For a die-hard Canadian fan, it should always be nice to beat the Maple Leafs. It should always hurt, especially, to lose to Toronto. However, this is obviously not the case at the end of the 2023-2024 season.
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The majority of Bleu-Blanc-Rouge jerseys were still on Saturday in the streets of Montreal, near the Bell Center. Same thing in the stands during the match. There were, however, many, many Leafs fans proudly displaying the maple leaf.
Normal? On one side, a local team already excluded from the playoffs. On the other, visitors guaranteed to participate in the qualifiers.
If it was just that…
“Go Leafs!” Go!”
The Toronto team was obviously booed during its presentation, but it was also possible to hear “outsiders” chanting “Go Leafs!” Go!”, several times, in the heights of the Bell Center during the evening.
On the ice? When Max Domi and Auston Matthews scored within a 17-second interval at the start of the second period, there was a lot of cheering! The home crowd was able to respond when Nick Suzuki scored his 33e goal of the season, but it was then 4 to 1 for the Maple Leafs. Meanwhile, Samuel Montembeault left his place to Cayden Primeau after allowing four goals on 12 shots. For Matthews, it was his 64th goal of the campaign and his 100th point.
“It was six big minutes,” agreed head coach Martin Saint-Louis, at a press briefing, about the four goals scored by the Leafs in the first half of the second period. We had a good push from the middle of the second, we didn’t give up, and I liked our third.”
After Suzuki, Cole Caufield scored in his turn before the end of the middle period during which there were a total of six goals and during which Michael Pezzetta had the courage (or the crazy idea) to throw down the gloves against Ryan Reaves.
Good for lottery
Like Pezzetta against Reaves, the Canadian lost against the Maple Leafs. Regardless, at the end of the meeting, some fans left talking about the next draft lottery. This will take place in a few weeks, in the first half of May.
After this 4 to 2 defeat against the Leafs, the Canadian still occupied 27e rank in the general classification. At the same time, in Ottawa, the Senators also lost against the New Jersey Devils. This is what concerns many CH supporters these days, more than a defeat against Toronto.
The exclusion from the series is more or less shocking, as is the case for a loss against the Maple Leafs. Pride still exists, but not among all supporters. We prefer to have a 7.5% rather than a 6.5% chance of winning the lottery.
By the way, it was a last Saturday at home for the Canadian this season. The Montreal club still has a total of six games to play, including only two at the Bell Center, Tuesday April 9 against the Philadelphia Flyers, then the last game of the season, Tuesday April 16 against the Detroit Red Wings. This Sunday evening, the CH visits the Rangers, in New York, and we don’t care a little about the result, if I understand correctly.