TLN Three Stars: The curse of the Irish

Ban alternative Leafs jerseys.

That’s it. All there is to it. The Leafs just can not win when wearing the St. Pats jerseys or the reverse retro jerseys or the reverse pats or st. retro or whatever. Just wear the regular home and away sweaters and be done with it.

Anyways. The Leafs lost. It was mostly Freddie’s fault. It sucks.

Aside from a slow start while they got their legs under them after a lengthy break, the team played with intensity and even, at times, desperation. They outshot and outchanced the Flames. They did not get goalied. But they did get Freddie’d. The game ended as a 4-3 loss after the team battled back from not one but two 2-goal deficits to tie it up. Unfortunately, an early powerplay goal gave the Flames the lead back, and after giving up 2 goals early in the game – well, that’s all she wrote, folks.

It might seem silly to highlight 3 stars of the game in a loss, but there are players worth mentioning here, so let’s do it.

There was one shot by the Flames that absolutely should have gone in. But it didn’t. Because it hit the post. So thank you, post, for giving us hope – however briefly – and saving us from a 5-3 loss which just feels more painful than a 4-3 loss.

He scored the 3rd goal to tie it all up at 3, and he was battling hard. As Kristen said:

While he did not succeed in getting the Leafs another goal, it was not for lack of trying. He was like a hyperactive hunting dog looking for a squirrel, all over the ice.

He opened the scoring for the Leafs, which was also a turning point in the team’s effort level. He brought it to a 2-1 game late in the first period and gave a lethargic team some life. He dominated his face-offs and was on the ice to help draw a penalty that led to a key powerplay and scoring chance for the team. Also, I love him:

The Flames scored 4 goals on 18 shots. I honestly do not care to hear about how he can not be expected to make xyz save for whatever reason. He is the goalie. His job is to make the saves. If this was a once in a while thing, maybe I’d be more inclined to hear you out. But it’s not. It’s an every single game thing. The team doesn’t seem to feel confident in front of him, and the fans definitely don’t feel confident with him in net. If Jack Campbell can *fingers and toes crossed* stay healthy and play well tomorrow, well, the writing should be on the wall.

Listen, I don’t wanna toot my own horn by making my own tweet the tweet of the night, but isn’t her expression just absolutely perfect? (This is not her currently, this is 2 years ago – she’s always been a tad dramatic)

 

 

So, who’s excited to do this all again tomorrow? I, personally, can not wait to see if the Leafs can manage to hang onto their very tenuous grip on number 1 in the division. Same Bat time, same Bat channel. Except the opposite of that – catch puck drop at 7pm EST on Sportsnet. Woo hoo.