The Maple Leafs are finding ways to lose games right now. For the first time since April 2021 (i.e., the Covid-impacted, Canadian division season), they’ve dropped five in a row.
In a battle between two teams who have struggled to possess the puck enough at five-on-five and are consequently among the league’s worst second-period clubs so far this season, this was a much better even-strength effort from the Maple Leafs.
Toronto had three of four lines pulling on the rope (for the most part), built a deserved 2-1 lead through 40 minutes (one that could’ve been a little bigger with more finish), and got the goalie start they were hoping for from the returning Joseph Woll. They won the five-on-five shot attempts, expected goals, and high-danger chances in each period.
Unfortunately, their power play and finishing let them down in key moments, and so did their worst forward line and defenseman at the other end of the rink.
When the Leafs held a lead after two periods last season, they collected 71 of a possible 74 points (35-1-1). They’re now 3-2-1 when leading after 40 minutes this season, including three dropped points this week.
Post-Game Notes
– Nick Robertson and John Tavares are now up to 6-3 in five-on-five goals and 65% of the high-danger chances in their five-on-five minutes together. It’s no mystery why; they’re consistently the hardest workers/hungriest puck hounds on the ice for the Leafs, as seen on their 1-1 goal late in the first period. There was nothing pretty about it, but it was an impressive lunchpail-style effort starting from the forecheck. Tavares took it to the net, as he’s done a good job of all year, and Robertson dug inside of a much, much bigger defender to bury a dirty one. On Morgan Rielly‘s 2-1 goal, they were battling together at the net front, creating some in-tight looks and recovering pucks in the build-up to Rielly’s finish at the backpost.
– Speaking of puck-hounding, Calle Jarnkrok was all over it on the forecheck in this game and yet somehow finished with just over 10 minutes of ice time, the lowest on the forward group. This team is not deep enough at the moment with their injuries, nor do they have enough guys rolling higher in the lineup, to not boost a player’s minutes to some degree when he clearly has his legs early in the game. Craig Berube has to show more responsive coaching instincts/awareness than this.
– The badly struggling Philippe Myers saw only eight minutes of ice time and still was on the ice for two goals against that he was in the middle of. Half of his ice time (four minutes) was spent with the team’s worst defensive center, the struggling Max Domi. It’s unavoidable that they’ll see some amount of ice together throughout a game, but it should never be to the point where Myers shared more minutes with Domi than any other forward on the team. Predictably, it led to a goal against on the 1-0 Chicago tally in which Myers left his man to chase across the zone while Domi floated around disengaged.
Rielly did not cover himself in glory by any means on the tying goal, but Myers also lost a battle vs. Frank Nazar, freeing up the puck for Teuvo Teravainen. If Myers isn’t in the lineup to win physical battles or take care of his man in front of his net, we definitely know it’s not to move the puck or produce offense. It leaves us with a whole lot of nothing/inside should-be-on-waivers-tomorrow territory, especially given this was his last chance to show something before Troy Stecher takes his spot.
– Joseph Woll could do nothing on any of the three Blackhawk goals. He stopped everything he could’ve been asked to stop and looked good doing it. The Leafs need this calm and confidence-inspiring presence in their crease as they try to collect themselves defensively. It’s the biggest positive of the game, given its importance going forward.
– Easton Cowan took two bad penalties: a tired-brain puck-over-the-glass infraction, and a repeated tap into the player’s hands to the point where the refs had to call the slash. He also should’ve scored two goals. On top of a few other chances in tight, he just lost the full handle on the puck with the goalie beaten on a breakaway out of the box following his slashing penalty. He fired just high on another point-blank chance on a 2v1 with Nic Roy, which he followed up by working to win a puck back high in the zone, helping create a Morgan Rielly opportunity off the post and a long spell of offensive-zone pressure that eventually led to the 2-1 Toronto goal.
On the balance, Cowan was part of the solution tonight as his line with Roy and Matthew Knies handily won its five-on-five minutes. Roy, in particular, saw the most time against Bedard (6:28), and the Leafs finished 7-1 in shot attempts in that matchup. Roy finished with five shots on goal in just under 20 minutes of ice time, a strong showing from him in expanded minutes.
– The power play (0 for 3) was severely disappointing from the Leafs’ perspective, and there were two inflection points in the game when it could’ve tipped this one into a likely Leafs victory. One was after the Hawks lost the high-sticking challenge on Rielly’s goal, giving Toronto the chance to really consolidate momentum and take control of the game. The other was very early in the third with a chance to extend the lead to two against a Chicago team yet to register a comeback victory this season (before tonight). Their most dangerous look over the entire six minutes was a Rielly point shot leading to a Roy tip and jam in the crease.
William Nylander set the tone for it with two bad entry plays at the line on the team’s first power-play opportunity in the second period. The Leafs, especially without Matthews, needed more from him tonight. He collected secondary assists in both games, but he has zero shots on goal in two straight, and you wanted more from him on the wall/at the point on the play that led to the losing goal in the final five minutes of the third, as well as when the team was in search of a tying goal late; he passed up a good look in the slot on the first shift after the 3-2 Chicago goal, then turned it over high in the zone on his next shift.
– Cowan has better vision and playmaking ability from the half-wall, but based on both principle and the hot hand (Robertson had just scored late in the first/has five goals in his last 10), I’d have had Robertson over Cowan on the top power-play unit tonight. On the second period power play following the Rielly goal, Nylander sent the puck through the high-slot seam across to Cowan in some space, and Cowan deferred by tapping it back to the point. I would’ve liked to see Robertson’s shot in position to rip one there. The coaching staff did send Robertson out over Cowan at 6-on-5 in the final minute.
Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts
Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts
