What the Maple Leafs need to do to avoid elimination in Game 5
The Toronto Maple Leafs are on the brink of elimination, down 3-1 in their series at the hands of the Boston Bruins. So far, there hasn’t been much to be hopeful for, especially with the lack of offense from the team, but the series is still far from over if they can find a way to improve their play.
Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli had Jay Rosehill on Daily Faceoff Live to talk about the Leafs and what needs to improve for them to win Game 5.
Jay Rosehill: It’s their compete level, it’s their buy-in, it’s their effort in general, it’s their intensity. Show me some of that from your big boys, show me that you’re willing to do something difficult in order to get this win is what I’m looking for tonight.
Frank Seravalli: You hear Ryan Reaves talking, and he’s basically said “hey look, this Boston team blew a 3-1 series lead last year.” Is it only the compete that can plant the seed of doubt? How does this team find a way to score more goals, because that to me is what stands out. Four games, seven goals. I don’t care who you are, you could be the second coming of the dynasty Montreal Canadiens in the 60s’, and if you’re not scoring more than seven goals in four games, you ain’t got no shot.
Jay Rosehill: Yeah, and that’s what leads to scoring goals in the playoffs. I think that’s been proven time and time again by this group in particular. You score a million goals in the regular season, but it’s a little bit different just pulling the bus up to Anaheim’s barn on a Tuesday, and so-and-so gets his three points and you move on.
Look at Brad Marchand right now. Look at the way he’s playing. Look at how his body language is. Look at his facial expressions. Look at his celebrations with his teammates. He is all in, intense, full buy-in, and it’s paying dividends because it’s the playoffs. He’s got sweat dripping off the end of his nose every shift, he’s going as hard as he can, he’s getting into the hard areas, and you get rewarded with that with goals.
Last game, this group of Toronto Maple Leafs were not willing to even sniff that and they got smoked because of it. Now they’re in this position because of it.
You can watch the full episode here…