The head coach called his club’s patently poor effort against Chicago a “character win” after the Maple Leafs pulled a rabbit out of their hat late in the third period on Tuesday.
If that’s the standard for a “character” effort, perhaps it’s little surprise that the Leafs were out-worked and out-played in every facet of the game tonight against a far superior opponent.
There was actually an opportunity for the Leafs to take an early lead in this game, as, against the odds, they drew an early penalty call in the defensive zone despite the top line kicking off their night with a tepid shift that included an icing. The power play really should’ve scored when Easton Cowan missed a great backdoor look. But otherwise, the top unit continued to embarrass itself despite three first-period opportunities.
What more is there to write at this point? After a 0-for-5 night, the Leafs are down to 14.1% on the man-advantage, only 0.3% ahead of the Calgary Flames for last in the league. They remain dead last in power-play goals, and they generally look downright dreadful every time they take the ice. Every opportunity features the same predictable entry, followed by absolutely no plan if they do get set up in the zone. No set plays, little motion from the skaters, and the same static cycling around the outside with no shooting intent whatsoever. Tonight, add in the PP getting regularly outworked by the opponent’s PKers in the puck battles, and you have a recipe for a total disgrace.
On the flip side, the team’s penalty kill held the Leafs level in the special-teams battle, but at five-on-five, the Leafs generated a total of four high-danger chances over the whole game and were outscored 4-0. They were owned in every metric, unable to sustain any zone time against a Capitals team whose coach was lamenting their decline in control over the five-on-five play in the last 10 or so games before tonight’s matchup. Their gaps and checking without the puck, and their efforts to protect the net front, were nearly as bad as their puck play. Dennis Hildeby played his poorest game of the season in net, but honestly, it wouldn’t have mattered if he played his best.
Put together on the top line to try to lead the team out of its funk against Chicago, Auston Matthews and William Nylander didn’t exactly dominate a matchup against Jason Dickinson’s line vs. the Blackhawks, and they proceeded to look completely disengaged in this game. Lackadaisical in their puck play, little fight in their puck battles (outside of one drawn penalty call by Nylander in the first), and zero five-on-five shots on goal all game while giving up the 1-0 goal. Once Easton Cowan joined the line in place of Matthew Knies, the pair were out-attempted 5-1 and gave up another goal. From an accountability standpoint, it’s wild that Matthews and Knies still played around 20 minutes tonight; granted, there was a lot of special teams time driving those minutes up, but Berube should’ve just double-shifted his bottom six after the 3-0 goal.
One of the few Leafs who leaped off the page for actually putting in a consistent effort in this one was Nick Robertson. He was probably the team’s best player over the 60 minutes — good news for Robertson, bad news for the Leafs when this is the case.
This brings us to the obvious question: What more does Leafs management need to see before they make a coaching change? Coaching change conversations started in earnest at the end of October. Over six weeks later, nothing has tangibly improved despite the team getting healthier. Night after night, the Leafs’ opponents gloat about playing one of their best games of the season after dominating possession and controlling the scoring chances. It’s only gotten worse, as the players have seemingly lost all understanding, confidence, or belief in the system they’re trying (if they’re still trying) to execute.
The third period, in particular — the Leafs looked like they were (poorly) protecting a multi-goal lead when down 2-0, which soon became 4-0 — was the closest this team has looked to quitting altogether. And Craig Berube’s post-game words were his closest admission yet that he really has no more ideas.
Something has to give.
Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts
Heatmap: 5v5 Shot Attempts
