SPEECHLESS (WELL, ALMOST) (POST GAME OPINIONS)
I am really getting tired of writing about another loss, so this one is gonna be short. The Leafs lose 3-2 to the Devils, and have put another dagger into their playoff chances. The question right now is not if the Leafs will make the playoffs, but if they will win another game this season.
What is their to say about this game? I have run out of things to talk about, and it seems that the Leafs still can't fix their own problems. But, the problem leads back to Reimer. He, once again, blew the game for the Leafs and let in stoppable goals. And after such a long wait, MacIntyre finally gets his long overdue game. Goals by Bozak and Kessel were not enough to climb out of the hole they are in. Here comes the 18-wheeler jokes.
Here are the three reasons why the Leafs lost:
1) Reimer
There is not much to say about why it was Reimer's fault in this one. But, like I said, Reimer did not give the Leafs a chance to win. In fact, the Leafs seem to play differently when he is in net. It would not be surprising that once Bernier returns, Reimer doesn't get to play another game this year.
2) Carlyle
Very simply, it was Carlyle's choice to play Reimer (again). It was only early in the second period when he finally realized that Reimer is letting the team down, and replaced him with MacIntyre. Even with Reimer losing his last four starts, Carlyle thought Reimer was OK to play. He needs to realize what the problem is before it happens.
3) Lack of Chances until the last 5 minutes of the game
Seriously, why is it that the Leafs only start applying pressure when down in the last five minutes of the game? I mean, sure, they had some good chance scattered through out the game, but it was only during the last bit of the third that the Leafs really tried to score. Kessel was able to, but it was too little, too late.
In the pre game blog, I predicted:
This will be a high scoring game, and the winner will have a two goal advantage.The prediction was way off, since 5 goals insn't a "high scoring game" and it was a one goal advantage. Right-2 Wrong-4.
The next game is against St.Louis at the ACC. Boy, does that seem exciting (nope). Hope to see you on Tuesday!
Could Reimer's problem simply be a lack of confidence, especially after Carlyle's thoughtless comment about him the other night? Or could it be something really weird like a sudden decrease in his peripheral vision? Sounds crazy, but these things happen, although I'm pretty sure the players undergo rigorous physical testing.
ReplyDelete