- 2 days ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Here we are again, with all of your requisite gulps and woofs, and yelps, and thwelps, and uggs and crikies.
00:12And even the, yeah, the last one.
00:16Jesus? Was last night a Jesus? I don't think that was so much.
00:20Jesus for me, if I may be allowed to get political this one time, was like game three Jesus.
00:27They can't even match this team.
00:30Last night, I don't know, you said it too earlier to me, we were talking, and was that last night?
00:36Were they overmatched?
00:38Yeah, I guess, you know, like the two goals that, you know, really knocked it out.
00:46Like the fourth and fifth goals late in the second period were more, yeah, not so much Jesus as like,
00:53eww.
00:56Ugg.
00:56Ugg. Yikes.
00:58What?
00:58The 4-3 goal on Lukanen, the Thompson penalty, right?
01:02The Thompson penalty, like the whole, it was, it was the second, it was, you know, it was in the
01:09same spot by the end of the second period that I was in during game four.
01:13I said, you know, yesterday to Greg Wyshynski, and I said a couple of times to you, I felt like
01:18in the second intermission of game four, they're done.
01:21They can't keep up, they're taking these penalties, this feels like it's over, and, you know, they managed to play
01:29a great third period that night and get out of there.
01:33And, yeah, last night is a tough one.
01:37Is it all on the goalie?
01:39I mean, it might be, I mean, there's other stuff, but the game, the difference in the game ends up
01:45being their guy made a ton of high danger saves.
01:50After allowing three goals on four shots to start the game, he stabilized, and our guy just, it got worse
01:59as it went on, I think.
02:01Because I know what it feels like now, watching that third period, it was just like, they're not coming back.
02:07The early penalty and another power play goal at 6-3, I mean, oh my gosh, right?
02:12But seven or eight minutes into the second period, I thought they were going to blow that team out of
02:18the building.
02:19It's 3-2, and they are controlling the game in the second period.
02:24They had how many? Four, at least, really great chances, including a Thompson breakaway, to get a two-goal lead.
02:33I just thought they were going to, I said yesterday at one point, like, one of my thoughts I had
02:37about today is, like, this is their turn to put it on them.
02:40They're going to run away from this team.
02:42And then, I don't know, there's an icing, and then a tying goal, and it just, the game immediately flipped.
02:49Right after that goal to tie the game, suddenly Montreal's got them hemmed in, and it just went haywire.
02:57So, it's not like they were overmatched all night.
03:00I kind of, it was a weird first period.
03:03There's no arguing that.
03:04It's very sloppy, and, you know, chances and weird goals and whatever.
03:08But, man, the way that second period started, I thought, they got this.
03:13And then it just turned.
03:16And then the goals, and then just, so, I'm fighting hard to not be completely despondent.
03:22Because there was, you know, there was a moment in a game last night where it leaves you feeling demoralized,
03:30where I thought, maybe I'm crazy, I don't know if you share this opinion,
03:33I haven't really talked to a lot of people about it, but I thought, almost halfway through the second period,
03:39they were going to, they had this.
03:41Well, I really wanted 4-2 to that point.
03:45Like, they were really close a few times to get to 4-2, and they never did.
03:50How bad were the first three goals?
03:55Like, they're not classic bad goals.
03:57In fact, the Montreal goals against were sort of uglier on the goalie, I think.
04:02Two and three.
04:03Maybe not one.
04:03One's a double bouncer.
04:04Yeah, I mean, I don't know.
04:05You could, I think there's a leg to stand on on all three that, to me, aren't indicative of a
04:12goalie that is, that I'm worried.
04:15I wasn't really worried about him on any of those three goals.
04:19Okay, let me say this then.
04:20Worried about him.
04:22You would have a keener eye for this.
04:24And I was at the game, and I think this kind of thing can be easier when you're not, when
04:27you're watching on TV, but not always.
04:30I didn't like him ever last night.
04:32I mean, there were a couple saves where he looked behind him, and even the best save of the night,
04:40according to the arena, and I would probably not say different,
04:44is another one where he's like way out here and his back is to the net.
04:47But I just think, is this not correct, that sort of the bad signs on Lukanen are that, even when
04:53the puck doesn't go in?
04:54I mean, the first one, is the first one an overplay?
04:57Is the second one where he's just sort of not, I'm not sure if it's fair.
05:02Like, to me, all three of those goals, and then four is ugly.
05:08Four is ugly, and five is maybe worse than four.
05:10You think?
05:11Yeah.
05:12Is he too deep?
05:13It's another one where he just doesn't have the pad down.
05:15It went underneath him.
05:16Suzuki.
05:17He just wasn't sealed up there.
05:20Okay.
05:20My theory last night was, if they're not winning, he comes out early.
05:26Like, if the Sabres don't score at all, 2-0, 3-1, he comes out.
05:32Because, to me, knowing what I think I know about the bad signs with him, they were evident.
05:39I mean, I don't want to say it could have been worse, because you can always say that on any
05:43game.
05:43Yeah, that might be right.
05:44I don't know.
05:44Well, there definitely is an accusation that you could make that he overplayed the first goal.
05:49But I might say rightly so.
05:52You know, of course, it looks bad when you come out like that and there's a backdoor available.
05:56But I think, you know, you've got to have some faith that your guys are going to defend that.
06:01You know, there were plenty of people around.
06:04It's just Caulfield beat them all to that spot.
06:06And so, I think you've got to trust that somebody's going to get him.
06:09And you're coming out to make the save on the guy that's got the puck right in front of you,
06:13who's also kind of open and could shoot.
06:15So, I give him some leeway there.
06:18The second one is the one that's off the skate.
06:22I don't know.
06:24I have a hard time getting on him about that.
06:27But, look, I don't need to prop him up.
06:29He blew it.
06:30He blew it.
06:31The two that came at the end of the second period are bad enough that it ruined the night.
06:36His redemption arc lasted one game.
06:39It's really, you know, it was such a cool story that could have been written, you know?
06:44You know, guy loses job, gets back in, and, like, never looks back.
06:49And that's over.
06:50Well, I can't blame Lindy for it.
06:52No, I don't think so either.
06:53It wouldn't even be fair to because I wasn't sitting here yesterday saying that the Lions should go back in.
06:58It wouldn't be fair to do it.
06:59I really can't.
07:00You know, it's not over yet.
07:01Let me say that first to this point.
07:03But it's been a story of the season that he's been able to go to both guys, and that hasn't
07:10let him down.
07:11And I just think the way the scoring went last night, Ruff was kind of trapped.
07:17I wonder if he would agree with this, that he could have had an instinct to pull his goalie earlier,
07:23even 4-3.
07:244-3 is gross.
07:26But it's 4-3, and you're getting late in the second period, and that's a weird time to make that
07:31move, as bad as that was.
07:33Because then almost immediately it's 5-3, and now you're jammed, and the period's almost over.
07:37And then, of course, he's coming out at the second intermission.
07:41I didn't assume it.
07:42I didn't assume it either, but somebody asked me halfway through the intermission.
07:45I was scrolling through Twitter and said, and I kind of said, I would.
07:50And then, you know, five minutes later, oh, he's out.
07:53Okay.
07:54So, you know, give me another credit for getting the goalie choice right.
07:58I thought he would switch, and he did.
08:00But by then, you know, just too late.
08:03They had a lot of looks in the third, in and around, before and after the goal for 6-3.
08:08Talk about kind of close to domination in the second for the first, however many, eight minutes or whatever that
08:14was.
08:15And the third, I mean, you're still not dead at 6-3.
08:19But it's, you know, it's 6-3.
08:20I mean, your odds aren't great.
08:23Well, the series isn't over, and I'm in no mood to, you know, hammer them.
08:29I just, like, I thought middle of the series, you know, after game three, they, that's when we made our
08:36list of fun words.
08:38And I don't know that they have this.
08:41But they won four, and last night, for a lot of it, was right there.
08:47But, yeah, I mean, walking out, I fell into a couple of different conversations, you know, quick reaction to the
08:55game.
08:55You know, a couple of listeners who asked me, and I'm like, they just needed more saves, I think.
09:00And, you know, their goals, they were fortunate.
09:03There was a lot of pressure, but they're not scoring these, and this is where it gets to Tuck and
09:08Thompson.
09:09And I might put them in that order.
09:10Like, they're not scoring these open net from the slot, bing-bang kind of goals that Montreal is.
09:18I mean, what is the tally now even for the series?
09:20Like, 21-13 in goals, I think it might be.
09:23Like, their goals are coming from just consistent pressure and screens, and, you know, that's the way they do it.
09:30Almost a lot of their goals in the series have been on screens.
09:33And that's fine.
09:34But it's different from what Montreal is winning with.
09:38And that's, you know, often now their top guys are getting off.
09:41Their top guys are going.
09:42They were definitely going last night and welcomed Demidoff to the party.
09:46Because he makes the play on the fourth goal.
09:49Like, it's gross that it goes through him, but that play he makes to stop like he does on that
09:53rush and shoot it, like, as quickly as he did, is elite talent.
09:58And then, you know, pick the corner on the sixth goal.
10:02Because he hadn't scored all playoffs, that guy, yet.
10:05And that's a prodigious talent.
10:07And, like, they got him going.
10:10And, yeah, the top line is now going.
10:12And our top guys are just ghosts.
10:15They are, yeah.
10:17And hockey and the conversation that has proceeded today even sort of cautions you.
10:24I mean, you can ignore it.
10:27But I feel like being careful about how hard I want to be on those guys.
10:32Because I don't know what kind of shape they're in right now.
10:34Well, that's the thing.
10:37I think maybe more of Thompson than Tuck for this.
10:40But, I mean, the crowd, being in the arena last night, you would know from Game 2.
10:44Game 2 was his disaster game.
10:45Yeah.
10:45The crowd is very restless now on Thompson.
10:49Like, the spotlight is squarely on him.
10:51And it's not happening.
10:53Either end of the ice.
10:55Like, every facet of his game is suffering.
10:57And everybody notices it.
11:00And it's almost hard to believe that he isn't hurt.
11:05Really?
11:06Like, he's not dealing with some sort of pretty bad injury that would cost him games in the regular season.
11:13It's almost hard for me to believe.
11:15I don't want to go all the way to assume that.
11:17But we'll find out whenever it ends.
11:19Yeah.
11:19It's just so off.
11:22Yeah.
11:22And the thing about it is hockey gets stuck here.
11:27You know, what does he say to Paul?
11:29It's none of your business.
11:30He's wrong, actually.
11:32He's wrong.
11:33It is the public's business.
11:35But hockey is not going to tell you.
11:38Right.
11:39And the team doesn't want you to know because then the other team will know.
11:43The player doesn't want you to know.
11:44The player, what is in his head right now, Thompson?
11:47Like, if only these people who are so agitated with me knew.
11:51I mean, this could be wrong.
11:53But it's hard for me to believe he isn't dealing with something significant because it's just so off.
11:59Right.
11:59So, he won't tell you.
12:02They won't tell you.
12:03Do they not have an obligation?
12:05I mean, is it just all out the window in the playoffs with injuries?
12:08I mean, the Flyers get done and there's their list.
12:11And the Bruins get done and there's their list.
12:12And if the Sabres lose, here comes their list.
12:15And what happened to sort of there being an obligation?
12:19Hockey just decides not to care and not enforce it.
12:22So, we're all left to wonder.
12:24And maybe Tuck is the same.
12:25I don't know.
12:28You almost have to hope so.
12:31I mean, but that cuts both ways.
12:34Like, you want, I think, for your own peace of mind with them moving forward, you know, Tuck, they don't
12:43have to move forward with Tuck.
12:44I mean, that decision could be made for them if they let it because his contract is up.
12:49But you want to be able to explain away their failures by saying they're not, it's not that they're just
12:58not up to the moment or that Montreal is so, has some otherworldly plan for dealing with players who have
13:07produced consistently all year long and even year over year.
13:11They're not just failing to come through.
13:14There's got to be something else that is ailing them that's causing this.
13:19So, like, and that can be a faulty premise at inception and you have to know that, right?
13:24But I think if you really, I have an easier time with Thompson than I do.
13:29Tuck, I just, I just never noticed Tuck.
13:33I just, I'm never seeing him in plays.
13:37I saw him in the play last night on the third Montreal goal because he's the one chasing Hudson down
13:44toward the net front.
13:45And then the pass comes across and, of course, Timmons is out of position again.
13:49I don't know, somehow I got friends texting me, somehow Timmons is a minus seven and they only gave up
13:54six goals.
13:54I don't know what happened.
13:55Does Hudson not walk around Tuck?
13:57Yeah, I think so.
13:58From the point on the extra draw?
13:59Yeah, yes.
13:59And he sort of flails at him.
14:01So, but like Thompson is more prominent.
14:05And I was talking to Owen before I came to work today.
14:09And I'm like, I'm surprised nobody has really gone and tried to do a deep dive.
14:14Like looking at all the footage that there is to try to figure out when something could have happened to
14:20either one of these guys.
14:21And like a part of that would be, I feel like Thompson is still getting teed up for one-timers
14:27and you're seeing him shoot that shot.
14:30But he couldn't lift the puck over the goalie last night when he had him sprawled.
14:35He makes that move and is going to wait him out.
14:38And that play, I think you're hoping to flip it over the goalie.
14:43You've waited him out long enough.
14:44You're still in position.
14:45You've got an angle.
14:46And he's going to be sprawling.
14:48You've got to flip it up.
14:48And he couldn't.
14:49It wasn't close.
14:50Right.
14:51Like he, Dolich didn't even eat his glove.
14:52Right.
14:53It was just along the ice.
14:54Yeah.
14:54And I'm thinking, okay, how many wrist shots have I seen him take?
15:00Right.
15:00Is he taking, maybe he's got something, whatever is bothering him on his hand, his thumb, his wrist,
15:06his forearm, his elbow, whatever, allows him to use the hammer, the slap shot, but the
15:13wrist shot maybe, and that would be stick handling and everything that you've seen him
15:17sort of get tangled up with, it would sort of explain all that away.
15:21And I don't know that I'm right because I haven't gone through either and looked at whether
15:26he's taken any wrist shots versus slap shots.
15:29But I just wonder if there's some limitation there or if he just couldn't get the puck up
15:34in that moment when he had the goalie down.
15:37Well, it's just almost, like last night it felt like it's almost every shift.
15:40Yeah.
15:40There's some play that you can't believe.
15:43Just, and I think, we haven't talked about this yet, but were they kind of sniping at
15:50each other after the game by the quotes?
15:53Like you have Lukonen mentioned defense.
15:57Yeah, Lukonen complimented Montreal's defense in a way that read to me.
16:02I saw that in, like, I think a Luke Fox Sportsnet column or article.
16:07And I read those quotes and went, oh, dude.
16:12And then there was Darlene, too.
16:15We let some tough goals in.
16:17I mean, you can't win, right?
16:18Because anybody can interpret that.
16:20Yep.
16:21Brian had a tweet last night.
16:22Darlene was asked about their best players being their players or best players.
16:26Yep.
16:26Simple as that.
16:27Does he mean us, them?
16:29I don't even know what he means there, but it felt like maybe Lukonen was not.
16:33That's what that read like.
16:35Quote, I've got to be better, and overall we need to be better defensively.
16:39Yeah.
16:40He's been around long enough to know what that sounds like.
16:42When he observed that, you know, I think, you know, the difference between their guy
16:46and my guy is that they're defending better, basically, is what he said.
16:50I'm like, dude, you're in trouble here.
16:54That's how I took it.
16:55Yeah.
16:55I don't think we'll see him again.
16:57No, I don't.
16:59That's a – we'll see.
17:01I mean, maybe everybody there knows what he really meant and maybe even agrees with him.
17:05I don't know.
17:06But I did not like that as – like, the first thing I read, him having to say after the
17:12game, tagged with, I have to be better.
17:15Now, I don't know what order he said everything in.
17:17You know, you can present the quotes in any order you want in a piece like I read.
17:21But I just don't think it's a good idea to compliment the other goalie by saying their
17:26defense is better when you give up – when you have that night.
17:30It's not – it's not shocking that you would start to hear, you know, of some potential
17:37fractures.
17:38But it's definitely not ideal.
17:40Nope.
17:40It's still – it's not the time for it.
17:42If we don't see him again, then maybe that's that.
17:45But I'm not – I'm choosing not to worry about tomorrow night, the Sabres, like, coming
17:51apart as a team.
17:53I'm just – we'll see what it looks like.
17:55But I'm choosing not to worry about that.
17:56They've won too much.
17:58And they're too close to – you know, it's not 3-0 where you might have that in a series.
18:07But there are going to be – there always are conclusions you can draw.
18:11When it comes to Tuck and Thompson, when it ends, we'll take what they tell us.
18:17Because it's just so unfortunate how these two guys – and when you have the Canadians
18:23buzzing like they are, you're playing at such a disadvantage.
18:26I mean, in the crowd last night, we're all like, do you bench them?
18:29Right.
18:30Do you just take them out?
18:31I know.
18:31Who do you have, you know, in your lineup or in reserve where you can actually make
18:37that move for Game 6 of the second round?
18:39I just don't think you can.
18:40No, you don't.
18:41But it's possible that Thompson would have been out for a month if it were the regular
18:45season with whatever he's got.
18:46Because it's been about that long.
18:47When did he scare us by missing that one morning?
18:51Was that even before the playoffs?
18:53There was a morning – maybe they had a chance to clinch and he wasn't there.
18:56Like, oh, what's wrong?
18:57But he does play and they just blow it off.
19:01And maybe Tuck had one of those, too.
19:02I'm not sure.
19:03So you've got – your best line is nowhere.
19:08And it's hard for me to imagine that just changes.
19:10Right.
19:11That's the thing about feeling – you know, how do you feel?
19:15Do I want to give them a chance in Game 6?
19:16Of course.
19:18But it's hard to see if that doesn't change.
19:21And I don't know what would change.
19:22Another night's sleep?
19:24I know.
19:24Them staying away from the rink?
19:26I mean, it just – it's been so rank that I just don't think that's going to – a switch
19:31is going to flip.
19:32But – and now the gap between the top players on Montreal and the top players on the Sabres
19:38is growing because those guys are starting to feel it.
19:42And that makes it even more challenging.
19:44And I'm watching these games and there's just only so much Doan Benson – there's only so much
19:48they can do.
19:49You know, it's just like they're in really tough.
19:52Like, I like Quinn again last night.
19:55Like, he's battling in a way that I never thought he was capable of, Quinn.
19:59Like, he's winning battles.
20:01He's working to get his own shot.
20:02He doesn't always get it off.
20:04But he is working like a dog.
20:08But there's no goals.
20:10Like, it's just – there's nothing – he had the one that got called back in Game 3 –
20:15or, excuse me, in Game 4.
20:17You had the tip last night.
20:19Yeah.
20:20I just don't know how much – how much can I expect the guys that have been sort of
20:25carrying them, I don't think I can ask them to do any more.
20:28There's another night where Byron, to me, is just – I mean, that has fallen apart.
20:34Scrambling.
20:34I don't think they get through round one without him playing the way he played.
20:38And he is killing them in this round.
20:41He just – I just think he doesn't have it anymore.
20:46So, I don't know.
20:47Put him on the list.
20:48Is he injured too?
20:49I mean, everybody's injured.
20:50I mean, oh, my gosh, with the excuses.
20:51You know, so it's the playoffs.
20:53Like, you know, Montreal's probably got guys who are hurt too.
20:56But they're coming through.
20:58So, I don't – it tangles you up because you don't know –
21:01I came with a clear conscience, just open fire on these guys
21:06because I think they've been – they've earned enough trust.
21:11I know they're better than this.
21:13And the games are still really close.
21:15I mean, they're not always really close.
21:17There are stretches, but the Sabres have them too.
21:20How about the Quinn moment in the first period?
21:23I think it's already 3-2 when they're just dancing, crossing the zone back and forth,
21:29and it ends up on Timmons' stick.
21:31Quinn doesn't shoot it, doesn't shoot it, doesn't shoot it.
21:33Comes around this guy, goes back around that guy, and there is Timmons with the puck right in the slot,
21:38and the shot is blocked.
21:40He's like, that's a – if you had a contest where you would get to shoot from,
21:46and if you scored, you would win a car or something, you would put the puck right there,
21:50just like a quick snapshot, something like that, and he doesn't get the puck to the goalie.
21:55I mean, it's Timmons, but still.
21:57And it's just all Quinn.
21:58How many miles did he cover on that one shift?
22:01Just in the offensive zone alone, circling and all of it.
22:04And it got them to that opportunity, and it busted.
22:10We'll look for your thoughts on all this next.
Comments