LFR19 – Game 17 – GAVIN – Maple Leafs 3, Bruins 5

HAT GUY: Man, David Pastrnak 
just has their number. STEVE: He does.
HAT GUY: Kind of like how Marchand still has their number. STEVE: He does.
HAT GUY: It’s like how Bergeron had their number.
STEVE: He did HAT GUY: little bit like how Charara had-
STEVE SCREAMS LET’S GO – It starts with an A and ends 
with nxiety! – VARIOUS SCREAMS – Off the charts levels of PASSION! – MAXIMUM DOMI 
– THIS IS A NIGHTMARE! – Every year! – GO TO THE NET! – I AM GOING TO BECOME THE JOKER! – 
With you wherever you are. Welcome to LFR! There is something – There’s something I can’t 
let go of! On the TSN broadcast of this game, before the game even started mind you, do you 
know what they had in the pregame? Do you? They had a compilation, a montage if you will, of 
Leafs fans wearing Leafs jerseys at that game in Boston. There are fans who will pay actual 
money to see THIS. THIS hockey team in Boston, Massachusetts! You know how in movies, like murder 
mystery movies, they’ll say something like, “Oh, you know, the killer always comes back to the 
scene of the crime.” You know who they don’t expect to show up there time after time after 
time? THE VICTIM! What must the Bruins think? “I thought you were dead!” And if you do an X-ray 
deep down of my insides, I am. Leafs lose 5-3 to the Boston Bruins and here I am like so many 
videos this season where I can’t even tell a story. I can’t tell a “this then this then this 
and if only this but then this.” I can’t even do that. They’re just bad the entire time! Oh no, 
we suck again! There was one, ONE fleeting moment where it felt like this game might be a little 
bit relevant and then the Leafs leafed and they lost. I still get messages from people telling me 
to calm down. I cannot believe anyone would have the nerve to say the Leaf fans are the problem. 
I can’t believe that you could kick us, you could punch us, you could take our wallet and we’ll be 
like, “Oh, you know what? We, we would have given you the contents of the wallet, but I’m sure the 
wallet has value, too. Just take it.” AH! You know what? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A 
few of them say insane things on Instagram, and you shouldn’t do that. A few of them will 
throw jerseys onto the ice and waffles. But the building is still packed and your checks 
always clear! I worked for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment when I was an intern. I made 300 
bucks a month. I had a check bounce! I assume you have never had that problem. Because why? His fans 
pour their money and passion and time that they’ll never get back into this team and what they get 
back from it is marginal at best. Dude, this is your redemption game! Boston ran your show in your 
house a couple days ago. You go to their house, they’re on a winning streak that includes a win 
against you. You have a chance to humble them. They are the better team immediately. Anthony 
Stolarz is getting a lot of crap today. And I’m, I’m gonna float a theory out there. I have nothing 
to back this theory up. Right at the beginning of the game, the Bruins get two brilliant chances 
off a giveaway and Anthony Stolarz makes two brilliant saves. After the first period, he 
left the game with an upper body injury. I think he hurt himself on one of those two saves. 
Or he’s been battling something for a while. Or it doesn’t matter because he didn’t even finish 
the game! It had to be Dennis Hildeby who is the starter going forward unless Joseph Woll 
can come in and be great all of the sudden! So the Bruins have a goal. They have several 
shots. They have a power play before you even have a shot on goal. You give up ANOTHER power play 
and the hockey gods hand you a gift. A gift. It is a turnover. Steven Lorentz takes advantage and 
this shot should never go in. Never. Never. Never. This is nothing against Steven Lorentz. It’s 
Jeremy Swayman making over 8 million bucks. Beg your pardon? That went in?! And on the Leafs first 
shot of the game, they tie it. The game begins anew. Maybe, maybe they can claw their way back 
into this one. Heck, it’s tied! They’re a shot away! And it’s Simon Benoit with a high sticking 
penalty on Alex Steeves. Hi, Alex. Wanted you to be a Leaf for a long time, forever and they 
played you like a handful of games even though you were like leading the AHL in scoring. I always 
thought you were good. Anyway, have fun in Boston, buddy! Have fun in Boston! If you’ve been watching 
for a long time, how many times did I mention Alex Steeves?! Benoit, who I’m learning is no longer 
attracted by an NHL job. He doesn’t want one, I guess. Three penalties for this team in less 
than eight minutes. Myers, McCabe, Benoit. These are all defenseman. These are all penalty killers. 
Oooh, I’m dying. And right after you find a sliver of hope to get you back in the game, they score a 
power play goal. And it’s Hampus Lindholm who lit up the Leafs in game seven. Which one? Ah, Google 
it. “Lindholm drew that up. It was beautiful. Pasta drew that up. It was beautiful. And I didn’t 
see it coming. And neither did the Leafs. It’s 2024.” Steeves scores a goal. Just a rip five hole 
on Stolarz. Not a Dman in sight. You’d love a save there. You need a save there if you are going to 
fancy yourself an NHL team. But as we found out, Stolarz was injured! So the Leafs are down 
3-1 after one because they fully thoroughly deserve to be. Like this was the discourse I was 
seeing online from moneypuck.com. “Leafs currently with 3.8% odds of winning the draft lottery. 
Note, they traded away their first round pick for Carlo.” That’s that’s to Boston. Boston has 
that pick, “but it’s protected if they pick top five.” And all I could think of was that little 
side character from Red Dead Redemption 2. Gavinnnn! Has anyone seen Gavin? Excuse me. I’m 
looking for my friend Gavin. Englishman. Lovely fella. Gavin McKenna might be the only thing. No, 
no, no. We can’t be talking about Gavin McKenna! And do you want an illustration on how in peril 
Craig Berube’s job might be? The Penguins game. Whenever anyone wants a little hope, they go 
to the Penguins game when the Leafs were down 3 nothing. They were awful. They stormed back. 
They went 4-3 in regulation. They were down two nothing after one. Craig Berube after the game was 
still mad about how they responded to being down two nothing at the end of at the beginning 
of the second. This is the same thing. Same thing. It’s not two nothing. It’s 3-1. It’s a two 
goal deficit. Dennis Hildeby is cold. He’s coming right off the bench and into the game. Has to 
deal with the scoring chance right away. Puck goes like a little bit away from him for a second. 
Comes right back. It’s David Pastrnak on a break and it’s 4-1 49 seconds into the second. At the 
end of the day, I think what Derek Lalonde has done with this team’s defensive structure with 
uh like so many Oh my god, we didn’t know what we have with Lane Lambert. We had no idea. He has 
come in and things have been awful immediately. But when was the last time you heard of an 
assistant coach getting fired mid-season because a team was just like, “Nah, they’re not 
very good.” You have heard of it before, but it’s usually they get fired along with the head 
coach. I earnestly think that might happen here, because this is a repeat of something that has 
already happened and happened recently and it’s still early enough in the season that you can grab 
the team by the collar and shake them alive. Or at least that’s the hope and if it doesn’t work you 
tried but what I know for sure is you can’t keep doing this! You can’t keep getting away with it! 
That was the first minute of the second period. Late in the second period, the Leafs are now down 
Stolarz and they’re down Matthews because Zadorov got after him a couple times, but they find a way 
to get back into it. Bobby McMann, the only Leaf with blood in his veins, it seems this season. He 
gets the Leafs to within two, and you go to the locker room feeling somewhat okay about yourself. 
Let’s try this, boys. Let’s do this, boys. After all, this is familiar territory. The Leafs came 
into this game with a tie for the most comeback wins in the league with six! They only have eight 
wins. So, all I take from that is they’re losing, all of the time. Three and a half minutes into 
the third period. William Nylander team on his back. Nick Robertson continues to click. Gets 
it to Oliver Ekman-Larsson. I cannot believe how good of a season Oliver Ekman-Larsson is 
having and how bad their defense is overall. This should have been Can you imagine this version 
of Oliver Ekman-Larsson on last year’s Leafs team? Forget the division. We’re talking President’s 
Trophy at that point. Who knows? Maybe it’s the smidge that they need to get by the Panthers. 
I don’t know! No, they were never going to get by the Panthers. But you would have felt better. 
But now the Leafs are only down one. And again, it’s a gift. It was a sinker from OEL. You have 
three goals in this game. Two of them should have been stopped by any starter in the NHL and 
Swayman couldn’t do it. Then not long after that, Nikita Zadorov and Max Domi mix it up in front of 
the Bruins net. Was anything called? No, it was not. Eric Furlat was one of the refs in this game. 
I heard them say on the broadcast and I was just like, that’s too perfect. That’s too perfect. If 
you need a game to get out of hand in TD Garden, you call Eric Furlat. This should have never 
happened, but Max Domi cannot help himself. He goes at Zadorov, drops his glove, and 
he takes the extra penalty and I take umbrage with something that was 
said on the broadcast. Mike Johnson, who I think is generally extremely fair and really 
nuanced, and I love his takes on TSN, but he goes, “You can’t complain about players not sticking 
up for guys and then complain when Domi sticks up for his captain because Zadorov was the guy 
who injured him.” It was 4-1 when that happened! So he waited like 20 minutes of actual game time 
and for his team to come back? Score two goals, and claw within one after being down three to 
stick up for his guy?! That’s not a guy sticking up for his captain. That’s a stupid penalty. 
Every time out of every time. Because the guy doesn’t pick his spots! The whole world is a spot. 
It’s like me at the buffet. You’re not picking and choosing. You’re putting everything on your 
plate! And some people might look at that and go, “That’s awesome.” But most smart people might say 
something cheeky like, “All right, Steve, go ahead and weigh yourself there. Yeah, unfortunately, 
it is a necessary part of the exam. Why are you fighting me on this?” What happens? The Bruins 
get a power play. David Pastrnak scores. Dennis Hildeby only allowed two goals in this game, 
and they were both David Pastrnak. One was a breakaway, one was a rip on the power play. Good 
luck out there, Dennis. Have fun! Assisted by Mark Kastelic and Tanner Jeannot?! ON THE POWER PLAY?! 
And you leave Boston the way you always leave Boston. With your tail tucked between your legs. 
Losers of the game that you came to play. That you were paid to play. Sorry. Better luck next 
time and the time after that and the time after that and the time after that! Let’s face facts. 
They’re in so much trouble. Like I saw this and this really got my attention because maybe there 
is a problem with the way the Leafs are deploying their main guys. Specifically Auston Matthews, 
who not everyone has been happy with this year because you expect 60 goal guy to be 60 goal guy. 
“WillistonRiellander says this season stats aren’t available yet but this is interesting. Auston 
Matthews percentage of time on ice facing elite competition. Last season it was 48%. The season 
before that it was 40% and he scored 69 goals. The season before that it was 31% and the season 
before that it was 30% and he scored 60 goals. Quite different usage between Keefe versus Berube 
reflecting Matthew’s totals. For reference last season McDavid was at 34% and McKinnon was at 
35%. Even Barkov was only at 42% and that’s a Selke guy. Berube is treating Matthews like he’s 
prime Ryan O’Reilly when it’s clear he needs to be treated like an actual superstar in this league.” 
And here I am going, you have a relatively competent defense first NHL fourthline center 
in David Kampf, who is no longer with the team. He left. He was with the Marlies and left. And it 
is November 2025 and you are still paying Max Domi nearly $4 million to play center at the NHL when 
he cannot play center at the NHL. Oh my god. Stop! What are we doing?! And now, now someone else 
has to take over those minutes because Matthews is hurt and we don’t know for how long. So you 
thought this team was in trouble before? Oh, buddy. You had no idea. I need to get a good one 
of these out of my system. BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAD. Brad Treliving has to do something NOW. They have 
too many forwards and they’re not good enough. They are in crisis defensively. He might end up 
having to gas the coach within the next couple weeks and I’m dead serious. And if he doesn’t, 
who knows what after that? Some people thought Sheldon Keefe should go and Sheldon Keefe didn’t 
go because Brad Treliving had just been hired and I just got here. What happened? Another season 
passed. The Leafs lost. They let go of Sheldon. They delayed the inevitable by a year for no good 
reason. And after that, some people were like, “You know what? Brandon Shanahan should probably 
go.” But you know who just got hired? Keith Pelley, who’s now the CEO of MLSE. And Keith 
Pelley’s certainly not about to show up to his job and on the first day fire Brennan Shanahan. I 
just got here! And then what happened? He waited a year. The Leafs lost again. And then he gassed 
Shanahan. Now there’s no excuse! No one just got here! Make a choice, man. Make a decision.
Sorry, there’s pressure on you to win, which is your actual job and stuff. This isn’t even aimed 
at like Berube or Brad or anyone in particular, even, even Keith Pelley. It’s just aimed at large 
at anyone who wears this freaking logo on their lapel. This fan base needs something to make them 
believe that like, there’s someone who’s got their hands on the wheel because I’m sitting there 
from puck drop till final horn watching every single Leaf game like Robert Baratheon after the 
boar. Just give me something for the pain and let me die. It’s not that they’re losing, it’s that 
they suck! And I promise you there’s a difference. It’s better to lose than to suck in November. In 
November anyway. In the playoffs? If you suck but you win, you don’t, you don’t feel bad about it. 
You’re like, well, whatever. No, you need these points and you’re only going to get these points 
if you no longer suck. Like, we’ve been like, “Oh, how about this? How about that? How about that?” 
They suck. Like, I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough. I need something new. This is awful. And now their 
starting goalie and Auston Matthews might be out. This might get a whole lot worse. Or, or they like 
go on a heater now because they’re the Leafs and that’s what they do. What do you think they should 
do? Leave a comment in the comment box down below. That is it for this one. Thank you very much for 
watching. Thank you there – Thank you very much for watching. Click like if you like this video. 
Click subscribe if you really liked it. Tell your friends. Donate to my Movember page. Link in the 
description down below. I’m not in the habit of looking this stupid uh by, by accident. This is, 
this is on purpose. It’s for a good cause. I look like this. I have to look at this in the mirror 
every day and then watch the Leafs. Please donate.

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Steve Dangle recaps and analyzes Game 17 of the Toronto Maple Leafs season against the Boston Bruins

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23 comments
  1. Bad bad bad penalty by Domi BUT so many of Domi's penalties come from him loosing his cool about something done to him or another member of the leafs. What happens if you have multiple guys on EVERY SINGLE LINE that will go and mix things up after EVERY SINGLE whistle. Domi doesn't get half the penalties he gets if theres scrums after every whistle. You can't call and penalize every player every shift…

  2. The fact I'm more invested in the Raptors over this team definitely says something, especially after watching the Jays. This team has zero heart, never %100 effort in any game they've played

  3. Real talk Steve, We lose Dubas replace with tree(loss) We lose Keefe replace with berube(loss) We strip the captaincy JT and give it to mathews (keep mathews too =Loss) They lost the best player who actually made the team exciting and could get them going better than JT = Marner.(Loss) We really have to set our expectation to what they are saying without saying it. LOSS. = another 75 years without a cup on this trendline.

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