Morgan Rielly's rant is about the loss of the Maple Leafs

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Morgan Rielly's overreaction to Ridley Greig's walk into an empty net overshadowed big problems for the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

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Another team below them in the tournament took advantage of defensive weaknesses and instant-faire, which caught them again when their top guns were properly loaded and there were no power plays.

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“We gave up too much in transition and these (Senators) are very good, maybe better than any team in the league,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We fed on that.

“We went into a very clean first period two minutes into the trip (1-0) and their first goal led to an absolutely terrible game. These are our best people.”

He's referring to Rielly's pass to William Nylander in heavy traffic in the neutral zone, which turned into a stunning rush and a Claude Giroud goal.

“In the last two minutes, I thought our best guys let us down, and that changes the momentum of the game,” Keefe added.

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“I want that moment, but there were others. At the same time, we missed many opportunities.”

Rielly's 6-on-5 header on Greig saw the Core 4 forwards with Max Domi around Senators goalie Joonas Korpisalo.

His lack of power play all night affected Keefe, whose team had to kill two minors, including Simon Benoit in the third period. Those who read the video from the bench in Toronto would have understood that Keefe called Tim Stutzl for a dip.

I hate that we got a penalty kick in the back of our net with 6 minutes left in the game, but Keefe after the game. “It's very difficult, but the referees let a lot go both ways.”

PLAYOFF THREAT?

The Leafs woke up on Super Bowl Sunday to find themselves in a wild card tie with Detroit, while the Islanders and Devils are six points apart to knock them out of the postseason bracket. That's the consequence of losing three of four in the season series to the last-place team.

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However, Toronto is one point behind third-place Tampa and has games in hand on all seven playoff clubs, plus the Islanders. If there is any “good” news on the schedule, eight of the next nine games will be against Western Conference teams. The Leafs' 16-5-2 record against the West mirrors a 10-11-6 mark against the East, but the upcoming games include two against the Vegas Golden Knights and a rematch with Colorado, where they have won 5. – 3 months ago.

FROM THE COLD

Two Leafs welcomed back Saturday with open arms: Matthew Knys, making his first appearance since Dec. 27, and Domi, who has been hungry since Christmas, and was called back early in the game on a successful offside play by Ottawa.

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In the previous win over Dallas, Keefe had made a few changes with Domi, playing Knys on the front line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, hoping to get the youngster acclimated to a full NHL season and get him to a good level. more shots on goal. Knies Sens had two, no more than one per game in the last month.

Domi's regular gig is for Nick Robertson and Noah Gregor.

“We had a chance to go out there and create some energy,” Domi said of his line. “There are things we can clean up, but we did some good things. Kiefer rewarded us (with more ice time) and we didn't take it lightly.”

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BRONZE AGE FOR LADIES

Congratulations to Christine Dimoff and Sylvia Hargittey, whose podcast Ladies Talkin' Leafs recently won Bronze for Hockey Shows at the Sports Podcast Awards.

In the early days of COVID-19, when a target audience of women — and many hockey-affected men — started without live games and liked to talk about hockey, two friends in Toronto built a niche audience that included listeners from around the world. As of December 2022, they have 10,000 downloads.

Media experts Cheryl Pounder, Jackie Redmond, Sarah Orleski and Paul Hendrick were among the ladies' guests via Apple, Spotify and other platforms. First and second in their category were two American shows: The Guide to Our Kids Play Hockey and The Snowman presented by the Philadelphia-Flyers.

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LEAVES

Ridley is the son of former Leaf Mark Greig, who played 13 games for Pat Burns in 1993-94 … The Marlies returned home over the weekend, splitting two games with the Laval Rockets, winning 6-1 and losing the other. 7-1. Forward Roni Hirvonen's lone goal on Sunday was crucial as the Leafs second-round draft pick missed two months after suffering an eye injury from a high-stick in North America… 1958 forward Sandy Eyre, 95, is sad to report. World champion Whitby Dunlops has died. In the final, the “Dannies” beat the fledgling Soviet Union with a score of 4:2. Eyre sat next to future Boston Bruins GM Harry Sinden in the championship photo.

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