The Toronto Maple Leafs left a weekend back-to-back empty handed after a 5-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Sunday night.
The Leafs got off on the wrong foot in Brooklyn, conceding a goal on the second shift. After Tyler Bozak lost a defensive zone faceoff, the Leafs were scrambling and wound up collapsed down on the slot before Travis Hamonic’s shot from the top of the right circle took a deflection off of JVR’s stick and snuck in on Enroth’s short side.
JVR’s stick detail on the play was lacking; he would’ve been much better off letting the shot go through clean than extending his stick into the lane with the blade angled like so:
The Leafs got their feet under them and responded reasonably well to the goal, taking nine of the next 13 shot attempts, until another bad shift by Bozak and JVR led to the 2-0 goal just seven minutes into the game. Roman Polak was caught in no man’s land and the effort on the backcheck was leisurely:
The Leafs pushed back by taking 16 of the next 25 shot attempts and went on the first powerplay of the game with 7:30 remaining in the period. Some good puck movement preceded a great look for Connor Carrick off a Mitch Marner feed, but Carrick was robbed by ten-bell blocker save by Thomas Greiss.
The Leafs came within a whisker of a 2-1 goal one minute into the second period. A well-placed shot from Roman Polak found the back of Bozak’s stick blade at the lip of the crease but the puck somehow deflected wide of the empty net. The two teams then traded a pair of unsuccessful powerplays, with John Tavares nearly scoring after exiting the box if not for Jhonas Enroth, who stuck right with Tavares on his breakaway.
The Leafs were pinned in for a few shifts following their powerplay. Mike Babcock blended his lines in search of a spark, breaking up the struggling JVR – Bozak – Marner unit by rotating Marner onto Kadri and Komarov’s wing and moving Connor Brown up into Marner’s place. The Leafs carried a 15-7 edge in shot attempts in the second half of the second frame. Late in the period, Matt Martin generated a powerplay for his team by goading Andrew Ladd into a double minor in front of the Isles’ net.
The Leafs struck on the powerplay at the start of the third period on a great shot by Jake Gardiner that was well screened by JVR. William Nylander picked up an assist on the goal, taking him up to 11 points on the season through eight games — currently tops among rookies and tied for third in overall NHL points scoring.
Just as the Leafs looked likely to push for a tying goal, some bad luck mixed with a bad decision by Jhonas Enroth — who tried to bat down a puck that was traveling dasher-high along the end boards — served one up on a platter for Shane Prince in front five minutes into the third.
The 3-1 goal seemed to break the back of a tired Leafs team, who gave up a fourth just two minutes later. The Leafs (JVR – Bozak – Brown; Marincin – Zaitsev) somehow turned a clear faceoff win into a goal against in the span of five seconds. Marincin rang the puck around the far wall, where JVR was nowhere to be found. Zaitsev pursued the puck carrier in the corner after the turnover, his partner Marincin had fallen down in the other corner, and Connor Brown was left to defend a 2v1 in front. Brock Nelson put the game away on a feed from Prince.
While there were a couple of mentions on the broadcast about the Leafs’ young players not knowing how to play in a back-to-back, Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk’s line was on for four goals against, got chewed up by the Islanders’ fourth line for two early, and were outpossessed in their five minutes head to head against that Cal Clutterbuck, Casey Czikas and Nikolai Kulemin unit. Mike Babcock called them out after the game: “They need to be a lot better. Bozak and [JVR] have got to lead.”
The Leafs end the month of October on a down note: Currently 2-4-3, allowing 3.78 goals per game (28th in the NHL), and without an even-strength goal in two consecutive. But here’s the good news:
Nylander (T-3) and Matthews still up near the top of the league in scoring, as well as 1-2 in the Calder race. pic.twitter.com/GurITIT7ar
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) October 31, 2016
Game In Six
Islanders 5 vs. Leafs 1 – 5v5 Shot Attempts
Islanders 5 vs. Leafs 2 – Shot Locations
