Blame a delayed puck drop due to the pregame ceremony if you want, but slow starts have been a problem for this Maple Leafs team all season.
Forgive me for talking about it a lot in this space recently, but last night was the eighth consecutive game the Leafs have failed to score first — something they’ve accomplished just 14 times in 46 attempts (last in the League by a large margin).
Mike Babcock has been pulling out all the stops trying to fix it, giving the team a day off on Friday in hopes of sparking a more energetic start out of the gates on Saturday night.
Leafs had the day off yesterday but after their start tonight Mike Babcock said, "We won't be doing that again."
— Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel) January 24, 2016
And yet the team was as flat as ever to start the game, outshot 10-0 after ten minutes and down 1-0 on the Habs’ first shot of the evening.
It is an ugly habit that’s gotten much worse of late. Here are the shot numbers added up for the first ten minutes of the last four games:
| Game | Shots against after 10min | Shots For after 10min |
|---|---|---|
| MTL vs. TOR | 10 | 0 |
| CAR vs. TOR | 8 | 2 |
| PHI vs. TOR | 10 | 1 |
| BOS vs. TOR | 8 | 4 |
| Total | 36 | 7 |
Again the team fought their way back into the game with some decent spells of hockey while chasing the lead, but they’re too short on offensive talent to be playing catch-up hockey so consistently. Most fans are beyond caring about the actual results this season, but preparing to start games on time is part of the “process” and it needs to be addressed.
Notes
– Playing the 200th game of his NHL career, Morgan Rielly was the offensive difference maker tonight for a Leafs team sorely lacking one of late. Two more even strength points precipitated the Leaf comeback – he shot the gap on the rush to receive the Komarov chip pass followed by a great no-look feed to Kadri on goal #1; his zone entry and feed to Holland led to goal #2 after a well placed shot-for-rebound by Holland. He also looked excellent quarterbacking the powerplay in the second period, holding the line expertly and orchestrating what was probably the best PP in the Leafs’ last 21 attempts with the man advantage.
Rielly is up to 19 even-strength points for the season, which is tied for fifth in the NHL among defencemen. He’s ahead of Duncan Keith and PK Subban, tied with Victor Hedman and Ryan Suter, and one point behind Brent Burns for fourth in the NHL. Tantalizing thought: Rielly loaded up with proper PP time, back on his strong side, playing with a better partner.
– As Babcock mentioned after the game – with the great quote below — the Leafs’ fourth line was its only consistently effective grouping tonight. The other lines’ struggles to generate offensive zone time meant they started just 25% of their shifts in the Habs’ zone, yet they led the team in even strength shot attempt differential – Clune at 77% 5v5 CF in 11:19 of action (a season-high for Clune in TOI), Byron Froese at 69%, Daniel Winnik at 60%.
Babcock says Froese line was Leafs best tonight: "They're allowed to be the hardest working line, they're not allowed to be the best line"
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) January 24, 2016
Clune was the only who seemed to be fired up from the start for a Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada home meeting with the Habs on a night dedicated to recognizing three of the organization’s all-time greats (he might’ve taken the Keon, Horton and Boda tributes a little too seriously, twice completing shifts without a helmet).
– While the powerplay flounders at 0 for its last 21, the penalty kill has killed 11 of its last 12 since Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin tore it apart four games ago. Looking aggressive and organized, it’s up to 14th in the League at 80.8%, and is now second best in the NHL in shots against per 60. With better goaltending earlier in the season, the Leafs PK is easily a top-10 unit. Even with improved backstopping of late, the Leafs’ 4v5 save percentage is still bottom five in the League.
– This was the fifth loss of the season wherein James Reimer posted a .930 save percentage or above. Only Steve Mason has more .930+ performances in losing efforts (6).
Shot Locations
Scoring Chances
Shot Attempts
Mike Babcock Post Game
Game in 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1y1-wCTqrU
Leafs Player Stats — Montreal 3 vs. Toronto 2 (SO)
| PLAYER | G | A | P | +/- | S | HITS | BKS | FO% | PPTOI | SHTOI | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. Hunwick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | - | 0:00 | 5:58 | 24:06 |
| D. Phaneuf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | - | 1:41 | 1:37 | 21:43 |
| P. Parenteau | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | 1:56 | 0:00 | 15:31 |
| J. Lupul | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 2:04 | 0:00 | 13:24 |
| S. Matthias | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 100% | 1:56 | 0:00 | 14:07 |
| P. Holland | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 67% | 2:04 | 1:01 | 12:32 |
| R. Clune | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | - | 0:00 | 0:00 | 11:19 |
| D. Winnik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 0:00 | 3:48 | 16:52 |
| J. Leivo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 1:56 | 0:00 | 11:56 |
| M. Grabner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | - | 0:00 | 3:47 | 17:13 |
| T. Bozak | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 64% | 2:04 | 0:00 | 15:56 |
| N. Kadri | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 61% | 1:56 | 0:43 | 19:40 |
| M. Rielly | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | 1:14 | 2:02 | 22:49 |
| R. Polak | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | - | 0:00 | 6:00 | 23:28 |
| L. Komarov | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0% | 2:04 | 2:46 | 20:58 |
| J. Gardiner | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 1:05 | 0:00 | 17:35 |
| M. Marincin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 0:00 | 0:23 | 10:58 |
| B. Froese | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22% | 0:00 | 3:55 | 16:05 |
