrewchuck for 15th all time in goalc scoring. It is so insane to me that the Sid and Oie rivalry that was so hyped in 2005. I hate that I’m old enough to remember how hyped it was in 2005 has ended with two top 15 goal scorers including the greatest goal scorer of all time. Oh, and uh four cups and two Olympic gold medals and uh obviously winning the four nation face off. is doing the heavy lifting there. But anyway, the Penguins, any sign that they might get back into this game cuz the last time these two teams played, Penguins coughed up a big lead. Oh no, in the third period. Oh no. Any sign that that might have happened. Vanishes because Max Doy looks around. He sees Matthew Nice. That guy’s pretty good. He sees Austin Matthews. That’s pretty good. Oh, I’m their linemate like on purpose. It wasn’t an icing or nothing. I like it up here. I was in the press box yesterday. I like it up here. Can I stay up here? What do I got to do? Good stuff. I think I can do that. He sets up Austin Matthews and oh my goodness, this goal healed me. The amount that this goal unbroke me. Matthews gets the puck in open ice in stride, drags it, rips it, goal. Oh god, I missed you. This is how Helen Hunt felt when she found out Tom Hanks didn’t die in Castaway. Yeah, I’m such a theater kid. I actually teared up there. Won an award in grade 10 and I parlayed that into a YouTube channel. Anyway, Matthews with his 10th of the season. And I gotta tell you, Max, that that all kinds of that. That’s your job. That is your job. That’s your job. There were times in this game in his own zone. Still listen, we can take the good with the bad as long as there’s more good than bad. Okay. Is a team that allows nine goals a game bad? Let me answer that question by asking another question. Are we scoring 10 per game? Cuz if we’re scoring 10 per game, I could actually live with that. I think the thing I would like the least about that is every game would take four hours, but beyond that, do we win? Do we score more goals than the opponent on any given night? Cool, good, great. If anyone asks me who Max Doi is, I’m going to show him his statline from this game. Penalty taken, a zero rating, two assists. I don’t even give a good gosh darn. That’s a good game. And any chance of a Pittsburgh comeback is Kai Bosched. And then the seventh one just was bullying. Matt Dumba, uh, this was bad. Nick Robertson just takes it. That’s all he did. Dumba had it and then he didn’t. Robertson said, “I want that actually.” And before Jar even had the chance to say fiddle sticks, it’s in. I would love to know how many goals in his career Robertson has scored that gave the Leafs a lead of four goals or more because it’s more than you think. But like as goals that give your team a fivegoal lead go, that one was pretty nice, dude. It was cookie night. Everyone, let me show you. Guess how many Leafs forwards didn’t get a point. Three. Steven Lorent who was a plus one, Scott Lton, who was a plus one, and John Tvaris somehow who was a plus one and led the team with five shots. The Leafs only got three total shots from their whole decor. They got five points from them though and 13 blocks by the way, four each from Jake McCabe and an increasingly growing on me, Dakota Mermis, who led the Leafs in ice time. If you guess Troy Stcher, you’re right. At just under 24 minutes, plus three, and an assist, the whole third line of Wah, McMahon, and Joshua all had goals were all plus two. And it was McMahon and uh no, McMahon and Wah had two points each. Dakota Joshua had seven hits. Dude, this guy, this guy, this is the guy. Seven hits on a goal because you were banging and crashing in front. Hell yeah, dude. The impact that line had on the game was insane. Wah played 15 and a half minutes. McMahon under 12. Joshua under 13. Eastston Cowan is playing just under 19 minutes. He had a goal. He was a plus. And I think it’s important to observe Dennis Hillby who had a very Stallerslike game. I’m referring to last year’s Stallers. So this year, Stallars at the beginning of the season, especially before his stats went to hell, probably because he was hurt, he was having to make insane 10bell save of the year candidate saves like twice a period. It was nuts. Last year, it was a lot of tricky saves, very good saves, but for the most part, the Leafs were blocking a lot. They were clearing rebounds, and they were causing their opponents to have more shot attempts than them. because they were putting all this garbage wide. I thought Hillbe made a few really tricky saves. I thought he looked really sharp. But in terms of the Leafs forcing him to save the world, he didn’t have to do that. And he’s been doing that all season. And that’s why I’m happy he got the belt for this game, which I knew he would. I was thinking I’m like, “Oh, you could give it to Dakota Joshua. You give it to Max Doi.” Wait, who has the belt right now? Oh, it’s Joseph Wall. and the goalie guild, the goalie union is uh man, that thing’s undefeated. But like Hillbee’s played so well this season in the games that he’s played and he hasn’t even won a game yet. So it was great to see him finally get one and he deserves the belt. Real rapid fire with the questions. What are the chances that this team somehow keeps the exact same team and makes the playoffs? I still listen. Yarn Croak makes over two and he was sitting. Machelli makes over three and he was sitting. They need too much help on D for that to continue. Uh so they could play that exact same game Tuesday, have another 7-2 win. They still need to make a move at least one. Would it be wise to trust this team even if they go say 62 and two and keep up this more possessionbased game? Uh if they go 62 and two over their next 10, I’ll uh I’ll give them all a kiss on the mouth. I’m not going to lie. Not really an appropriate time to ask since it was a big win. But how gray will you be by the end of the season? Pretty gray and I don’t think it’s going to have anything to do with the Leafs. This is jeans and age. Do the future Leafs have a goalie problem of the good kind. Yeah, teams need goalies. I the smart money is on Stallers returning to form. Even if he doesn’t, uh, he can be a very good one a to Wool who’s been unbelievable. And then there’s Dennis Hill to be who this season to me has proven clearly he’s an NHL goalie at very least a backup. At very least he is what he currently is which is a very serviceable third which is hard to find. But yeah, you definitely can’t risk losing this guy to waiverss. That’s that’s going to be interesting but it’s not a decision you got to make now. So my friends, that is it for this one. We deserved it. Thank you very much for watching. Click like if you like this video. Click subscribe if you really liked it. Tell all your friends the Leafs may never lose again.

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Steve Dangle recaps and analyzes Game 25 of the Toronto Maple Leafs season against the Pittsburgh Penguins

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