Tonight the Leafs make their fourth attempt at eliminating the Lightning from the playoffs, the second attempt this season. The previous three haven’t gone particularly well, but as the saying goes, the fourth or fifth time is the charm. And if you are looking for some additional optimism, the Leafs haven’t been defeated in three straight games since October so with this current iteration of the Leafs the wheels seem far less likely to come off. I’m sure absolutely none of that is comforting and when it comes to all the numbers, being favourites in the series, and the knowledge that this dynasty of failure can’t go on forever, it doesn’t change that an entire generation hasn’t seen the Leafs live up to their potential. It would be great if that changes tonight and we can raise the bar from “just win a round” to “win it all.”
Deploying Knies differently
It was very cool to see Knies up in the top six for game five. We won’t reflect on how that game went for the Leafs, but certainly no one is hanging anything on Knies and he has established himself as a competitor that Sheldon Keefe wanted out with the best of the Leafs forwards to …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation