(upbeat music) - Bad morning, Joe. Sports at 5.9 in the fan band. It's Frank Gunner. Yeah, it didn't go well in 18 and 19. Double a game, sevens, zero victories. 13 is a different deal altogether, okay? That's not this group. But that was also a game seven in Boston. Leads with a chance to erase history tomorrow. About say it can't get worse, but always good. - Oh, buddy. - Yeah, I know, I know. - You need to, it's amazing what two victories can do to a fan base, right? It's like, yeah, no, all is good. All is forgiven. Pressure's on them. Let's see how you feel after Puck drop. And after, you know, a one-one hockey game through 40 minutes, or God forbid. - Oh my God. - Game seven over time. Just the Bruins went through on their way to blowing a 3-1 series lead against the Panthers last season anyways. Pressure's a privilege, as I continue to say in this postseason. And yeah, I do think, like in an overall sense, still that the pressure is on the Boston Bruins trying to avoid being the first team in North American pro sports history to blow 3-1 series leads in back-to-back seasons. Yeah, it's incredible that Doc Rivers hasn't done that. Like he's taken a break between 3-1 series leads, hasn't done it in back-to-back seasons. Yeah, maybe we'll get to him blowing yet another postseason opportunity yesterday without his best players. But yeah, the box out. All right, so no Austin Matthews yesterday. Second consecutive elimination game he does not play in. Didn't play in the third period of Saturday's debacle of a game four. Skated for longer. For 30 minutes, compared to the eight minutes, he's skated in Boston before game five. I mean, I guess there's a possibility he could play tomorrow, but if I was a betting person. - Yep. - That's what I am on occasion. I would wager that he's not playing. I get, if he exerted himself in the manner that he did, that we all saw before yesterday's game at home, trying to snap a six game losing streak, trying to keep their season alive. Hard to imagine that just 48 hours later, a lot has changed in that regard. And no, are the Maple Leafs better without Austin Matthews? Like at least thank God we have that game two that we can all look back on. - Oh my God, you're right. Imagine we hadn't. - Yeah. - Well, seems to be over, but. - Sure, but at least, and boy, nobody should be surprised that he has that in him. Again, scored five goals in the six games against the Lightning in the first-round last season just before going scoreless in the five games against the Panthers. Like obviously the Leafs are better with the guy that scored 69 goals during the regular season. But I do think we're still at the same spot. Maybe you can disagree with this. If the Leafs lose on Saturday, we're having the same conversations about this core. And finally, some drastic movement. And obviously the Brendan Shanahan, and obviously the Sheldon Keefe of it all. What, if anything, has these two games and a period told you about the possibility of removing one of the high priced forwards from this core group? - Yeah, it's not the first time that this has happened. They did miss John Tavares for all but 10 minutes of a series. So it's not that they haven't had this test run before. But the Leafs are, God, aren't we all a little different since COVID and everything that was happening when the Leafs were losing a Montreal in that series? The Leafs are a different team now. And I do wonder, and again, let me just hammer home this point, that the guy they'd be missing, I mean, they're missing Austin Matthews right now. But if they're doing the test run of what does this look like with one less high powered forward, it's not because they envision it without Austin Matthews. He's obviously the key pillar of this. But I do wonder, how can you not, to a certain extent, look at this and say, how does it look when there's, and you can look at a twofold, 'cause one, this isn't a Mark Stone situation, right? This isn't a, Austin Matthews was on LTIR and the team wouldn't look this way. If no, the team would look better than this, quite honestly, 'cause if you had, if you remove one of the high power or high priced forwards, then you would have that money to use. So I can't help but look at it and think that this has got to be, obviously they're not doing it intentionally, they're not like holding Matthews out to have a test run or a look at it. But how can your mind not wonder what would it look like with one less high powered forward? And again, it's only gonna be better because you'd actually have somebody replacing the player as opposed to them just not being there. - Yeah, having $13 million in cap space not being used, not as good as being able to use that in areas of need for the, obviously we're not talking about Austin Matthews being the guy that's cast overboard. I think the more accurate numbers just shy of 11 million. If we're being, you know, logical about what the move could be this next off season and not offering Mitch Marner an extension. The other thing is that, okay, so Leafs win a game in which again, they score no goals. The score two, but they barely scored one through 40 minutes of play and they only scored two because the Bruins had to open it up and chase the game trailing by one and it allows William Neelander to get a break away and he finishes because he's supposed to do that when he's being paid, what he's being paid now and what he's about to get paid starting with the extension next season. But this team, I mean, the number one takeaway for me in the near decade of post seasons is this team built on offense, built on forward, high priced forwards and the ability to put the puck in the back of that which has happened during the regular season, it happened second most among any team in the NHL during the regular season this year, has not translated into the post season. So if you're thinking about building this team out going forward, I mean, the idea of all those guys contributing to an Oilers level in the post season not happening anyways. So, I mean, to me, that's the biggest takeaway is that, you know, okay, would it be ideal to score on all your power play opportunities if these guys could translate what we saw, at least in the month of February, into a post season series, it's only happened once and that was in the sixth game series against the Lightning last season, sure would. But that's the biggest, and it doesn't matter who's out now, like that's the biggest sample we have, that has not translated into the post season. So your best case scenario is to build out a defense, a more defensive style team and then have at least one game breaker, I guess two, if you're talking about Kneelander and Nostemathus on this team next season. - Yeah, there's that. I think the other thing that you have to include in this when you're talking these big, big picture conversations is the realization that we talk about, you know, the four high priced, high power forwards. But let's say, and like, let's not dance around the issue, it's like we talked to Kipper about this yesterday, it's a possibility, like, Marner does not have a contract beyond next season, it's like, let's say he's the guy you moved on from, it wouldn't just be moving on from him 'cause you've already kind of moved on from John Tavares, at least in terms of, you know, 90.45 goal, John Tavares. So it's one thing to say, hey, what if we add one less high powered forward here? But you really have to make this calculation with the understanding that you've already kind of lost one. John Tavares is still here and I'm the last guy to port dirt on him, I think he continues to play, again, adjusting expectations, great hockey for this team. But I also think that you have to take that into the calculus, it's not just, again, like, let's just say it's moving on from Marner, or he wants out or whatever the deal is, you're losing Marner and then you've already kind of, it's like the slow loss of John Tavares. And again, not that he's going anywhere, but he's not a hundred point guy or he never was, but you understand he's not peak of his powers Tavares. So I think that's the other thing you have to include in this equation as well, is that you could very well be looking at a world where, and I'm sure a lot of people would say, yeah, I'm good with that world where it's just William Matthews. - I have more, Matthew Nice, I mean, you know how? - Yeah, sure. Has anything changed as far as the, I mean, the conversations we were having, like, frankly, on Saturday, do those conversations resume at the conclusion of Saturdays at Tomorrow's Game 7 in Boston, that the Leafs lose in whatever fashion that is? - Yeah. - Even if it's, hey, finally scoring on the power of play, but Joe Wall, that's in a couple of softies, which despite the incredible play, the last couple of games is still a possibility. We saw him at the end of the regular season. Has anything materially changed as far as, you know, maybe, God, given another kick of the can, seems far-field, but yeah, has anything changed with the performance that we've seen the last two games? - I don't think anything has changed, and maybe I should have been more stalwart in this, as we were talking about, it's all just like beyond record about it now. I'm not so certain that those changes we all think are coming or coming. Like, Keith, they lose the series as gone. They lose the next series entirely possible. He's gone. Shanahan, Keith Pelley, didn't get brought in here to just hang around, so it's entirely in play for him, but the idea that a new president, and, you know, I suppose that'd be part of the interview process or whatever, but it's like, much like Bradger Living's first move didn't wanna make was trading one of those guys. I don't think the new president's gonna want that to be the thing that's on the mantle right away for their kind of era of this Oregon. I'm not so certain we're living in that world. I honestly thought the only route, I shouldn't say the only, I thought the most likely route to change was a disastrous first round series that trended the way it was trending, and it was, well, I'll just be honest, it's like Mitch Barter saying, "Do I really wanna do this anymore?" I thought that was the most likely route to change. And I think that, again, 'cause he wants to be here, we all know that. He loves being a Leaf, we all know that. I think that these two games and that crowd at home and the pushback, that right there is enough for him to say, "No, this is what I wanna do. "Look how close we are." Well, I know you're all out there going, "Oh my God, Gunner, not again." But you're telling me that that wouldn't embolden him, 'cause we can sit here and talk about what the Leafs wanna do all they want. He holds the garkies. What if that was Mitch Marner scoring those two goals yesterday? Right. What if it was Mitch Marner, and boy, it's usually could have happened, 100%. He's been given more offensive opportunities than Williams. Yeah, and what if that was Mitch Marner and he gets an opportunity on the bench to cup his ear to the crowd and get everybody going? What if he's the reason why they're playing in a game seven tomorrow? What if he's the reason they're playing in a game around two next week? Dude. I mean, I do think, well, personally, if it were me, even if they win tomorrow and they lose in a short series against the Panthers, I'm having the same conversations that we would have been having after a game five in Boston after the horrible performance at home in game four. But yeah, you gotta be open to the possibility that instead of the image of Mitch Marner throwing his gloves being the image of this incredible end of an era, another disappointment in the postseason, it being the moment, the turning point, like the moment of change for this organization, for this core, where they finally clicked for them. And it must be said, like, boy, I don't think there were too many people criticizing William Neelander's display in that thing at the end of the second period in game four. Yeah, and look at what he's done since then and having the game of his life yesterday. Yeah, the idea that that could be not just like the poster for a decade of Leafs postseason failures, but like actually some image that we look back on fondly is not out of the realm of possibility either. - No, not at all. This is the beautiful thing about sports is like, or just life. I mean, like the night has always darkest right before the dawn, like you see these guys and they're ripping each other's heads off and they're mad. And yeah, it's counterintuitive to everything that we've seen here. But guess what? All we've seen here is them losing in the first round or if we're also lucky, the second round. So the idea that it looked a little different, good in hindsight. So yeah, I think that I do think that the comeback has changed not much, but there are a couple, I mean, let's be honest again, like I'm just going to bring him back to Marner. I think that he plays in that game. He sees it going there and there's just no, I won't say no world, like we'll see what happens tomorrow night. But I just can't see a world where he goes and I don't want to do this anymore. And I think he's further emboldened once again. So I will say that that moment already has changed. Like here's the one thing that these two games has changed. It's changed that moment from like, yeah, oh my God, this is, Mitch Marner's going to crumble now that he's the guy that was publicly called out by his teammates and he's seen throwing the gloves. And while he says he's not on social media, must have heard the discourse surrounding how embarrassing most people who viewed that display viewed it. Like the discussion around that thing has already changed with not just the team's performance, but his performance in particular. The third period of that game and then the next two games as a whole. - Yeah, I mean, he scores the beautiful goal in that third period. There was the moment last night where you can, and Marner I think is a player, you know, you'll see this with goal scores sometimes and not the Marner's not one, but you know, he's not a pure goal scorer where they're coming out of it. You know, they're starting to hit a lot of posts or getting a ton of looks and you go, okay, this is going to happen. With Marner, it's the confidence. You could see it brimming. There was the one moment last night where there was a yard sale of broken sticks in the corner and with two defenders chasing him and, you know, it's like, I understand these guys are very talented. I shouldn't be so wowed by it. But just the like, it was Sunday morning pickup just moving in and out of the broken sticks. You made the great joke that that was just harkening back to the video he cut for John Tavares. - That's right. - But yeah, it was, you can see the confidence kind of coming out of this player. We've also talked a lot about the penalty kill, how important it was. No forward played more on the one penalty they killed last night than Marner. Had been said to McCabe obviously played more, but Marner killed a minute five of that penalty. Like you got to give him credit for that as well. And this is the double edged sword of hometown guys, but emotional hometown guys and we want emotion in sport. All we ever want is guys who care. It can beat you up and it can eat you out and spit you out. And it is very fair to say it's done that with this player at times. But if you can forget about all that and have a trending, man, it's like, it's very similar to the ghost conversations we had. It's like, once you slay the dragon and get going in the right direction, this guy's the limit. - Yeah, listen, we have a large sample with this team in the postseason and two postseason games against the Bruins team that's fighting its own ghost does not a legacy make. But I'll tell you, being part of the team or being the guy that is the best player in the first winner take all game victory of this era of Sleevesdom, they're 0 for five, right? Like the two game sevens against the Bruins, the game five against the blue jackets, the game seven against the Montreal Canadiens and the game seven against the Tampa Bay Lightning. If Mitch Marner comes out tomorrow, like score is a hat trick or score is the overtime winner in a game seven, it changes everything. It's insane for a player who man has so many reps, right? Like imagine the key moments he's had throughout the course of his entire career going back to junior in London and establishing himself as a first round pick and being selected by the Leafs and then establishing himself as a guy that doesn't need to spend any time in the American League. And then establishing himself as not a bottom of the roster player and establishing himself as almost a hundred point player. All of that coming down to honestly at this point, one game, because if they lose that game, we're having the same Mitch Marner conversation as we were gonna have after game four. But if he has the game of his life and is responsible for a Leafs victory and a second round appearance, it does feel like that would change everything. - Yeah, and I don't, it's so funny how it works 'cause it can kind of be one or the other. He can have a tremendous game or he can have one moment. Like either one of them would do those things. To your point, he can have a dog's breakfast, but if it goes off his butt and in to close out, you know, overtime or whatever it is or it's the insurance marker. And he could have none of those, but just be the strong player. Difference maker he was last night. It is a, I mean, this is the beauty of game seven. It shouldn't, for a team with the expectations that the Leafs have, it shouldn't be this way. It shouldn't be that game seven in a first round series in year eight or whatever this is of this, this legacy defining. But this is moments that define your legacy and the good news is, is you go out and you have a good performance. Nothing's guaranteed. Swaming could just be perfect tomorrow. It's entirely possible. But if you go out and have that performance, it like it gets to go on your ledger forever. And then you get to build on it. - Yeah, it'd be a good start to have the same start that they've had in game five and six. Limiting the Bruins to like almost no shots on goal. - Yeah. - And having a whole bunch. - So you mentioned the start. What do you, we've done a lot of crowd talk. What do they think the crowd's gonna be like in Boston? Like they, they don't have the muscle memory. They should, it's building, but those fans of them, they're also like, you know, like Patriots fans and Red Sox fans and sell, well, they're so sell, man. - I think it is totally predicated on the start of that game. I think if the Leafs come out, anything close to what it is, immediately tight butt building, immediately. - Yeah, they're not gonna boom off the ice, but no. I think, again, like the, the, and it's not the most scientific thing talking about an internet poll of a Bruins fans. - What are you talking about? - Well, I think it does indicate something that exists within a fan base that we're not used to existing in, just crazy if you talk to somebody from 20 years ago before the Red Sox won. - Oh, I know. - Before the Patriots were the best and biggest dynasty in the history of North American pro sports. But since then they've become like Winterville and it just takes a couple of post seasons. And I guess it would be a pretty historic thing to be the first team in North American pro sports to blow 3-1 series leads in the first round. And again, considering the regular seasons that this team has had the last two years, I mean, this year, not exactly the same as last year, setting all the regular season records that they did. But yeah, man, they're not gonna be booing them off the ice, but there is no doubt in my mind that if the Bruins have a similar start to what they had yesterday in game six and game five in Boston, that there's gonna be a lot of people looking at each other talking about how fraudulent this team's regular season was and how they just don't have it and how they have to make a big coaching change and how, yeah, this is one of the more embarrassing post season exits in back-to-back years. - Yeah, it is, man, it is right there. Like the road to a Boston Bruins death spiral could very well begin Saturday night. It'd be so fitting if the Leafs would be the one to be able to kick them into it. But it would also, like we've done a lot of like good, positive vibes for like the half dimension this as well. It'd also be very fitting for the thing that takes Boston off of Death's door is one last win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. - Sure, absolutely well-wearing. - Sorry, like I just, I had to be said. - Within the realm of possibility, again, we're less than a week away talking about this team in embarrassing terms. Wanna give a shout out to Rod Brindomore's agent, whoever he is, before I take the break. - That's a great question. I don't know who it is. But yeah, I mean, Nick Kiprios came on with us this week and talked about the major distraction that that would be in the middle of a postseason run for a Kane's team that could easily win the Stanley Cup this season, dispatching the New York Islanders in the first round. And this story emerging that the extension that we thought was like agreed to already this season isn't actually, in fact, been put pen to paper on. What happens, like, less than 48 hours after that Kevin Weeks report? - Yeah, it seems like it's about to get done, as Rod Brindomore yesterday says, "I feel really good that we'll figure it out quickly." Yeah, I'm not concerned. And yeah, the growing reports that once again, the contract extension has been tabled for Rod Brindomore. Well done. - Yeah, good job. It's one thing, it's also, it's one thing to, you know, like to say that and wanna push stuff aside, but I also think that, you know, Rod Brindomore's not stupid and he understands the leverage that he has to use in this instance. And again, I don't, you know, he's worried about himself. He's worried about his team, but there is, I'd have to imagine. And I think part of this comes from him being a player and a player's union guy. Like, there has to be an element of doing it for the coaching fraternity as well. Like, Rod Brindomore is not especially, especially if he's gonna sign this before, unless he thinks his team is about to lay an egg against the Rangers here. Rod Brindomore signing this is no hometown discount. I would be hard pressed to imagine. And yeah, the agent obviously was able to get the story out there, kind of perfect timing on it. He throw in a languishing Leafs team. He throw in John Cooper of it all. And yeah, it was, it was perfect timing. And it's what life is about so, so often. - Yeah. I mean, he opened up the possibility of hidden coaching free agency when the Leafs were down 3-1 that went a couple of games and have a chance to advance in the series. And show the game with a stable execution. Yeah, actually, you know what, I'll take the security. I will take the money. Smart move, well done. All right, when we come back, we'll talk to Anthony Petriele, author Elise Notebook on Maple Leafs Hot Stove. As the fan morning show continues, Ben Ennis, Brent Gunning, sports at 590, the fan. - Big guests and bigger opinions on everything happening in Leafs land. Real Kipper and Born, be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. (dramatic music) (upbeat music) - Fan morning show, sports at 590, the fan, Ben Ennis, Brent Gunning. I mean, if you can't get pumped up by a John Tavares speech, beat me to another message. Can you not, can you not feel the raw human emotion coursing through him? - We'll play three more periods, perhaps more, if overtime is required. And if we put forth an effort that is commensurate with the level play needed and required to win post-season series, we will win the game. - And the series. - I'm immensely proud to be a Toronto Maple Leafs. I just want to have a good 60 plus minute effort out there. Hopefully come out on top. - Game, save on. - Yeah, you don't need John Tavares to get you geeked up for it. Because if you did, he's not providing that. Anyways, Leafs still not scoring? - Do you think, oh, hold on. I know, like, I know. But could you imagine just like what a great bit it would be if like just one day, like, all right, John's going to read the lineup and everyone's expecting like, right, we got me. Yeah, and we got Burton, we got whatever. If he was just like, all right, you have crazy animals. Like he just really leashed into it. Could you imagine like, has that, has that ever happened, do you think? In his entire life, I just, I can't imagine a scenario that would, you know, John Tavares would respond with any level of excitement. It just, it does not feel like it's part of his DNA. Other than scoring a goal, like a good thing. But then it's like immediate, it's like, he short circuits and he emotions things like what? Get back in line. - Yeah. - I know, I can't imagine John Tavares freaking out. - Like, that'd be the funniest thing, again, if he's just like, you're crazy animals, we gotta go out there and win. - Maple Leafs have won somehow without scoring, despite the fact that they're built on offense, despite the fact that they're the second highest scoring offense during the regular season. They can't score. They can score a little bit five on five, but they certainly can't score on the power play but still find themselves with a chance to win the series tomorrow night in Boston. Let's talk to Anthony Petrielli. Author of Leif's Notebook, which you can read every Monday on MapleLeif'sHotStove.com, you can also follow them on Twitter @LeifsNews on Twitter. How's it going, Anthony? - I'm good, guys. How about you? - Doing very well. Okay, so it's not the way you would have drawn it up if you were a Sheldon Key for the Toronto Maple Leafs, not being able to score and eking out these low scoring, low event hockey games, but it's worked so far, have they found a formula? - Yeah, honestly, I thought that they found the formula in Boston in the beginning of the series and then they came to Toronto and they just, they didn't replicate it. And Sheldon Keyf actually alluded to as much yesterday before the game. Like he, here's just, we know what we need to do. We didn't do it in Toronto previously. We need to just get back to it. I mean, Boston has clearly, you know, they're playing some level of trap counter attack game, just basically waiting for the Leafs to make mistakes. You know, it's been that way the whole series. This is how Boston plays. They've been out-possessed territorially all season long. They were 24th in 5 on 5 shot attempt share. So, you know, this is nothing new for them. And the Leafs, as they have been generally speaking, get antsy at home, which is what they did in games three and four. And they pushed offense needlessly, which is the worst thing that you can do through a trap. You just kind of have to stick with the game. And game six was a different story. They just kind of stuck with the game, you know, they got pucks in deep. They're forechecking more and better than they have in any previous playoff in the Sheldon Keyf era. And yeah, so just, you know, some degree they found a formula, but I think they found it early on. They just, they weren't doing it consistently enough. And the last few games they have them. - Yeah, Kibushay must have been misty-eyed on the bench watching them set up in his old Tampa trap at certain parts of that game. And yeah, Boston, like that's what they, they want to do. I think it makes sense given the kind of roster construction of this team, you know, you mentioned the Leafs doing a little more chip and chase, getting in on the forecheck. How much do you think that they're able to do that now? Cause the roster is a little bit different. You know, Gregor going into the lineup and not the Revo hasn't been good on the forecheck, but I thought Gregor, you know, really seemed to be, you know, making an effort in that regard. Obviously, I like doers game last night as well. Do you think they have the personality to do that? Or sorry, the personnel to do that now? Or do you think it is just more of a mindset thing from, from this group that's allowed them to kind of play? Again, they're still, you know, William Neeland are still is going to have his, his own entry. So it's Mitch Marner, but it does seem like the chip and chase and getting in on the forecheck. It does seem like it's a little more kind of part and parcel. Do you think that that's just a, a counter to what Boston's doing? Or do you think it is part of the, the personnel and the way this team has been built out throughout the year? Probably a bit of both, I would say. And, you know, in terms of, I do think some of its personnel driven more so at the top of the lineup than what they've iced in previous years. I mean, we were looking at, you know, no offense, it takes call names, but you're looking at top sixes previously with like Alex Galchenyak in it. I mean, that's, you know, that's not necessarily the candidate to dump a puck deep and go get it. You're allowed to call him out, by the way. That's well within your purview. Yeah, both in this nation and the world is large. I think the world is fine with that. Nobody's going to be like, but now Galchenyak, no. No, you're good. And now, and now you're shifting from that to, you know, Tyler Burtuzzi is in the top six. And he's been, as physical as ever, the series, so he definitely did not hit to this level in the regular season at any point, right? I mean, Matthew Knives seems to be getting better every single game at this point. Like, it's almost like he's the realizing in front of our very eyes that he's, even though, yes, he's young, he's still bigger and stronger than pretty much everybody, other player on the ice. And you can see it and, you know, in terms of, it's almost shift by shift. You're going, I think this guy's getting better and better. I thought he might have been their best player over the past two games, very close, if not the best. And so some of those guys that are in the top six, they didn't really have those options in previous years. And then to your point, you know, some of those guys in the bottom six, the Connor Durer was really good for most of that game. In particular, he had a really, really good shift with like 10 minutes left in the third period. - Yeah, he did. - That third line, they hemmed them in, and he won like a one-on-two battle. It keeps the possession going, just like an extra, you know, just milking an extra 15, 20 seconds on the clock, which is good to see. So yeah, you kind of go through it. I thought Gregor's speed was noticeable, which I'm sure everyone was expecting, but you kind of bring in a player fresh that can skate that fast. And, you know, a series that's slow, a lot of these guys are starting to get banged up. And it makes a big difference. I thought that whole piece of it was, he matched up that camp line against the Trent Frederick line that has actually kind of bit them a few times, right? Frederick has a few goals. JVR scored last time in Toronto, and they've been getting matched up against Pontus Holmberg and what, you know, the Leafs were hoping would be an outscoring opportunity with Nick Roberts, Ben and Callie Arnkrock. And I guess Keith just finally said, like, I've seen enough, like, you're just going to go up against start checking center and you're not going to do anything. And they didn't. - And also, they killed off all the penalties. Now, that's only been two, the last two games. I mean, we talk about the formula. That, to me, is maybe the biggest part of it, not finding themselves shorthand. Like, they haven't scored in the power play either. But yeah, if you're just trying to play the majority, the game at five on five, Leafs now have a 10, eight edge in goals at five on five. That feels like a concerted effort here, Anthony. The last couple of games to stay out of the box. - Yeah, they have no choice at this rate. I mean, their power play, it's still really, really bad. It's unfathomly bad in terms of what's going on. Like, it very much looks purposeless out there on the ice. And, you know, there's no sugar coating what's happening on the power play. If their power play was semi-respectable, you could argue they would already won the series. I mean, they've generally speaking, health serve, territorially. And, you know, I don't think anyone's watching five on five, going to Leafs or getting outplayed by him large up over the course of this series. You just watch the game and where the puck is and who's dictating play and tempo. It's basically just Boston sitting back in a trap, hoping to counter attack a mistake or their power play scoring. And they know they can also do whatever they want physically because the Leafs aren't going to make them pay at any point. You know, they're one for 19. It's crazy to be that bad on the power play in a playoff series. And, you know, you got a four minute power play and you could feel it. You could feel it with the team. You could feel it with the crowd. There was a point halfway through that power play where the crowd tried to cheer them on, right? Where it was like, we know this is terrible and we want to boo, but it's game stick and it's nice. So we're going to cheer. (screams) They were doing everything within their powers, not to boo. It was like, right on, like the logical part of the brain like switched on and it's like, ah, we're in a tie. Elimination game with a chance to force a game of 70. You can't bring out the boos like we did on Saturday. - There was some real millennial parenting going on in that crowd like, okay, keep going, buddy. You can't do it. I'm definitely not super mad about this right now. That was so jarring to see. You mentioned also, so again, just kind of going back to the way the Leafs have kind of had to play this a little more patient. Let me just preface this question with, there is no world where the Leafs are better off with Austin Matthews not playing in hockey games, but do you think by having one less and not just one less losing the biggest game breaker in the series, it kind of forces them to play a little more methodical style. And it also removes the ability of sitting there and going, all right, Austin Matthews is going to put on his cape and go steal a game or at the very least steal a shift or two for us here. I do wonder how much of it is the identity of the team. You know, I don't want to make too big a point of it. I don't think they've changed their identity overnight, but losing Matthews, it just feels like the team has to become a little more kind of meat and potatoes lunchbox team. - Yeah, I think they've done it all year to be honest. I mean, Marner missed time and they were really good without him and I think everyone then kind of like, looks and goes, oh, okay, I guess you could do, you know, this could mean XYZ things about player, cap allocation, whatever the case is, but it's honestly, you kind of watching, oh, I just wish they did this when they were fully healthy. You know, if you just dump puck steep and four checked and stuck to your game and played mature and, you know, didn't give Boston freebies and you go down the list of things, if they just do this with their star players, it's a really good team. Like they're a real problem for opponents. And I think whenever they've missed anybody all season, they've kind of sat there and went, we really, really need to simplify, right? Like you go back to Bobby McMahon emergence time of the year, you know, again, down guys and he moves up to the lineup and what does he do? Like he starts four checking, he just plays a simple North South game up and down the wall and it's like a breath of fresh air compared to, you know, if you go back and you watch tape like the first 40 games of this season, when they kind of lollygagged through it, it's night and day and it's honestly, a lot of it's just buy in mindset, not relying on the top guys to do everything, everybody sort of pulling their weight. And yeah, you know, again, no one's going to say that they're better with Austin Matthews, or without Austin Matthews, they obviously aren't, but they need to start finding ways to replicate these games with all the guys in the lineup and all the top guys need to come through for the rest of the guys, again, on the power play. Like it just, again, it can not continue. - Yeah, it's incredible, honestly, that they're in a game seven, considering they're one for 20 on the power play and the Bruins have the second best power play in the postseason so far, although they dropped the second best with the yesterday's 0-1 performance behind the Edmonton Oilers. So the starts in these last two games have been unbelievable for the Leafs in the first period. You mentioned it just like the one shot on goal in the first period, it was on the penalty kill for the Bruins, I mean, it was, they were sitting on one shot on goal until almost the midway point of the hockey game. To what do you attribute these starts? Is it just like, are you seeing the Leafs team that finally looks desperate? The team we expected to see on Saturday down to one in the series, or is there the possibility? And certainly it felt this way in game five in Boston that the Bruins are, you know, they're thinking about what happened in the first round last year against the Panthers. - Yeah, I do think the Bruins are tight. I mean, if you just think about it logically, the degree to which they're trapping, it's pretty wild considering the Leafs don't have the best goal score in the world, like they're best player. And they're still going, yeah, like we're not gonna, we're not gonna play these guys straight up. We're gonna run a one, three, one neutral zone trap and hang back and we're definitely not gonna pressure their defense, which is, you know, not the most skilled of the units. And we're just, you know, we're gonna wait to counterpunch them even though they're missing that guy. And, you know, you can feel the domino effect of missing him. And again, McMahon still throughout the entire series. And they're still really, really tight and they're really hanging back. And you know, at some point, like in that stretch of it, it was, I think they got their first five on five shot of the net, their shot shot of net of the game was like 13 minutes left in the second, right? Which is their second shot of the night. And I was kind of watching going, just like, why are they doing this? Like, I don't understand what their strategy is here. I mean, you kind of go through it, right? In game five, they changed the lineup, which game four, they should have felt as good as anybody in the league as to where things were sitting. And they mess with that lineup. And then the guy who gets inserted on defense, Greslick is the guy who gets beat by John Tavares, and that leads to the overtime winner. And you could, like, you could physically see Tavares look up and be like, "Oh, it's my Greslick." And decide to beat him wide, which that has to be the only time that's happened all season, where he's like actively just looked at defense and said, "I'm gonna just act like I'm gonna beat him wide with my speed." So you lose that, and then you come back and you're tight again, and now you're going back to Boston and you're really, like, tight. I mean, you know, as much as it was ugly for Toronto in game four, it has every chance, plus, you know, probably a lot more to get just as ugly in Boston if the Leafs are able to score a few early. Like, they won't do the, you know, that New Age parenting of, like, we're not, we're not doing this power play, like, they will do it. They will, it's gonna, it could get ugly, but it's on the Leafs to take advantage of that. - Yeah, it certainly is, and man, we saw Jim Montgomery, I don't know, like, maybe priming the crowd to be getting on David Pasternak calling him out by name. You mentioned the lineup changes that Boston made. Yeah, those were super curious. Keith made some last night and mentioned Gregor coming in. Do you expect, and obviously, you know, the caveat here is Austin Matthews, but, you know, Nick Robertson has been a guy who's been in this series, and I can understand it when you've had as much trouble scoring, and that's a guy who has the shot he has, but, you know, he's also, we talk about Nick Robertson, like, he's a goal scorer, and he certainly was capable of that in the regular season, but I don't know that he's looked overly dangerous. If there is a change, and again, if Matthew's is back, I feel like it's pretty simple that you just kind of put, not put him in the Robertson spot, but you take Robertson out and put Matthews in, but do you think Robertson will be in in game seven? Could you see a change happening there? Or is this overthinking at a Jim Montgomery style and changing a winning lineup? - I'm very curious. I mean, technically, Sheldon Keith changed the winning lineup, and then they won again, and I definitely did not see Gregor coming. You know, when that was an award, I was floored, yep. - Right, and, but then when I thought about it, when I looked at the matchups and went, okay, yeah, he's actually just putting camp against the Frederick line, because he's tired of watching this Frederick line score, like, one, like, back-breaking goal against them every single game, seemingly. And I understood it, and I think if you're gonna continue with Matt's formula, then at that point, you're basically looking at what, like, a Holmberg, Gregor, Reeve's fourth line, which, I mean, in theory, you should be fine. They did have that line together at points in the regular season, and they were okay. I mean, honestly, like, at some point, Montgomery was right. I know he called out past your neck, but he was right when he said, like, at the end of the day, like, you need your top guys to be your top guys. Like, the Leafs win 2-1, Neelander has two goals. The Bruins guys do nothing. Like, we can quibble with, you know, who's gonna play the fourth line matchup, and maybe that is the thing. Like, you know, the Leafs did play a Boston game seven where Sean Corrali scored, and that was a big deal. So, I wouldn't say the fourth line means nothing by any stretch of the imagination, but the top guys gotta get it done. I would lean towards no Reeve's, but it would, honestly, at this point, nothing would surprise me. - How dare you mention Sean Corrali? I was having such a good morning, and that is just such a Bruins gremlin of yesteryear. And, you know, I say that, like, complimentary, I guess, but, you know, we were having such a fun time, and then you mentioned that guy, and, you know. - It's fun until Puck drop tomorrow, right? - Yeah, right, right. - Yeah, and maybe it'll be fun. After Puck drop, we'll see. It hasn't happened yet in a winner-take-all postseason game. Oh, for five, in this era of Toronto Maple Leafsdom, but William Neelander says that they're due, maybe. Anthony, always a pleasure, thanks, man. - Thanks for having me on, guys. - Anthony Petriele, author of a Leafs notebook every Monday on MapleLeafsHotStove.com. You can also follow them on Twitter @LeafsNews. So, the booing, the power play, or the almost booing, like I mentioned that to you. - God, it was so funny. - In the moment, I was like- - Don't, don't, don't. - Okay, there is, I mean, I guess you can criticize the crowd in game four on Saturday for booing this team off the ice without the series being over. But I, man, if I was in the building after the first 40 minutes of that game, I couldn't help myself but boo that performance. - Yep. - It was atrocious. No matter what Sheldon Keith tells you after the game, that was an awful, awful performance for a game that wasn't an elimination game. But yeah, obviously, with a chance that even the series is opposed to going to Boston down 3-1, you'd like to have a better performance than you had through 40 minutes there. But it's a different deal when you've factually got yourself back into the series. You've had a better start, like, shot share, despite them not leading after the first period, it's like, you can't argue with 11-1 shots on goal, and the Bruins having no five-on-five shots on, that was an incredible start for that Leafs team. They were finally showing that there was, and again, this is, I guess it's not effort, but like- - Option. - Whatever it is that you show when it does look like you care, whatever that was, compared to the opening 40 minutes of Saturday, they were showing that, and yeah, the power play looked as anemic as it always has, but there's, there really had to have been, and you can almost sense it happening, like Anthony's talking about, that people are like, "Oh, this is so boo-worthy." - Yes. - What's happening here is boo-worthy, but given the circumstances, given the stakes, given the fact that the game is tied, given the fact that at five-on-five, the Leafs look like the way superior team, and they've gotten off to this great start, "Yeah, okay, we'll do the proactive cheering thing," even though, God, the one thing that this team's supposed to be built on, offensive firepower, and the power play, and yeah, they're missing Austin Matthews, but to look that bad for a four-minute stretch where the game could be decided, yeah, good job by everybody stealing themselves from booing. - Well, honestly, it felt like everyone in the building had a buddy holding them back or covering their mouth, like, "Shh, don't do it, no, I know you want to, I know," or it was really, or it's like, everyone in the building, or should say half of the building is like the guy who's perpetually offended when he goes out to the barns, like, "You look at him." He's like, "No, no, no, calm down, calm down, calm down." It's okay, it's okay, just keep it on the rails, calm down, it was, you could feel the tension. It's like, "God, I want to boo these guys so bad, you can feel it." And good on him, good on the crowd, awesome crowd last night, said it before, slayed again, crowd was awesome. - Yeah, and okay, if you're looking at a team being proactive and not necessarily being a goal that's scored or a hit that's being taken in the middle of the game, again, like, to me, the momentum shifter of killing off that penalty in midway point of the second period, everybody was behind that team at that point, despite it being a tie-hoggy game, despite them not scoring on a four-minute power play. You know, like, that was honestly, just emotionally felt like the turning point of the hockey game. - Big time. - All right, time now for The Wake and Rake, presented by Sports Interaction, your homegrown sports book, 19 plus, bet responsibly, two sweetest words in the English language, game seven. - I thought you were gonna say Joe Wall. - We'll see. Maybe on Monday, that's what we'll be saying. Leafs and Bruins in Boston for game seven, Saturday, eight o'clock on Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet, CBC, and Sportsnet Plus. And the Bruins are the home of favorites, minus 135. Maple Leafs plus 115. I joked with you considering the lack of goal scoring in these last few games. What is the total in this game? And yeah, I mean, hard to go lower than five and a half, and that's what it stays at. And in fact, you get the better odds. If you bet the under plus 100 over minus 120, Brent. - Yeah, I take the under. You and I are joking, like, set it at two and a half heading into this game. Five and a half. This feels like it's gonna be another super tight. Two, one, three, two, three, one, somewhere in their affair. You get it at a plus number under five and a half, plus 100, give it to me. - I mean, there's almost no scenario. I can see where this thing is a goal fast. Like, anybody that's watched the first six games of this series, like the games that have gone over have been with Ilya Sampsonov in net, since Joe Wall has taken over. And since the Leafs have decided not to take any more penalties, yeah, it's been nothing but low event hockey. You gotta take the under. - The only way it goes over is if Boston's ghosts are real and Swamin just goes like full Patrick Lillie or something like that. - Yeah, which-- - Let me just put that out there. - Okay. - I guess that possibility exists. I don't think he's been the problem last couple of games for the Boston Bruins. We shall see though. That was the Wakenrike presented by Sports Interaction, your homegrown sports book, 19 plus, bed responsibly. All right, could the Bruins have the belt as the biggest chokers in North American pro sports? We'll ask Frank Cervelli. Next, as the fan morning show continues, Ben Anis, Brent Gunning, Sportsnet 590, the fan.
