R1G4: Bruins @ Leafs - May 8th, 7:00pm - CBC, Fan 590

[Heroic Shrimp]

is there any word on how Mark Fraser is doing?

markhmasters: Carlyle says Fraser was texting with teammates this morning and is on "road to recovery"

Did he confirm that it's an upper body injury?

 

[Mack674]

Id rather stop blaming phaneuf and start asking kessel why he was constantly flying down the wing and taking low percentage shots like it was nhl 2002..

Yeah that goal in OT was totally Kessel's fault.

No, not winning the game 4-3 before it even went to OT was Kessel's fault, along with the rest of the team. A couple of times they could have had an odd man rush but Kessel elected to shoot from outside the circle coming down the boards over and over, and on powerplays no less.

They deserved to lose and did. Stop blaming specific guys because you're a bunch of cry babies.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

Id rather stop blaming phaneuf and start asking kessel why he was constantly flying down the wing and taking low percentage shots like it was nhl 2002..

Yeah that goal in OT was totally Kessel's fault.

No, not winning the game 4-3 before it even went to OT was Kessel's fault, along with the rest of the team. A couple of times they could have had an odd man rush but Kessel elected to shoot from outside the circle coming down the boards over and over, and on powerplays no less.

They deserved to lose and did. Stop blaming specific guys because you're a bunch of cry babies.

I guess you mean "stop blaming specific guys, other than Kessel".

 

[Mack674]

See that part where I said it's the whole teams fault? Cool, right?

 

[wnc096]

Id rather stop blaming phaneuf and start asking kessel why he was constantly flying down the wing and taking low percentage shots like it was nhl 2002..

Yeah that goal in OT was totally Kessel's fault.

No, not winning the game 4-3 before it even went to OT was Kessel's fault, along with the rest of the team. A couple of times they could have had an odd man rush but Kessel elected to shoot from outside the circle coming down the boards over and over, and on powerplays no less.

They deserved to lose and did. Stop blaming specific guys because you're a bunch of cry babies.

I guess you mean "stop blaming specific guys, other than Kessel".

Well Duh....Kessel doesn't count in the blame game.  The loss was obviously all his fault  :

 

[Zee]

See that part where I said it's the whole teams fault? Cool, right?

Sure, it was a total team loss, but on that specific winning goal, Phaneuf, O'Byrne and Reimer were all at fault.  I love the kumbaya theory of being all in this together and happy and all that, but you *can* lay blame on specific goals.

With regards to Kessel not scoring to win the game, he had several shots, some very nice chances, and Rask was up to the task.  In that regard, Rask played better than Reimer, the Leafs should have won in OT but didn't

 

[Bates]

Why can we never just enjoy the team on this site?  Last night was one of the best games in the playoffs yet.  Our team and captain played their hearts out and he made one bad play that had the worst possible outcome and people here want to lynch him.  Just enjoy the ride for once and stop critiqueing every minute of every game.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

You know I'm just not angry about this... The bruins are a good tough team, and the leafs are holding their own against them...

This reminds me of the 91 jays that got spanked by the twins. The jays were a good team but there was just a player or 2 missing to push them over the top. I think this a preview of better days to come.

Great post, I was heartbroken last night, but still very proud of the effort put forth for large parts of the game.

O'Byrne has to make Krejci work harder on the GWG too.

 

[chestyleroux]

Why can we never just enjoy the team on this site?  Last night was one of the best games in the playoffs yet.  Our team and captain played their hearts out and he made one bad play that had the worst possible outcome and people here want to lynch him.  Just enjoy the ride for once and stop critiqueing every minute of every game.

There's no questioning Phaneuf's heart, but people are free to question his brain. Some of his decisions are a bit puzzling, and while the whole team was probably mandated to be aggressive even in OT, I'm sure they were also asked to be smart as well -- meaning that if you're going to pinch, either keep the puck in the zone or don't let anybody by you too easily. That's what Phaneuf seems to struggle with.

Still, the Bruins are the best team in the East based on playoff performance, and the Leafs were almost equal to them. That can't be lost amidst all the criticism.

 

[Zee]

You know I'm just not angry about this... The bruins are a good tough team, and the leafs are holding their own against them...

This reminds me of the 91 jays that got spanked by the twins. The jays were a good team but there was just a player or 2 missing to push them over the top. I think this a preview of better days to come.

Great post, I was heartbroken last night, but still very proud of the effort put forth for large parts of the game.

O'Byrne has to make Krejci work harder on the GWG too.

Krejci is almost single-handedly killing the Leafs.  10 points in 4 games.  Shut him down and you have a far better chance of winning.  I would love for the Leafs to win tomorrow night and get at least 1 more home game out of this series.  I think they've played well enough to make this a series. 

 

[avatarx51]

The leafs cant get a break in this market.. seriously, It doesnt matter who they play.. when the pressure is on and it counts they will lose its almost a sure bet, move on nothing new here.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

See that part where I said it's the whole teams fault? Cool, right?

Sure, after singling Kessel out and making no mention of the rest of the team.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Also wanted to add that I thought the Gardiner and Franson pairing was fantastic.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

What are Justin Pogge and Andrew Raycroft up to these days anyway?

I think "thank you Kessel" really should be "thank you Raycroft".  Well, not that Raycroft forced his way out of town like Kessel, other than with his play...

Now that I think of it, arguably even "thank you, Calder Trophy voters", who probably inflated Raycroft's trade value with his Calder.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Also wanted to add that I thought the Gardiner and Franson pairing was fantastic.

According to @camcharron, they played 8 shifts together and the Leafs outshot the Bruins 7-2 and outchanced them 7-0 during that time. Only a complete idiot would keep them apart for game 5. And I mean a big, dumb, complete idiot.

 

[lamajama]

Also wanted to add that I thought the Gardiner and Franson pairing was fantastic.

According to @camcharron, they played 8 shifts together and the Leafs outshot the Bruins 7-2 and outchanced them 7-0 during that time. Only a complete idiot would keep them apart for game 5. And I mean a big, dumb, complete idiot.

with initials like RC....?

 

[louisstamos]

Also wanted to add that I thought the Gardiner and Franson pairing was fantastic.

According to @camcharron, they played 8 shifts together and the Leafs outshot the Bruins 7-2 and outchanced them 7-0 during that time. Only a complete idiot would keep them apart for game 5. And I mean a big, dumb, complete idiot.

I think I know just the idiot!!

 

[Leaflifer]

Also wanted to add that I thought the Gardiner and Franson pairing was fantastic.

According to @camcharron, they played 8 shifts together and the Leafs outshot the Bruins 7-2 and outchanced them 7-0 during that time. Only a complete idiot would keep them apart for game 5. And I mean a big, dumb, complete idiot.

I think I know just the idiot!!

I think RC tries too hard to make players adjust their styles to fit some strategic template he has designed, as opposed to exploiting a players assets. I warmed up to Phaneuf this year, but still don't see him as a guy who should be logging those kinds of minutes. I felt the same way about McCabe. Great player, but with too many minutes he can cause as many problems as he can solve. If a player like that is on the ice for half the game, and has specific weaknesses, it becomes easy for the opposition to exploit.

With McCabe, he was a left shot playing the right side. Easy out for the opposition.

I am all for having brains in that position as opposed to one or 2 particular skills. Kaberle in his prime was a decent number one IMO.

Franson reminds me of the type of guys we had in the early 90s, Rouse, Ellett, LeFebvre...I liked those dudes.

 

[Bonsixx]

Are we allowed to criticize Kessel for missing the net so often last night? I thought he played well, but man, get the puck on net. Rebounds!

 

[Jimmified]

I'm sure most agree the series is pretty much over, but does anyone think we'll see game 6 at home?

Probably, but only because the hockey gods want to see us suffer a bit more.

Yes because winning games is horrible.  Life must be very, very sad.

I'd rather they just lost game 5 and be done with it than stretch it to a 6th game and lose all 3 games at home.

It's only game 5?
This series feels so long for me. Maybe it's the nerves but it feels like we should be at game 7 already...