Why the Toronto Maple Leafs are losing a culture war to the Boston Bruins – Sportsnet.ca

BOSTON – A little thing can illustrate a big thing.

The power plays of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins were horrible down the stretch, with both suffering the driest stretches of their respective regular seasons over the final twelve games.

Jim Montgomery refused to watch his flounder, so he did something drastic.

In Game 81 (!), with some Leafs “done with the regular season” and others chasing numbers, he split his most potent and familiar weapons, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, and built two balanced units. The coach bucked the modern convention of carrying the top five offensive threats for 1:50 and created internal competition.

Montgomery knew he couldn’t limp into the postseason with a power play so lifeless.

So when assistant coach Chris Kelly, a great penalty killer in his playing days so he knows what can drive a PK crazy, introduced a radical change so late in the season, the head coach was open. Solving the problem required urgency.

Montgomery’s superstars didn’t bat an eyelid or balk because, well, that’s not the Bruins’ style.

Montgomery’s conversation with his billionaires was simple: “We’ve been trying for quite some time. I think we’re stuck right now. We think we are pressing and we are not seeing the plays in front of us. So, let’s change things.”

Refreshed and revitalized, the Bruins’ power play found the net in Game 82, then twice in Game 1 against the Leafs, then again in Game 2, twice more in Game 3 and provided the winner in the Game 4 on Saturday.

It’s hot. It’s a big reason why Boston leads 3-1 in the series.

“The best thing about people talking about Bruins culture is the players here,” Montgomery explained. “They want be trained. And if they think it’s best for the team, they support it 100 percent. I still have to face the ‘No, we’re not going to try that,’ you know?

“The result is that we are much sharper. There’s a lot more rhythm to our power play. And that is a credit to the players, because we give them a plan and they say: ‘Well, we’re all in.'”

Charlie McAvoy has moved from being the PP1 quarterback to being the PP1A quarterback.

“We didn’t have it at the end of the year and at times it was very frustrating,” McAvoy said. “We renovated the units a little. And if anything, that gave us all a fresh start and a chance to build new chemistry.”

The Maple Leafs’ power play, their supposed superpower, also had none at the end of the regular season. His PP hit the mark with a 12.5 percent conversion rate over the last 12 games.

Other than waiting for Mitch Marner’s ankle to heal, little was done to breathe life into the man.

The extent to which Toronto’s ineffective power play falls on assistant Guy Boucher or head coach Sheldon Keefe can be debated. Did you consider drastic personnel or strategic changes? Were you worried about how your stars might react if you did? Or did the coaches simply trust that the big boys would eventually deliver?

We don’t know the answers to those questions.

What we do know is that when captain John Tavares, who has lived in PP1 virtually his entire hockey life, was temporarily moved to PP2 in February, it was a tough pill to swallow. (He also helped awaken Tyler Bertuzzi from his slumber).

Ego is a double-edged sword that drives athletic confidence and greatness, but can also hinder a collective pursuit.

Like the Maple Leafs as a whole (now losers of seven of their last eight games), power play issues that weren’t addressed in early April still plague them in late April.

Toronto’s power play is a woeful 1-for-14 in this series.

“Special teams, of course, are the most important thing,” Keefe told reporters Sunday. “On our first power play (Game 4 loss), that was the most disappointing area of ​​the game in that sense of urgency.”

Urgency is ingrained in Bruins culture, off and on the ice. It is not manufactured or stapled with the latest round of complementary actors. Live in the center of things.

Montgomery can be fierce in practice, making sure each of his charges gets the job done. The Bruins captain, like the one before him and the one before him, will do everything possible to make each player feel part of the whole.

The urgency shifted from Zdeno Chara to Patrice Bergeron to Marchand, whom McAvoy proudly refers to as “our emotional leader.”

Urgency is much harder to identify in Maple Leafs culture. Particularly anyone who watched the first 40 minutes of Game 4.

Ask yourself: Who is Toronto’s emotional leader?

Boston will fire a great head coach (Bruce Cassidy) if the playoff results aren’t there, even if it means watching him enjoy success elsewhere.

Toronto will give a two-year contract extension to a coach with a 1-4 record in postseason series, then cross its fingers as it moves closer to 1-5.

Accountability under the Brendan Shanahan regime means repeating it over and over again with staff and key players who repeatedly fail to deliver results. But this time with increases!

Let’s be honest: a lack of urgency put this group (players and suits) at this point. Culture flows from the top down.

“If you have to talk about urgency and desperation this time of year, you’re in trouble,” Keefe said.

Toronto’s coach argued he has no issues with his players’ resolve at the moment heading into Tuesday’s elimination game.

We would say that the urgency should have started a long time ago.

Fox’s Fast Five

• What, in the name of Pepto-Bismol, is this illness that has plagued Auston Matthews?

A reliable source tells us that the 69-goal man has been trying to manage an illness since after the second game on Monday, however, it eliminated his participation in practice, took him out of Game 4 early and now threatens to hinder his performance. eight days after impact.

Another source suggests food poisoning.

“It’s not one of those run-of-the-mill illnesses that come and go,” Keefe said Sunday. “This has been delayed and gotten worse when he got on the ice and asserted himself. We have to manage it and give it the time it needs. We are hopeful that this will change.”

• God love Nick Robertson’s effort, but it was a Hail Mary pass that landed him on the fourth line with all-checkers David Kämpf and Ryan Reaves.

By removing Connor Dewar from that fourth unit, Keefe abandoned familiarity and effectiveness. Robertson-Kämpf-Reaves made just 25 percent of their shot attempts when they were on the ice together Saturday and were left hanging for a goal against.

Dewar returns in Game 5, right?

• Barring injury or a miracle, Ilya Samsonov has played his last game as a Maple Leaf.

Like Jack Campbell before him, Samsonov is an easy-going man with a wonderful spirit. Excellent teammate. Friendly to the media and fans. You want nice things for him and his family. He, too, is not prepared or consistent enough to back up a Stanley Cup winner.

Fascinated to see what he gets in unrestricted free agency. The market is scarce in goalkeepers.

• Little-discussed bad play in Game 4: Max Domi committed that undisciplined cross-check penalty on Pastrnak that quickly led to Marchand’s goal to win the game.

• If I’m Keefe, I’ll play a very rested and very desperate Mark Giordano in Game 5.

Timothy Liljegren is not healthy. TJ Brodie has no confidence. Neither has been effective.

The Bruins blocked 27 shots in Game 4. The Leafs blocked just six.

Giordano will give the team everything he has.