I'm at a loss for words with this team. Being a fan of this team is like being in a toxic relationship with a very attractive partner. If you been there you know what I mean.

I agree completely, the leafs left sammy out to dry, way too many turnovers at the offensive blue line, and in our own zone leading to odd man rushes/breaks. and the last goal, sammy makes a save of the year candidate and the leafs respond by imploding defensively. We need a new coach, and weve needed one since we lost the Montreal Series.

sammys performance this game has been better than the last 5 he started. hes improved and im happy to see him regain his confidence. hes been catching a lot of blame but it was expected when you let in 5 goals in 19 shots but, that game was not his fault at all. i hope he keeps his head up and keeps up this improvment

People need to understand that goalies, most times, make decisions based on what is in front of them. Consistently giving away chances when you're on PP and having a low ratio of blocked shots tells you the leafs' problems run deeper than just the goalie. Not every goalie is Hellebuyck, able to just play the "percentage" game and be boring.

Your commentry on the Leafs with DETROIT had me in stitches...especially liked the remark on McCabe "break dancing"😂😂 Keep it up👍👍

You are perfectly correct, JH. No wonder the coach is angry at his overpaid staff. Samsonov needed his teammates last night and they abandoned him, too busy planning the evenng out later. They owe Samsonov an apology. The coach did the right thing.

As a Wings fan I feel for Samsonov, he was also my first drafted goalie in Fantasy so... oh well? But damn he played his ass off this game. It's also hilarious to see them collapse night after night but it's not like they're bad teams.

Keefe needs fired asap this is not a goaltending issue anymore this is a structure issue

Samsonov wasn’t the problem (he never went down to the Marlies), it was the team in front of him with likely their Best performance in the Giveaway Dept.

That liligren giveaway was brutal considering Sammy had made a highlight reel save moments before. How can you have that kind of lack of awareness as a defenceman with 2 minutes left in the game. I know Sammy hasn't played his best this year but it doesn't help when his team plays like a bag of hammers in front of him.

It's good to see and hear there are people who take on a realistic view and don't blame every goal and loss on the goaltender just because they need someone to blame, or they fall to their own personal incredulity because they've never played goalie before, or played a couple of times when they were like 6 and they think they know but in reality they do not and it's clear to tell by the way they talk about their losses, yes there are appropriate times where it is your goalies fault or 1 specific players fault, but a majority of the time it is a team effort and it is a team loss, not a 1 man loss, when it's a loss it's on the team, not on 1 specific player or goalie. Hockey is a team sport if you do not play in sync with your teammates than the other team will take full advantage of that, all this line mixing doesn't help, someone gets used to playing next to someone then they're moved 2-3 games later, they need time to get in sync without being shuffled all the time, idk how Keefe ever expects any sort of chemistry that's not on the 1st line, even the 2nd line is iffy because Bertuzzi's been moved around so much as well, 1st and 3rd lines seem to have the best chemistry with the 4th line having their moments, but the 2nd line I just personally haven't really noticed much so far this season, they have had their moments as well but I haven't taken much notice

Sam played a great game. Detroit doesn't shoot in volume, almost all of their shots are high danger. He had some GREAT saves that game and the score should have been higher with 3 posts and 2 open net whiffs

100, NO WAY is this on Sammy! And I'm one of the ones whose been royally pissed at Keefe for playing him during his struggles. The poke check was a gamble and very close at that. An inch further out with the stick a touch flatter on the ice it's a highlight reel save!

With TBay and Detroit creeping up in the standings Leafs could realistically miss the playoffs!

I think Sammy played well enough to at least be used again. On most nights, that level of goaltending would be good enough.

Classic original 6 blue vs. red hockey game. When these two teams play each other, it's hand down the most aesthetically pleasing game

"McCabe starts break dancing" gave me a jolly good chuckle. That was great

I agree completely, I was actually impressed by Sammy in the sense that I expected him to play like a potato in goalie suit like he's been doing, but he was very good out there yesterday. This one was on the Leafs not attending the game, not on Samsonov who actually did his best (not defending him, to be clear)

As a Wings fan I loved to see a win in Toronto. But it wasn't because Sammy wasn't playing well. I thought he actually did a solid job, but it was the rest of the Leafs that fell apart on him. Even the best goalies in the league can't save games when the team in front of them collapses.

Hey just wanna say great vid, really like the break down of plays/goals/saves. I know you're more of a hockey news/opinion channel, but content like this is always appreciated.

you are absolutely on point here. Sammy was doing his job and DOING IT WELL! Go wings!!!!

"... McCabe starts break dancing" 🤣

"McCabe starts breakdancing" you made me laugh out loud with this

Agree 100%. If we are all over Samsonov for his faults we should be equally fair & give him credit when due. Leafs hung him out to dry at key moments.

He played amazing. That save before the goal was solid

Samsonov played a good game, sometimes you just have no defensive support and get lit up by the other team all night. Hopefully this doesn’t crush his confidence heading into his next couple games

Excellent analysis. I'm 60 and watched hockey my entire life but I don't see this stuff unless I watch the play over and over focusing on a different player each time.

Love the Patrick Roy throw back. I watched that as it happened.

Sammy was very good last night not like he had much help from his team

Sammy was let down this game for sure. Lots of mistakes by the Leafs left him scrambling to make huge saves.

Great video. Couldn’t put it any better. Not Sammy’s fault this time at all. Thank you for the content 💙🤍💙

Great video! And awesome breakdown on leafs players. Also, Avs video was icing on the cake.

You have one of my two favorite hockey channels, besides awood40. If the G made that Hasek-like save, that would've been amazing. I'm a Wings fan. So I catch a lot of their games. Living on the Texas/Mexico border doesn't allow me to have access to enough games. Just wanted to send you a thumbs up for the channel! Great work!

these similies and metaphores are crazy

This Leafs team is supposed to have four All-Stars... Seems pretty clear to me that they don't.

Great commentary! As an Avs fan, I totally understand. Poor Georgie has been left out to dry a few times and we have lost too many games because of it. We also need a strong 2nd goalie. Feeling your pain from down in Colorado. Hope things get better for Sammy and the rest of the Leafs!

Great video and in depth explanation, thanks!

Love the vids keep it up one of my favorite hockey KZfaqrs

Samsonov is a solid goaltender, definitely been a rough season but the only bad play from this game was the flying poke. Probably wasnt best to start him against the speedy and grindy Wings.

"sometimes its not their fault, and not every loss is on them" Amen to that my friend! Goalies can only do so much

Life time local Wings fan here. Even as a fan of the opposing team I’ll say that Samp did great all things considered. He absolutely robbed the wings several times.

Sammy has always struggled with consistency since DC, but he isn’t on the whole a bad goalie. The time out of the limelight clearly helped and as much as the team on the ice hung him out to dry this game, it does seem the whole team was rooting for him, which is something he wouldnt get in other teams

Great Skript. I laughed so hard at te leafs Defence 🤣

DAMN straight! This team needs to spend a few weeks just focusing on fundamentals! A goalie's gonna let a few in sometimes. This goalie needed their support, and they bailed on him.

im a leafs fan but honestly, i love those little jokes and comments you made. i think theyre pretty accurate. and yeah, while i really do not like Samsonov, i agree that he did play well last night

Excellent analysis here 👍

Nothing else on so i watched this and dont follow the samsonov drama. But what caught my eye was the sheer lack of drive from most of the forwards(cept nylander) the 2nd half of the game. I'm glad to see i wasn't wrong.

It's amusing Larkin scored the exact same goal the game before and Toronto wasn't ready. They had all day to watch tape compared to Detroit that was stuck at the airport

"McCabe starts break dancing." haha love it. The Leafs let the Wings back in this one. Sammy played fine and actually made some big stops. The Wings were able to capitalize on the Leafs mistakes and the Leafs seemed to be playing on soft mode.

Solid hockey I.Q. One of your best videos yet.

No one should hate on the poke attempt from Sammy. He either makes an amazing save or gets an amazing poke check, its one or the other. Its a freaking breakaway, the player always has the advantage.

I get that Leaf fans are down on the Leafs, Elliot was the only one that really credited the Red Wings with stepping up to the challenge. They had a fucked up travel day, hit the smelling salts hard, and pulled together hard after Kane left the game. Detroit has underachieved lately, but they're a solid team that has handed regulation losses to most of the best teams in the league this season, it's not like they blew the game to the Blackhawks or Sharks or something... Sammy had a great game, Brad has Klingberg cash to shore up the D at the deadline... it's gonna be ok Leaf fans. From a Red Wings fan living in Toronto :D

I honestly think moving one of the "Core 4" and/or Rielly is needed for this team to see any real meaningful change. Need a top pair defensive dman who's elite or just under to help the goaltending

11.5 million could have gotten a couple of decent defenseman and may be a goalie. The Nylander contract will haunt this team for years

Good breakdown. 'Nearest Leaf players in Muskoka' made me laugh out loud

So tired of people just using a save % from one game to determine whether a goalie played well or not, that stat does not tell the whole story, so thanks for giving such balanced analysis

I’m starting to believe that the team is doing this on purpose against Sammy.

Excellent analysis

Honestly the Wings had 3 or 4 back door tap in slam dunks that they missed on every single one. This game could've been 7-3 Wings lol

I don't think that Larkin one is Samsonov's fault either. Modern goalies always default to that specific body position, they're like robots. He basically did what any other goalie would have done on that play. They can't adapt or improvise because they're taught to do things a very specific way.

Even though the poke was super telegraphed and probably ill advised anyways Samsonov was only an inch from making good on it and the plan B judo slap recovery almost worked out. Larkin's goal was an inch inside the post top corner cross body, but you're absolutely right on that one if his shoulders were square against that post no way does that go in. Then Cobb off the post low blocker and if you look at how Sammy was doing it, he was clearly trying to hold the blocker in against his body which isn't a bad call while sliding over like that to cover low blocker completely against the body and pressure the shooter to find that outside post or just about - a bit more push and he had that one completely squared off. Rielly's pirouette giving up the center lane completely to Sprong and the blind pass by Liljegren behind the net with his partner standing right next to him in the corner, man... absolutely where most of the blame should go, spot on! Samsonov also had a few Ocean's Eleven level rob jobs and pretty straightforward adjustments on what he let in which is way better than the mental breakdowns he seemed to be having before they sent him down - don't flying poke or don't telegraph it as much, square up your shoulders against that post when the puck is behind the net, push an extra inch and move your blocker an extra inch over when the shooter is boxed out in the slot like that and you have to get over... these are simple changes this guy can make, and it clearly shows he's been working to get back to where he was which is a huge relief. Great breakdown of what really happened on these plays! I didn't put together how Rielly cooked himself with that spin of indecision on the broken stick play when I saw it live👌

That was tough. I'm a Wings fan, but respect the Leafs as an original six team - and their record shows they had been doing well this year. And they have Mathews, Marner and Nylander. I thought Samsonov did more right than he did wrong, and yeah there was a lot of weird, blown moves and plays by the Leafs skaters. But then account for Detroit's depth, and sniping ability. They generally go through at least half the game with about half the SOGs, but they're tied or even winning at that point. They lost Kane early last night with a LBI, but the game was won by third and fourth liners Copp and Sprong. Detroit's had its share of goalie issues this year too (I think Reimer has PTSD; he's still ducking pucks instead of standing up to them). The Leafs need to be able to get that support from their other lines while dealing with their tending problem.

They may have lost the game in the first when they had 3 consecutive power plays and came up empty-handed.

Sweet album cover .. love it

the fact of the matter is the Leafs played the team they are competing for a spot with last night... they needed that win to not only to break their skid but show the wings who they are. the wings now have a ton of confidence believing they can beat the leafs on any given night and beat them for a spot in the playoffs. that was a disastrous loss for Toronto.

Next to Mathew’s, they’ve spent a lot of money on guys that don’t make a worth while difference on the score sheet at the expense of the back end

I genuinely wanted the Leafs to lose this game, but holy mother of god did it hurt listening to the chants for Sammy just to get the dagger in the heart a blink of the eye later... it sucked, I'm happy Sammy sounded in much better spirits after the game than he normal does.... but it still hurts, I hope Sammy finds his feet and is back to his old form, dude's had such a rough go this year.

There has been some incredible goalie saves this year however

Love the 14mil and 11mil effort there

YES. I agree, Sammy played his best game in MONTHS this game.

I was impressed with Sammy. He came back from a brutal start, and did his job with confidence. The leafs just don't look right out there. Too much sloppy hockey, from a team that should be dominating right now.

Sammy's save with 2 mins left w the glove made me put my head in my hands jaw dropped with disappointment 😂 was the first snipe of copps detroit tenure on the gwg. Gg wp maple laughs, 7 games between our teams would be one HECK of a ride 😂😂😂

Yooo, that actually would be a sweet album cover

Great video tbh !

Spot on!

Morgan Rielly needs to take a penalty on that play.

the pockey joke was funny ash lmao. but seriously i like how you keep an objective standpoint on the game. like people can be too quick to blame the goalie for letting in goals but theres also the things before that people havbe to consider its not always 100% the goalie's fault yk

Im ngl canadas teams this year have been over all doing pretty good just dont ask about the edm or the leafs

Absolutely NOT on Sammy. Turnovers are KILLING this team! JT and McCabe have been the biggest culprits lately, but the team is just too haphazard with the puck.. (see recent Islanders game as well).

It's easy to dump on Sammy,, who's been nothing but incredibly brave bouncing back from that mental slump in no time, gives you the confort of not looking too hard at Keefe, Treliving and Shanahan. And much more so the latters, they finally had a decent defense end of last season and they decided to blow it up.

He played a solid game, a win woulda been great for his confidence, but as the game went on I wasn't as terrified if a puck went towards Sammy lol

Sammy played great. Leafs tend to play poor defensive hockey when he’s in the pipes. Give the kid a break.

I’m a fan of both the Wings and the leafs so normally game between them are a joy. This game was frustrating, but thankfully the Leafs blew it because Detroit really deserved it. Tbh the Leafs should have lost 6-3. They are not looking good at all.

This is a title in a long time that I actually agree with you Johnny….

Happy as det fan not as much as I should be for the wings but still happy

LMFAO!! In Muskoka....

What's worse was that there was a fan from Australia who came to see Ilya Samsonov play.

With a roster like the leafs they shouldn’t be having all these problems. Even though I hate them they should be at the top of the league every year including the playoffs.

I'm sure the players feel the same about their fans. A house divided always falls.

I’ve watched Samsonov in Washington a lot as a flames fan dude never really stole any games he did the necessary job but he was never going to save this leafs team they need a solid starter until they do it could be a early playoff exit

RAS-MUE-SIN is I think how you say his name but great videos as always. He's like 6'6 😂

Everybody lets everybody down. Leafs their fans, Sammy his team, the team Sammy, coach Keefe his players, the management their franchise player,...

im an edmonton fan but i do agree that toronto is a top team

stickless morgan brings me back to the days in minor hockey where coach would have the defending team play with sticks upside down or just none at all.

I'm honestly beginning to doubt if this Leafs team makes the playoffs. It is tough out there. Leafs don't like tough.

Hmmm looked like the old Maple leafs I knew with Sundin skating around the ice.

I lost it at McCabe's breakdancing.

This team in January reminds me of the Oilers in October

The Oilers fans were vicious at the start of this season, blaming Campbell and Skinner when it was the team in front of them.

Just want to give credit to the wings, not everything is about "the leaf's messed up so they lost" Wings played an amazing game, a marked improvement from the last oilers game. I have been very impressed at how adaptable the wings are, and how they use loses as a learning tool rather than let it get to them. And Reimer as well as Lyon have been expectational in net, Huso needs to be traded, because those two goalies are all the wings need, playing like true playoff level goaltenders. Wings just needs more aggression like we have seen against the kings game and this one, as well as better defense to take pressure off the goaltending.