I had a strong urge to throw something in the title about the irony of Satan tallying a goal in the shootout to help in the win over the Devils, but I passed on it for your sake.

Like a lot of Western Canadians, the Leafs aren't amongst the top 29 teams on my list of favourite teams. While I like Montreal quite a bit, the Islanders have grown on me a lot since getting Ryan Smyth on their team.

The game today was a very unique one. It started off so slow, with only Richard Park tallying a goal in the first two periods of action. The Isles went into the 2nd with a 1-0 lead. Then, Park tallied a 2nd goal to put them up 2-0.

John Madden, being the clutch guy that he is, took exception and scored two goals - one of them an amazing scramble with 0.9 second in the 3rd left. Overtime was fairly uneventful and it went to a shootout. When you think about it, its actually pretty crazy about how weird the situation was - you have two goalies with relatively no experience in the NHL. Scott Clemmensen has played 24 games in the NHL over the last 3 years. Wade Dubielewicz, on the other hand, has played a whopping 16 games in the NHL over the last 3 years, acting as a 3rd string call-up for most of this year. Despite the inexperience of both goalies, the Leafs and Islanders seasons come down to this final shootout, which is a fairly new and controversial way of ending NHL games.

Leafs fans are probably pissed off at the Islanders for winning, pissed off at New Jersey for putting in their backup goalie in a meaningless game for them, pissed off at the NHL for imposing shootouts all season, and pissed off about many other things that have led them to JUST miss the playoffs. However, when it all comes down to it, the entire team is to blame.

The Leafs had it in the bag. They blew the 4-1 lead over the Buffalo Sabres and they also played with no urgency in a game where they lost 5-2 to the New York Islanders on April 5th. If the Leafs had played with the same amazing determination they showed last night against the Habs in these crucial games, they would have been in the playoffs with ease. But blowing a 3 goal lead and then not even showing up against one of the other teams hungry for a playoff spot is inexcusable.

Leafs fans should not be blaming anyone or anything for their lack of a postseason except for their own team's lack of clutchness. This is the team that got decimated by the New York Rangers on April 1st, 7-2. This is the team that let in a goal against the Penguins to tie up the game with a few seconds left on March 31st.

This is not the way a playoff team plays down the stretch, and this is why the Leafs are not a playoff team come today.

Trig

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