Category: Toronto Maple Leafs

Anaheim Ducks vs Toronto Maple Leafs – 4/2/2019 -Game Day Preview

Time: Monday, February 4th,  2019

Toronto: 31-17-3 for 65 points

Anaheim: 21-22-9 for 51 points

The Toronto Maple Leafs look to keep the win coming against the struggling Anaheim Ducks.

Top Scorers/Goalie Matchup

Mitch Marner –63 points (20 goals 43 assists)
John Tavares – 54 points (30 goals 24 assists) 54% on face-offs
Morgan Rielly – 52 points (13 goals 39 assists)
Auston Matthews – 46 points (23 goals 23 assists) 53% on Face-offs)

Ryan Getzlaf – 33 points (10 goals 23 assists)
Adam Henrique – 27 points (9 goal 18 assist)
Rickard Rakell – 24 points (8 goal 16 assists)
Brandon Montour – 24 points (5 goal 19 assists)

Frederik Andersen
22-12-2 2.57GAA .922SV%

John Gibson
17-17-8 2.86GAA .916SV%

 

Lineups:

Toronto:

Patrick Marleau – Auston Matthews – Kasperi Kapanen

Mitch Marner – John Tavares – Zach Hyman

Connor Brown – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander

Andreas Johnsson – Pars Lindholm – Frederik Gauthier

 

Morgan Rielly  – Jake Muzzin

Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev

Travis Dermott – Ron Hainsey

 

Frederik Andersen

Garrett Sparks

 

Scratched: Justin Holl & Igor Ozhiganov

Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back),Tyler Ennis (Leg)

Suspension: None

 

Anaheim:

Rickard Rakell – Ryan Getzlaf– Corey Perry

Devin Shore – Adam Henrique– Jakub Silfverberg

Nick Ritchie– Derek Grant – Daniel Sprong

Brian Gibbons – Carter Rowney – Patrick Eaves

 

Hampus Lindholm – Brandon Montour

Cam Fowler – Josh Manson

Jacob Larsson – Michael Del Zotto

 

John Gibson

Chad Johnson

 

Scratched: None

Injuries: Ondrej Kase, Kevin Bieksa, Ryan Miller & Ryan Keler

Suspension: None

 

Keys to Winning against Anaheim:

  1. Attack the Defence
    1. Young defence and a lot of injuries on the backend. Forecheck hard and furious
  2. Speed Speed Speed
    1. Anaheim is not known for being the fastest team and you gotta make them skate
  3. Powerplay
    1. Been struggling for a while. Perfect game to get it going.

 

February 3rd, 2019 — News and Notes

Today is February 3rd, 2019, and these are your news and notes.

 

There were 13 matchups yesterday in NHL action.

 

 

 

PHILADELPHIA 5, Edmonton 4 (OT)

The Philadelphia Flyers took on the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL European Game of the Week and would go on to defeat Edmonton 5-4 in the overtime frame.

 

Philadelphia’s Nolan Patrick would go on to score the game winner at the 2:01 mark in the overtime frame.

With this win by the Flyers, they have now won seven games in a row and eight out of their last ten games.

 

New Jersey 3, MONTREAL 2 (OT)

The New Jersey Devils would go on to defeat the Montreal Canadiens in overtime thanks to two goals by Nico Hischier, including the game-winner in the overtime frame.

 

Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Phillip Danault would be the goal scorers for the Canadiens in this contest.

 

 

TORONTO 3, Pittsburgh 2

The Toronto Maple Leafs would take on the Pittsburgh Penguins and would come away with the 3-2 win, after being down 2-0 in the first period.

 

 

TXHT has your full recap of the contest between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Pittsburgh Penguins at the following page.

 

Detroit 2, OTTAWA 0

 

The Detroit Red Wings with this win over the Ottawa Senators would win back to back games.

 

The Red Wings would score the only two goals in the contest in the first period with no one scoring any goals in the second or third periods.

 

FLORIDA 3, Vegas 1

The Vegas Golden Knights would fall to the Florida Panthers, leading to a three game skid.

With the win by Florida, they now have a record of 21-21-8 on the season, good for 50 points.

 

NY ISLANDERS 4, Los Angeles 2

The New York Islanders would go on to double up the Los Angeles Kings with a 4-2 win.  Ryan Pulock would go on to have a three assist night, notching all three assists in the third period.

 

 

 

St. Louis 4, COLUMBUS 2

With the 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues, the Columbus Blue Jackets would go on to split the season series.

 

St. Louis Vladimir Tarasenko would go on to register one goal and two assists in the contest.

 

 

WINNIPEG 9, Anaheim 3

The Winnipeg Jets throttled the Anaheim Ducks with a 9-3 win, and giving the Jets 70 points thus far on the season.

Winnipeg’s Jack Roslovic would go on to register a hat trick in this contest, his first career hat trick.

 

With the 9-3 loss, the Ducks have lost their last three games and have a record of 2-6-2 in their last ten contests.

 

 

TAMPA BAY 3, NY Rangers 2

In a hard fought contest the Tampa Bay Lightning would go on to defeat the New York Rangers with a 3-2 win at Madison Square Garden last night.

 

 

Dallas 3, NASHVILLE 1

The Dallas Stars would go on to win their fourth straight contest with the 3-1 win over the Nashville Predators last night.

Despite being tied going into the third period, the Nashville Predators would fall to the Stars.

 

Chicago 4, MINNESOTA 3 (OT)

 

Vancouver 5, COLORADO 1

SAN JOSE 3, Arizona 2 (OT)

 

Today’s NHL slate of games…

 

 

 

For more news, notes, information, and stats…

 

 

NWHL

 

Yesterday’s two NWHL contests…

TXHT will have a full recap of all the NWHL action from this weekend tomorrow.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Toronto Maple Leafs -2/2/2019 – Game Recap

Pittsburgh Penguins (28-17-6 62 pts) v, Toronto Maple Leafs (30-17-3 63pts)

Lineups:

Toronto:

Mitch Marner– Auston Matthews – Patrick Marleau

Kasperi Kapanen – John Tavares – Zach Hyman

Connor Brown – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander

Andreas Johnsson – Pars Lindholm – Frederik Gauthier

 

Morgan Rielly  – Jake Muzzin

Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev

Travis Dermott – Ron Hainsey

 

Garrett Sparks

Frederik Andersen

 

Scratched: Justin Holl

Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back),Tyler Ennis (Leg)

Suspension: None

 

Detroit:

Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Dominik Simon

Bryan Rust– Nick Bjugstad– Phil Kessel

Tanner Pearson –  Jared McCann – Patric Hornqvist

Garrett Wilson – Teddy Blueger – Matt Cullen

 

Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang

Olli Maatta – Juuso Riikola

Marcus Petterson – Jack Johnson

 

Casey DeSmith

Matt Murray

 

Scratched: None

Injuries: Justin Schultz, Zach Aston-Reese & Evgeni Malkin

Suspension: None

 

Gameday:

First Period:

Toronto Penalty – 9:11 – Connor Brown, 2 minutes for High Sticking

Pittsburgh PP Goal – 10:01 – Sidney Crosby (23) from Kris Letang (32)

Pittsburgh Goal – 13:20 – Teddy Blueger (2) from Garrett Wilson (5) and Olli Maatta (12)

Toronto Goal – 17:25 – Auston Matthews (23) from Travis Dermott (12)  and Jake Gardiner (23

Pittsburgh Penalty – 18:47 – Marcus Petterson, 2 minutes for High Sticking

 

End of 1st – PIT –2        TOR – 1

Shots              12                  13

Faceoffs     11/21              10/21

Hits               11                     6

PP                 1/1                 0/0

 

Analysis

Leafs came out flying but a bad defensive play again is the falling point of the Leafs. But Matthews responds and they start on the Powerplay

 

Need to Do:

Keep forechecking and skating, fix the defensive side and this is a different game

Second Period:

Toronto Goal–09:36 – Travis Dermott (4), assisted by Jake Gardiner (24) and Patrick Marleau (13)

Toronto Goal–16:06 – Zach Hyman (9), assisted by Morgan Rielly (39) and Mitch Marner (43)

Pittsburgh Penalty – 18:23 – Marcus Petterson, 2 minutes for High Sticking

 

End of 2nd – PIT– 2          TOR – 3

Shots              21                    24

Faceoffs       17/41              24/41

Hits              21                      12

PP                 1/1                  0/2

 

Analysis:

Leafs keep playing theirgame and

 

Need to Do:

Keep playing your game.

Third Period:

 

No Scoring

 

End of 3rd – PIT– 2       TOR – 3

Shots             30                   32

Faceoffs     25/60                35/60

Hits               29                       22

PP                1/1                    0/2

 

Analysis:

Garret Sparks comes in and plays a heck of a game, and the offence backs him up.

Next Up:

Anaheim (21-21-9 51pts) vs Toronto (31-17-3 65pts)

Carolina (25-20-6 56pts) at Pittsburgh (28-17-6 62pts)

TXHT Podcast – 2/2/2019

The TXHT podcast is back with Serious Hockey Talk for Serious Hockey Fans!

 

Audio Version:

 

YouTube Version:

 

This week on TXHT, Michael Lindenbaum is joined by TXHT’s Toronto Maple Leafs writer Steve Gardiner.

 

Michael and Steve start the episode off talking about the NHL All Star festivities and the impact the women had on the weekend, and also talk about the growing women’s game.

 

Then Michael and Steve talk about the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs. Plus a little NHL news, along with some NWHL updates, and some chatter about the Calgary Flames and 2019 Stadium Series uniforms.

 

This week’s episode was recorded on Saturday, February 2nd, 2019

Opening Music: “Human Chess” by Crimson Orchid

 

Have a question you want answered on the show? Ask us! Comment on here or on one of our Social Media outlets, and we’ll answer it.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Toronto Maple Leafs – 1/2/2019 – Game Day Preview

Time: Saturday, February 2nd,  2019

Toronto: 30-17-3 for 63 points

Pittsburgh: 28-17-6 for 62 points

The Toronto Maple Leafs look to pick up the pieces and continue their winning ways against teams that are in a playoff position as they take on the Pittsburgh Pengins at home.

Top Scorers/Goalie Matchup

Mitch Marner –62 points (20 goals 42 assists)
John Tavares – 54 points (30 goals 24 assists) 54% on face-offs
Morgan Rielly – 51 points (13 goals 38 assists)
Auston Matthews – 45 points (22 goals 23 assists) 53% on Face-offs)

Sidney Crosby – 60 points (22 goals 38 assists)
Phil Kessel – 57 points (21 goal 36 assist)
Evgeni Malkin – 55 points (14 goal 41 assists)
Jake Guentzel – 49 points (26 goal 23 assists)

Garrett Sparks
6-3-1 2.91GAA .909SV%

Casey DeSmith
13-9-4 2.69GAA .918SV%

 

Lineups:

Toronto:

Mitch Marner– Auston Matthews – Patrick Marleau

Kasperi Kapanen – John Tavares – Zach Hyman

Connor Brown – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander

Andreas Johnsson – Pars Lindholm – Frederik Gauthier

 

Morgan Rielly  – Jake Muzzin

Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev

Travis Dermott – Ron Hainsey

 

Garrett Sparks

Frederik Andersen

 

Scratched: Justin Holl

Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back),Tyler Ennis (Leg)

Suspension: None

 

Pittsburgh:

Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Dominik Simon

Bryan Rust– Nick Bjugstad– Phil Kessel

Tanner Pearson –  Jared McCann – Patric Hornqvist

Garrett Wilson – Teddy Blueger – Matt Cullen

 

Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang

Olli Maatta – Juuso Riikola

Marcus Petterson – Jack Johnson

 

Casey DeSmith

Matt Murray

 

Scratched: None

Injuries: Justin Schultz, Zach Aston-Reese & Evgeni Malkin

Suspension: None

 

Keys to Winning against Pittsburgh

  1. Attack the Defence
    1. A lot young inexperienced blueliners on Pittsburgh right now. Force them to make plays under pressure.
  2. Better defensive positioning
    1. Need to be better in the defensive end or else that top line especially will make us pay.
  3. Powerplay
    1. This has got to get going and fast. 0-5 yesterday and a whopping 1-11 in the last few days.

 

February 2nd, 2019 — News and Notes

Today is Saturday, February 2nd, 2019, and these are your news and notes.

 

There were eight contests in the NHL last night.

 

Chicago 7, BUFFALO 3

 

The Chicago Blackhawks would go onto defeat the Buffalo Sabres with a decisive 7-3 win in Buffalo last night.

 

 

 


Nashville 4, FLORIDA 1

 

The Nashville Predators would go on to defeat the Florida Panthers with a 4-1 win.  Nashville’s Viktor Arvidsson would score twice to join the 20 goal plateau on the season.

 

 


Tampa Bay 1, NY ISLANDERS 0 (SO)

 

 


PITTSBURGH 5, Ottawa 3

 


WASHINGTON 4, Calgary 3

The Washington Capitals, fresh off the All-Star break and the bye week, would take on the Calgary Flames and defeat Calgary by the score of 4-3.  With this win by Washington, they would snap their seven-game losing streak.

 

TXHT has your full recap of the contest between the Calgary Flames and the Washington Capitals at the following page.


DETROIT 3, Toronto 2 (OT)

In a pre-game ceremony last night prior to the face-off between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Red Wings would retire Red Kelly’s number to the rafters at Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit.

 

The Detroit Red Wings would go on to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs by the score of 3-2 in overtime.

 

TXHT has your full recap of the contest between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings at the following page.

 

 

CAROLINA 5, Vegas 2

The Vegas Golden Knights would fall after their bye week to the Carolina Hurricanes with a 5-2 loss in Carolina last night.

 

DALLAS 3, Minnesota 1

 

In this contest, the Dallas Stars would defeat the Minnesota Wild 3-1.  With this win by the Stars, they have now won their last three games.

 

 

Stars F Tyler Seguin would score twice, and join one of 45 players this season to have at least 20 goals on the season.  This would be his sixth straight season to have at least 20 goals.

 

 

There are 13 contests in action today.

 

 

In NHL news…

 

The Stadium Series jerseys were unveiled yesterday.  For more on that story, check out TXHT’s article at the following page.

 

 

NWHL

 

 

There are two games taking place today in the NWHL.

This week’s NWHL Twitter Game of the Week puts the Buffalo Beauts against the Metropolitan Riveters at the RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

 

The other NWHL game today pits the Connecticut Whale against the Boston Pride.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Detroit Red Wings – 1/2/2019 – Game Recap

Toronto Maple Leafs (30-17-2 62 pts) v, Detroit Red Wings (19-25-7 47pts)

Lineups:

Toronto:

Mitch Marner– Auston Matthews – Patrick Marleau

Kasperi Kapanen – John Tavares – Zach Hyman

Connor Brown – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander

Andreas Johnsson – Pars Lindholm – Frederik Gauthier

 

Morgan Rielly  – Jake Muzzin

Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev

Travis Dermott – Ron Hainsey

 

Frederik Andersen

Garrett Sparks

 

Scratched: Justin Holl, Martin Marincin

Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back),Tyler Ennis (Leg)

Suspension: None

 

Detroit:

Justin Abdelkader – Dylan Larkin – Gustav Nyquist

Tomas Vanek– Frans Nielsen– Anthony Mantha

Andreas Anathansiou –  Luke Glendening – Darren Helm

Christoffer Ehn – Jacob De La Rose – Martin Frk

 

Nicklas Kronwall – Mike Green

Danny DeKeyser – Niclas Jensen

Jonathan Ericsson – Dennis Cholowski

 

Jimmy Howard

Jonathan Bernier

 

Scratched: None

Injuries: Henrik Zetterberg, Evgeny Svechnikov, Trevor Daley, Michael Rasmussen, Tyler Bertuzzi.

Suspension: None

 

Gameday:

First Period:

Toronto Penalty – 10:58 – Mitch Marner, 2 minutes for Holding

Detroit Penalty – 14:03 – Luke Glendening, 2 minutes for Holding

Detroit Penalty – 18:39 – Jacob De La Rose, 2 minutes for Goaltender Interference

End of 1st – TOR –0        DET – 0

Shots              5                   10

Faceoffs     8/18              10/18

Hits               4                     7

PP                 0/2                  0/1

 

Analysis

Leafs looked slow the whole period and acting like they’re still on vacation.

 

Need to Do:

Need to pick up the game in the 2nd or else this could be a long game.

Second Period:

Toronto Penalty – 1:27 –Par Lindholm, 2 mins for Holding the Stick

Detroit Penalty – 4:28 –Danny DeKeyser, 2 mins for Slashing

Detroit Goal–8:14 – Gustav Nyquist (12), assisted by Andreas Anathansiou (14)

Toronto Goal–18:11 – Auston Matthews (22), assisted by Patrick Marleau (12)

 

End of 2nd – TOR– 1          DET – 1

Shots              13                    17

Faceoffs       15/32            17/30

Hits              13                      11

PP                 0/3                 0/2

 

Analysis:

Leafs gain some life in the 2nd after giving up the first goal, Matthews responds. New Leaf Jake Muzzin has been quiet which is what a coach likes from his defencemen.

 

Need to Do:

Better defensively and more offensive zone time

Third Period:

Detroit Penalty – 00:10 –Andreas Anathansiou, 2 mins for Tripping

Toronto Penalty – 03:11 –Mitch Marner, 2 mins for Tripping

Detroit Penalty – 10:40 –Gustav Nyquist, 2 mins for Hooking

Toronto Penalty – 12:54 –Patrick Marleau, 2 mins for Hooking

Detroit PP Goal–13:31 – Dylan Larkin (22), assisted by Tomas Vanek (14)  and Andreas Anathansiou  (15)

Toronto Goal–17:41 – Patrick Marleau (12), assisted by Auston Matthews (23)  and Morgan Rielly  (38)

 

End of 3rd – TOR – 2       DET – 2

Shots             21                  33

Faceoffs     25/53                28/53

Hits               13                        16

PP                0/5                    1/4

 

Analysis:

Played a sloppy period but showed they can score.

 

OT:

Detroit Goal–2:40 – Danny DeKeyser (2), assisted by Gustav Nyquist (33)  and Andreas Anathansiou  (16)

 

End of OT – TOR – 2       DET – 3

Shots             21                  33

Faceoffs     25/53                28/53

Hits               13                        16

PP                0/5                    1/4

 

Analysis:

Back and forth overtime but the Leafs couldn’t buy one.

Next Up:

Pittsburgh (28-17-6 62pts) vs Toronto (30-17-3 63pts)

Detroit (20-25-7 47pts) at Ottawa (19-27-5 43pts)

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Detroit Red Wings – 1/2/2019 – Game Day Preview

Time: Friday February 1st,  2019

Toronto: 30-17-2 for 62 points

Detroit: 19-25-7 for 45 points

The Toronto Maple Leafs look to pick up where they left off against the Washington Capitals tonight as they begin the second half against the Detroit Red Wings.

Top Scorers/Goalie Matchup

Mitch Marner –62 points (20 goals 42 assists)
John Tavares – 54 points (30 goals 24 assists) 54% on face-offs
Morgan Rielly – 50 points (13 goals 37 assists)
Auston Matthews – 43 points (21 goals 22 assists) 53% on Face-offs)

Dylan Larkin – 48 points (21 goals 27 assists)
Gustav Nyquist – 43 points (11 goal 32 assist)
Andreas Anthansiou – 30 points (17 goal 13 assists)
Tyler Bertuzzi – 28 points (13 goal 15 assists)

Frederik Andersen
22-11-1 2.56GAA .923SV%

Jimmy Howard
14-13-5 2.76GAA .916SV%

 

Lineups:

Toronto:

Mitch Marner– Auston Matthews – Patrick Marleau

Kasperi Kapanen – John Tavares – Zach Hyman

Connor Brown – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander

Andreas Johnsson – Pars Lindholm – Frederik Gauthier

 

Morgan Rielly  – Jake Muzzin

Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev

Travis Dermott – Ron Hainsey

 

Frederik Andersen

Garrett Sparks

 

Scratched: Justin Holl, Martin Marincin

Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back),Tyler Ennis (Leg)

Suspension: None

 

Detroit:

Justin Abdelkader – Dylan Larkin – Gustav Nyquist

Tomas Vanek– Frans Nielsen– Anthony Mantha

Andreas Anathansiou –  Luke Glendening – Darren Helm

Christoffer Ehn – Jacob De La Rose – Martin Frk

 

Nicklas Kronwall – Mike Green

Danny DeKeyser – Niclas Jensen

Jonathan Ericsson – Dennis Cholowski

 

Jimmy Howard

Jonathan Bernier

 

Scratched: None

Injuries: Henrik Zetterberg, Evgeny Svechnikov, Trevor Daley, Michael Rasmussen, Tyler Bertuzzi.

Suspension: None

 

Keys to Winning against Detroit

  1. Skate and Check furiously.
    1. Just because Detroit is in the bottom of the standings doesn’t mean they aren’t competitive.
  2. Big guns needs to show up
    1. It need to start now and set a precedence for the rest of the season.
  3. Powerplay
    1. Been struggling for a while. Gotta get it going again to make the Leafs dangerous

Leafs Acquire Veteran Blueliner Jake Muzzin

jake-muzzin
Photo credit| NHL.com & MapleLeafsHotStove.com

The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that they have acquired 29 year old Jake Muzzin in exchange for Prospect Carl Grundstrom & Sean Durzi (rights), along with a 1st round selection in 2019.

Muzzin brings size and options for Mike Babcock. The defence pairing should now look like this going forward.

Morgan Rielly – Jake Muzzin
Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott – Ron Hainsey

On top of adding a defencemen with experience and 2 Stanley Cups, Muzzin brings another year on his contract meaning this is not a rental deal. But a Hockey deal. The same thing that GM Kyle Dubas said he was only going to do.

What’s Wrong in Leaf Land?

A lot of fans have had a lot to say about what’s wrong in Toronto with the recent bad play. Some citing bad defensive miscues by our defencemen, which a valid point. Some booing veteran blueliner Jake Gardiner for a couple of costly giveaways. While other calling for coach Mike Babcock’s head, Auston Matthews to be traded as well as William Nylander. I think those watching games have missed the real things the Leafs have missed during the last 16 games. Some may disagree with my thoughts but I think if you take a look at the evidence I provide, you will notice what I’m saying is quite true.

Here are the 4 points I will discuss in detail:

  1. The pressure of playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, while struggling to score and to win.
  2. Team Defensive Play
  3. The Powerplay
  4. More Penalties, Less 5 vs 5

Let’s begin the discussion.

  1. More Penalties, Less 5 vs 5

The Leafs are top 5 in puck possession in the NHL 5 vs 5 and are 2nd in the league in Even Strength goals (only behind the Tampa Bay Lightning). The team combined from October to the end of December for 208 minor penalty minutes the least penalized team in the league which is about 2.5 minors a game. Since January 3rd 2019 the Leafs have been penalized for 50 minutes or 25 penalties which is 3.1 minors a game, which is another full penalty over their average.  While they still sit top 5 in the league in those even strength categories, The Leafs powerplay which was top 5 has dropped off significantly while getting more opportunities. Teams are averaging 7.1 minutes or 3.6 penalties against the Leafs per game. Leaving the Leafs Powerplay declining and getting more opportunities and taking away from their strong even strength game. To put this in perspective let me tell you this. An NHL game is comprised of 60 minutes, throughout 3 periods. According to the Leafs top 5 possession numbers, they control the puck for 50.9% of the game 5 vs 5. So let’s say 30 minutes a game. Now minus 6 minutes in penalties game, so 24 minutes. Then 7 minutes of powerplay per game, so 17 minutes. So 17 minutes of offensive time to use on the best skill. Oh and one more thing the Leafs Penalty kill sits about 10th so top 10,  so they usually use the full 2 minutes.

  1. Team Defensive Play

Some have been easy to blame Jake Gardiner for his giveaways and yes he has made a few glaring giveaways that have lead to goals. But sometimes I think Leaf fans walk around turning blind eyes to their favorite players or to the stars on the team and finding one player to really take all the frustration out on.

Let’s talk about Mitch Marner (my favorite), Auston Matthews, John Tavares, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Nikita Zaitsev, Shall I mention more names? Let’s stop looking at the game as a fan of the Leafs and look at it as a fan of the game. You’ll start to notice a lot more stuff goes on in a game than just one giveaway

Marner at times gets to the opposing blueline and instead of dumping it in, he wants to stickhandle and be too fancy.

Auston Matthews, known for his 200ft hockey has looked lost and soft in the defensive. His backchecking and faceoffs have been down big time. He just looks all out of sorts.

John Tavares is known for his excellent defensive game and his ability to not only score but to shut down opponents top players has been a shadow of himself defensively in the last 10 games. Being a minus player on most nights, missing assignments, losing draws. All big parts of his game.

William Nylander not known to be the best defensive player but since being coached by Babcock at least being known for backchecking and fewer giveaways.

Morgan Rielly`s season has been characterized by good defence and great offense. Being the Number 1 defencemen the Leafs have expected him to be for a long time. But the last 10 games have been a turnover safari for him.

Nikita Zaitsev, the rookie we all fell in love with as Leaf fans have turned into a walking nightmare. Consistently turning the puck over all over the ice. Bad positioning and reckless play.

  1. The Powerplay

A whopping 2 for 17. Matthews has scored 1 goal in 9 games. Marner has 1 goal and there you have it. It went from a threat to non-existent. Predictable and then the 2nd unit is a real downgrade. Kadri used to be a focal point now he’s a distraction. This doesn’t click it’s like wasting your best skill (5 vs 5), might as well just take 2 minutes off the clock.

  1. The pressure of playing in Toronto, when not scoring or winning

Gary Roberts spoke to the media this last week and discussed the pressures of playing for Toronto, while not scoring or winning games. He discussed how when playing for Toronto the whole world rests on your shoulders. If you don’t perform then the wrath of Leaf Nation comes down on you.

You can check out the full interview here:

But what Roberts says is true, James Reimer and wife April Reimer learned it in a disgusting fashion. When you play for Toronto and don’t score or win you feel the pressure to do more, which takes you away from your game. This is what Auston Matthews is dealing with 1 goal in 9 and the team is struggling. Matthews starts missing defensive assignments and trying to pick corners on shots, eventually, he’s so far away from the game he plays he almost looks like he’s just floating. It’s less about the offence and more about the pressure you here from the media constantly and the fans or should I call them “Keyboard Coaches/General Managers” who think they know more than every coach, GM. The media constantly asking or analyzing your every goal, lack of goals, even your every motion on the ice. This happens everywhere don’t get me wrong but in Toronto, it’s blown up and so extreme. The pressure playing in Toronto, Edmonton and Montreal are almost like no other. Say what you will but the impact of this on a player, let alone a young player is huge.

These are the 4 reasons why I think the Leafs have struggled so heavily. Hit me up if you want to chat about it.  Always looking to talk.