Maple Leafs valuing style over substance

There is no doubt Toronto is one of the most skilled teams in the NHL but the Maple Leafs have been consistently outworked by the Florida Panthers in round two.

Video Transcript

OMAR: Why are we at-- why are we heading into a fourth game where the best players do not have a goal?

ARUN: Yeah, man.

OMAR: I can't tell you why. I have no idea why.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Baby zone time has as many goals as that foursome.

ARUN: Yeah, Paul [INAUDIBLE] shot this throwaway comment that--

JULIAN MCKENZIE: A damn child.

ARUN: Real interesting, man. Like, he basically said very lightly-- and it was meant to be just throwaway comment-- but some of somebody asked him, OK, you guys be Boston. Just to paraphrase, he sort of said that, like, Boston plays in more sort of a direct style, where the Leafs are, like, always trying to beat you and sort of, like, clown you. Like, they're trying to put pucks through skates, they're trying to play with this hyper-elegant style. Like, sometimes you just need to get a clean zone entry and find the open man and get a shot in a good location. And not trying to like beat guys by like making them look silly and like try to get--

OMAR: Yeah.

ARUN: And it's true. I thought at the time, OK, maybe that's a stray observation, but that's proven to be true. It's just like, sometimes you just need a clearance. Sometimes you just need to get the puck off the sidewall and out. Like, it's just that simple. But they're doing it the hardest way. I think on top of that, too, like, man, as someone who was so wrong about Matthew Knies being ready enough, it is scary that his absence has had such a profound effect.

OMAR: Embarrassing, I'd say, to be honest.

ARUN: It's embarrassing. It's embarrassing--

OMAR: Yeah, that's embarrassing.

ARUN: --when your 20-year-old kid is arguably your best forward, arguably the guy that's not shaken by the circumstances, consistently winning puck battles. Or if he's losing them, he's at least holding up the opposing defenseman so John Tavares can come in for puck support, or Auston Matthews can come in for secondary puck support. He's not overthinking the game by any stretch. You know, he's played well across all three lines, and to think that he's playing with this sort of freedom of just not knowing-- it's like, all these other guys, you have to think to some degree it's mental, that they're overthinking it. Is that an excuse? No, but like how does this kid just come in from college and play the right way, and none of these guys can't get over the hump. Like, I don't know. I'm at a loss.

OMAR: I don't understand what's there to overthink, though.

ARUN: Yeah.

OMAR: And that that's what's perplexing. Is just that, you got over the first hurdle. You were out of the first round. You're not even facing Boston, that would have been a second one. You're not facing Boston. It's a completely new level playing field. Just they're being outworked.

ARUN: Yeah.

OMAR: I know we're trying to like dissect it, but they're being outworked--

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGAL: Mm-hmm.

OMAR: --every single shift.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Yep.

OMAR: Every single game. They're being outworked.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: That's been the case all series. And it's funny you mentioned how Paul Maurice described the Leafs as guys who want to beat you doing these fancy things. You know who's a guy who doesn't use any fancy stuff to beat people? Matthew Tkachuk.

OMAR: Nope.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: And he's had his way--

OMAR: He puts it behind you, he puts it into the corner, he finishes his check, forcing you--

JULIAN MCKENZIE: He'll try to go through you.

OMAR: That's it.

Yeah.