Lightning head coach Jon Cooper comments on Maple Leafs disastrous season after game last night
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Luke Fox relayed Jon Cooper calling the Toronto Maple Leafs playoff race drop a 'one-off', and the sting is real.
Toronto is sitting at 27-24-9, and the math is getting loud every night the points slip away.
The Leafs have scored 192 goals and allowed 207, and that gap explains why too many leads feel temporary.
Cooper's point is basically this, good teams wobble, then snap back when the habits return. Leafs fans hear it as pity.
The hard part is Toronto is not losing one way, it's leaking chances off the rush and then chasing games.
Saturday's loss to Tampa Bay put fresh bruises on the conversation, because it was a measuring-stick night at Scotiabank Arena.
When your blue line gets stretched, your goaltending has to be perfect, and that is not a plan for March.
Jon Cooper pokes the Toronto Maple Leafs wound
Leafs Nation is tired of hearing 'good group' like it's a consolation prize instead of a threat.
Craig Berube's teams usually live on straight lines and hard stops, but this roster still cheats for offense at the worst moments.
That shows up on the penalty kill reads, and on five-on-five backchecks when the top-six gets cute.
If this really is a 'one-off,' it starts with simpler exits and fewer risky seams through the middle.
It also means the stars have to own the middle of the ice, not just the outside lanes.
The next game is where the tone changes, because a tight win can reset belief faster than any quote.
But if the slide continues, that 'one-off' line turns into deadline fuel, and nobody in Toronto wants that noise right now.
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| POLL | ||
MARS 8|209 ANSWERS Lightning head coach Jon Cooper comments on Maple Leafs disastrous season after game last night Should the Toronto Maple Leafs use Jon Cooper's 'one-off' comment as motivation? | ||
| Yes | 140 | 67 % |
| No | 69 | 33 % |
| List of polls | ||