The Boston Bruins-Toronto Maple Leafs matchup on Thursday had it all. Emotion ran high; there were a lot of physical plays, and a total of five goals were scored.
It wasn’t as fun for Toronto as it was for Boston, as they lost their fourth game against the B’s this season, and that’s bad news, given that a first-round meeting between the teams in the playoffs is looking more and more likely.
Brad Marchand was involved in several controversial incidents during the game, and that didn’t come as a huge surprise, as it always seems like something is happening when he’s playing Toronto.
Earlier this season, he injured Timothy Liljgren with a hit that sidelined the Leafs’ defenseman for some time. On Thursday, Marchand collided with Matthew Knies, who had to leave the game, but he also received a high crosscheck from Jake McCabe and had Max Domi after him late in the game.
But for Toronto tough guy Ryan Reaves, it was a silent night. The two teams combined for 50 penalty minutes and four fighting majors, but Reaves didn’t get involved at all.
Reaves fought rookie sensation Matt Rempe last week when Toronto played the Rangers in a highly anticipated game. But he had zero PIMs against Boston and zero shots through 10:58 ice time.
But during the game, a video of Reaves trying to defend went viral, and it wasn’t for a very flattering reason.
As the Bruins had possession in the offensive zone, Reaves looked extremely effortless in trying to stop the attack. Reaves’ poor defensive play allowed for not one, but two shots in the danger area, and one from David Pastrnak even hit the goal post.
On social media, Reaves was absolutely slammed by fans.
”What is this effort? That can’t be a player that makes your Game 1 roster,” one said on X, formerly Twitter.
”That does look bad,” another said.
”Money well spent. There’s no chance he gets into the playoffs,” a third said.
However, many also pointed out that it happened at the end of a long shift and that Reaves wasn’t to blame.
”End of a shift up against the top line. Doesn’t look pretty but ultimately I don’t fault him for ending up in that matchup,” one said.
”Honestly bro is probably dog tired at the end of his shift and can barely breathe,” another said.
”Looks like an end of the shift, gassed player to me,” a third said.
