The Toronto Maple Leafs lost 5-4 to the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night, October 28, at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
With this result, Toronto have now suffered back-to-back defeats in two particularly interesting games, as the Leafs seemed to get back into it but ultimately fell short on a few costly mistakes.
In the loss to the Kraken, goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky drew some of the harshest criticism. During the postgame edition of Daily Faceoff’s “After Dark,” Zack Phillips launched a brutal attack on Bobrovsky for his performance and on head coach Jim Hiller for choosing him over Anthony Stolarz.
Zack Phillips Says Maple Leafs Have a Goaltending Problem, Criticizes Jim Hiller’s Decision
Phillips started by saying, “The Maple Leafs have a goaltending problem.”
“You got a guy who can’t make a save and is blowing games, and you have a guy that you feel like you can’t put in, whether it’s because you have too much respect for Bob and he can’t get pulled, or if it’s because you don’t feel comfortable putting Anthony Stolarz in and overdoing his workload.”
“Either way, it’s a f—— issue. You don’t have it every night as a team in front. And I understand that that also includes the goaltender.”
Phillips: Bobrovsky Is ‘the Reason’ Maple Leafs Can’t Climb Back
Phillips insisted he understands the goaltender cannot always be blamed for everything and that the team in front of him must rise to the occasion and meet expectations, depending on the game’s circumstances, helping compensate for any human mistakes he might make.
However, he stood by his main point, arguing that Bobrovsky’s performances have reached an incomprehensible level.
He said, “The goaltender sometimes doesn’t have it every game behind the team. And they’ve got to play through, and they’ve got to find a way.”
“But this team just went on a stretch of a week of really, really, really good hockey. Like tremendous hockey from this group. And then you repay them in two games in which they don’t look that great in front of you, but have a chance to win against two teams, of which you should be able to fight back and win in those games.”
“They’re not world beaters in the Calgary Flames and the Seattle Kraken. And Sergei Bobrovsky is the reason that you cannot climb back and get it done. He puts you in a hole or when you need it the most, he fucking lets one go through him.”
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