They handled their business in Round 1. Yeah, it got a little sketchy when they had to go to Game 6 after jumping out to a 3-0 lead on Ottawa, but they still pulled it off and moved on to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Then they came in hot for Round 2, grabbing a 2-0 series lead right out the gate by winning both games at home. With six total playoff wins, their most since 2004. It started to feel like maybe, just maybe, this squad was finally built differently. Perhaps this was the year they’d shake the curse.
Or maybe… they’re still just the ultimate group of hockey chokers. The legacy of Ls.
Down 6-0 in your building. The Yacht Club crowd’s already heading for the exits, but not before chucking jerseys onto the ice to let everyone know they’re fed up with their $13 million captain still sitting at zero goals this series. Even Oldie’s busting out acrobatic moves like he’s in a TikTok challenge, and it still can’t light a spark under this soft, no-heart roster.
Losing three straight after going up 2-0 is one thing; it’s the playoffs, nothing comes easy. Sometimes you play hard every shift and still catch a bad bounce. But when Mitch Marner’s out here tossing blind backhand giveaways like it’s beer league, then gets cooked at the back post like that? Man, that’s some clown behavior, and then getting beat to the back pipe like this?
That wasn’t just the Leafs dropping three playoff games in a row, that was them gift-wrapping the series for Florida. All Toronto did last night was sit back and let the Panthers roll up on them like it was open gym. Wait… did I phrase that right?
The Panthers can tell the Leafs have totally checked out. They’ve taken full control of the series and have Toronto straight up begging for the buzzer. And if there’s one squad in the playoffs that loves to toy with their opponent once they’ve got the upper hand, it’s the Cats.
Wouldn’t even be surprised if Florida lets game 6 slide just for the petty thrill of heading back up North to mess with Toronto fans one more time. Give ‘em a tiny glimmer of hope, then snatch their souls in game 7 and stuff the heartbreak right back where the sun don’t shine.
Thank the Lord for Biz never lacing up for Toronto. That jersey just drains the fight outta you. No shot he’s tossing around Irish Travelers like that if he’d done a season with the Leafs. Lucky for him, he’s still got that desert dog fire pumping through his chest.
Nobody’s more heated after a playoff dub than Connor McDavid
The Oilers are now one step closer to snagging the Stanley Cup after dropping the Golden Knights in Game 5 last night. Kasperi Kapanen came through clutch in OT for a gritty 1-0 W. With back-to-back shutouts from Stuart Skinner, the media’s hyped about how the Oilers have leveled up their defense lately.
But Connor McDavid? Dude’s straight-up fed up with having to chat with anyone right now.
If the media thought McDavid’d be all smiles and down to answer dumb questions just ‘cause they snagged a 2nd round win, they were dead wrong.
This dude’s all about one thing now: bringing the Stanley Cup back to Edmonton. He’s locked in, focused AF on that trophy. Last year, he was this close to grabbing it, so he knows exactly what it takes, and how far they still gotta go. No time for flexing or celebrating yet.
I love picturing some reporter rolling into the locker room thinking they’ve got a sick story, just to get roasted and served by 97. They wanted a killer quote about the Oilers flipping the script on defense, but ended up looking like total clowns for even asking. The good thing about print is that you can always just turn this:
I mean how many times are we gonna answer this question, really? Honestly. It’s frustrating that we keep talking about this. We can defend. We can. We’ve shown that time and time again. Come into a tough building and win a 1-0 game when it matters most. We can play that way, we can score goals, we can do whatever it takes to win games”.
Into this:
“We can defend…We can come into a tough building and win a 1-0 game when it matters most. We can play that way, we can score goals, we can do whatever it takes to win games”.
The rough thing about video is you can see how much McDavid wants to roast that reporter for the dumb question. Honestly, maybe just stick to yes or no questions with him the rest of the playoffs.
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