It was a loss that had Leaf fans thinking, “there’s 80 more of these?” at the Joe Louis tonight.
There wasn’t much to like about the first period beyond the first two shifts by Nazem Kadri’s line – Kadri seemed like he was going to have himself a big game as he buzzed in the offensive zone, threw a couple of good hits, and looked engaged and pumped up (that line faded after that, and wound up a ~25% CF).
The Leafs defense was pretty aggressive in their pinching early on, which is fine except they weren’t smart about it. Jake Gardiner got caught leading to a 2 on 1 and a penalty (which the Wings scored on, assist to Lupul’s dumb penalty). The Leafs gave up a goal on that powerplay that was far too easy. They should’ve known exactly what to expect out of the Wings’ PP set up, yet just seconds in Morgan Rielly took a stab at the puck carrier along the wall and took himself out of position, leaving the seam to Johan Franzen wide open in the slot. A little while after, Martin Marincin had no forward support and went any way, got caught, and was forced into taking another penalty.
This team obviously cannot be decidedly outgoaltended against more talented opponents — that’s just common sense, and it makes everything else look that much worse. The first shot of periods going in as often as they have (the first was not Bernier’s fault, the one to start the second…) is a dagger for a team entering a season without a whole lot of self-belief. Bernier needs to have goal number three; Dylan Larkin picked the corner, but he doesn’t have the opportunity to from that angle if Bernier isn’t down early. Bernier is not owed much leeway, and the Leafs will have one of those so-called “goalie controversies” in short order if this keeps up.
The issue with game analysis about games like this, much like many of the games down the stretch last season, is that going down 3-0 after 20 minutes and change makes it difficult to assess a 60-minute game given the score effects. But the funny thing is the Leafs were (very slightly) leading in shot attempts when the Wings took a 2-0 lead, and were (very slightly) leading after the first period, too. It doesn’t matter, though, if – as Mike Babcock mentioned – the Leafs lose the battle in front of both nets, which would be a fair assessment of tonight’s game.
To the eye, the Leafs did not generate the same amount of sustained zone time seen in the Montreal game, but there’s obviously a different feel if they can finish one or two of their glaring chances, receive something approaching reasonable goaltending, and lose by one instead, which wasn’t out of the realm of reason in a game with 44 shots total (split 22-22). It goes without saying this is not a good team, and if Bernier is getting decisively outplayed and they aren’t bearing down on chances, scorelines like this are the obvious result.
The Leafs haven’t scored a goal off a stick yet this season (JvR’s was a skate deflection on the powerplay), and that’s not just chalked up to the fact that Kessel is gone. Again, they had two or three breakaways and some good looks that weren’t converted (Shawn Matthias stuffing a mini-breakaway chance into the pads was deja vu to last game). They hit a post on a redirect off Matthias, as well.
If you’re looking for positives, William Nylander scored tonight and put nine shots on goal (not a typo) in a dominant Marlies performance. Travis Dermott had an assist, Mitch Marner a goal, Korostelev two assists, and Martins Dzierkals scored twice (12 points in 7 games). This is the stuff Leafs fans have to rest their laurels on this season. It will be the only way to stay sane.
Notes
A few quick thoughts on the lineup decisions for tomorrow:
Through two games the Leafs have healthy scratched two tenured veterans in Michael Grabner and Roman Polak. It was justifiable after a reasonable showing on opening night, but it would be a surprise to see each player scratched after a poor game, and two losses in a row to start the season overall.
The question now becomes who should sit so they can dress Grabner, Polak or both? On defense, it’s safe to say Matt Hunwick, Dion Phaneuf, Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly are not getting scratched, so that leaves one of Scott Harrington or Martin Marincin. For two games in a row, Marincin has played the least of any Leafs defenseman and had some ill-timed pinches leading to easy scoring opportunities against the Wings, so he stands out as the prime candidate.
The forwards are a little trickier. Leo Komarov played the least against Montreal, and Mark Arcobello saw the least ice versus Detroit. Friday was particularly tough on Arcobello as he gave it away in the neutral zone multiple times leading to scoring chances against. Other than those two, it’s tough to imagine anyone else really coming out — at this time, anyway. Babcock could try to light a fire under a supposedly skilled player like PA Parenteau, Brad Boyes or even Joffrey Lupul, but it would be a little surprising to see him go that route this early in the year.
All Situations Possession Chart
Shot Location Chart
Leafs Player Stats – Red Wings 4 vs. Leafs 0
| PLAYER | POS | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | S | HITS | BKS | FO% | PP TOI | SH TOI | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. Hunwick | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | - | 0:00 | 2:44 | 20:51 |
| D. Phaneuf | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | 1:01 | 2:05 | 20:46 |
| P. Parenteau | R | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 2:53 | 0:00 | 13:32 |
| N. Spaling | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 75% | 0:17 | 3:30 | 15:42 |
| J. Lupul | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 1:42 | 0:00 | 14:56 |
| J. van Riemsdyk | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | 2:54 | 0:00 | 14:49 |
| S. Matthias | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | 0:00 | 1:34 | 15:05 |
| P. Holland | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 60% | 1:42 | 0:00 | 13:56 |
| D. Winnik | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | - | 0:17 | 3:30 | 15:54 |
| B. Boyes | R | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | 2:01 | 0:00 | 13:14 |
| M. Arcobello | R | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 50% | 1:25 | 0:00 | 11:18 |
| S. Harrington | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | 0:17 | 1:14 | 18:18 |
| T. Bozak | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 45% | 2:23 | 0:18 | 18:38 |
| N. Kadri | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 46% | 3:11 | 0:02 | 16:24 |
| M. Rielly | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 2:07 | 2:33 | 21:29 |
| L. Komarov | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0% | 0:17 | 1:14 | 12:58 |
| J. Gardiner | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | 1:45 | 1:03 | 19:39 |
| M. Marincin | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | - | 0:13 | 0:29 | 14:20 |
Leafs Player Possession Stats – Red Wings 4 vs. Leafs 0
| Name | Position | Corsi For | Corsi Against | Corsi | Corsi For% | Zone Start% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MATT HUNWICK | D | 9 | 19 | -10 | 32 | 30 |
| DION PHANEUF | D | 9 | 18 | -9 | 33 | 30 |
| PIERRE-ALEXANDRE PARENTEAU | R | 10 | 9 | 1 | 53 | 50 |
| NICK SPALING | C | 5 | 9 | -4 | 36 | 20 |
| JOFFREY LUPUL | R | 11 | 7 | 4 | 61 | 50 |
| JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK | L | 5 | 9 | -4 | 36 | 33 |
| SHAWN MATTHIAS | C | 11 | 14 | -3 | 44 | 55 |
| PETER HOLLAND | C | 11 | 6 | 5 | 65 | 40 |
| DANIEL WINNIK | C | 5 | 7 | -2 | 42 | 25 |
| BRAD BOYES | R | 3 | 12 | -9 | 20 | 38 |
| MARK ARCOBELLO | R | 8 | 4 | 4 | 67 | 50 |
| JAMES REIMER | G | 18 | 22 | -4 | 45 | 27 |
| SCOTT HARRINGTON | D | 15 | 8 | 7 | 65 | 44 |
| TYLER BOZAK | C | 14 | 9 | 5 | 61 | 56 |
| NAZEM KADRI | C | 5 | 15 | -10 | 25 | 33 |
| MORGAN RIELLY | D | 9 | 9 | 0 | 50 | 44 |
| JONATHAN BERNIER | G | 15 | 14 | 1 | 52 | 58 |
| LEO KOMAROV | C | 10 | 3 | 7 | 77 | 0 |
| JAKE GARDINER | D | 16 | 10 | 6 | 62 | 50 |
| MARTIN MARINCIN | D | 7 | 8 | -1 | 47 | 50 |
Mike Babcock Post Game Interview
