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The Toronto Maple Leafs said all the right things about having to play their best game against the Montreal Canadiens in a potential elimination game, but a performance littered with errors and miscues punctuated by Alex Galchenyuk’s bad giveaway on Nick Suzuki’s game-winner 59 seconds into overtime proved that the Leafs had paid lip service to those intentions.
The 4-3 loss in Game 5 at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday not only gave new life to the Habs and extended the best-of-seven series to a Game 6 in front of 2,500 fans at the Bell Centre on Saturday, it again calls into question the killer instinct of a club with a sizable advantage in talent over their opponent.
Toronto did not appear prepared for the Habs energy and desperation, with sloppy giveaways and turnovers leading to a 2-0 deficit eight minutes into the first period on a pair of Joel Armia goals. The Leafs only seemed to wake up after Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s 3-0 goal early in the second.
Zach Hyman got Toronto on the board in the middle frame and rallied in the third to tie the game in the third on a pair of Jake Muzzin goals, but all of that was for naught as Galchenyuk, covering the point for a pinching Zach Bogosian, spun and attempted a pass to Jake Muzzin instead of getting the puck deep, and sprung Suzuki and rookie Cole Caufield on a 2-on-0 breakaway.
“I just thought Montreal came out real hard, not unlike Game 1, and we didn't deal with that well. We got ourselves in a hole there.… Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I think it's like any other mistake that you make. You want the player to be aware of the mistake, which I think that itself is pretty obvious. They know that, but it's more just being aware of what was available there, what the better play was, and then you park it and move on and keep playing. Hockey is a game of mistakes. It happens and you've got to push on. When you're playing better as a team and mistakes happen, they don't seem to hurt you. When you're not playing well and you make mistakes, you open the door for the opposition and those mistakes cost you.…
It was a particularly rough night for youngster Rasmus Sandin, who turned over the puck after a Corey Perry hit on Armia’s goal and lost in meekly behind the net on Kotkaniemi’s marker. The 21-year-old played only two shifts in the final 35 minutes of regulation and will likely be replaced in the lineup for Game 6 by Travis Dermott.
Other areas of concern for Toronto have to be the lack of production out of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and a pedestrian effort by Jack Campbell. Both top liners have four points in the series, but are averaging over six minutes per game more in ice time than second liners William Nylander and Alex Kerfoot, who lead the club with seven and five points.
Campbell was shaky early in the contest after registering a shutout in Game 4, and made only 26 saves on the night, but was not at fault for the game-winner.
“My focus is stopping the puck. I'll look at the goal, what I did wrong on it and move on. But as far as if somebody makes a tough play or something, we're supportive of each other.… Campbell said. “Most of the time, guys are making the right play. Tonight it wasn't my best and I know I've got better and I have that belief in everybody in the room.…
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Lot’s of â¤ï¸ for the 💙ðŸ¤
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) April 26, 2021
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