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Toronto Maple Leafs Takeaways: Not Enough Bite

By Luke Ryan

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2. 12. 1. 116. Final

This year’s Toronto Maple Leafs team is certainly a challenge to watch. Thankfully, it’s for the right reasons, for the most part – the team are hard to watch because they aren’t having a decent swing of luck.

They are playing some enjoyable hockey but the results aren’t quite coming. Against Buffalo, this was certainly the case. Here are the key takeaways from the Sabres game:

Bernier Shows No. 1 Quality

Jonathan Bernier is a challenging case for Maple Leafs fans and management alike. Against Buffalo, he proved why he can be number 1 goaltender for the team, blocking practically everything that came his way.

Team-mate Morgan Rielly was effusive in his praise; pointing that it was that slight unlucky swing that saw him on the losing side:

The positional play from Bernier was second to none, against a team that certainly has some effective shots. The likes of Jack Eichel and Evander Kane were quieted for all but one goal, and one that the goalie would’ve seen coming his way incredibly late.

In terms of narrowing angles, keeping a view of the puck and dominating his crease, Bernier showed immense calmness, patrolling with a serenity to his game; one unexpected of a man that had conceded three opening shots in the first pair of games this year.

The Leafs goal scorer, Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau re-iterated this, pointing to a player clearly not lacking in confidence, despite his start to the season:

Maintaining this form down the stretch is going to be vital for Bernier and the confidence of his blue liners. One good game also isn’t going to be enough to convince most Maple Leafs fans of his obvious talent, so here’s hoping he can hit some form on the back of the Sabres game.

All About The Forecheck

The speed and intensity that has been on show since Mike Babcock arrived was once again there for all to see. The Toronto Maple Leafs are fast becoming a team seen to chase even the most lost cause.

PA Parenteau’s first goal wearing Maple Leafs colours came courtesy of a strong forecheck. The team showed a focus on recovering the puck and this was the key to the goal.

All in all, despite shooting numbers more akin to last season, in terms of allowing far too much through on Bernier’s net and far too little hitting the Buffalo net, the Leafs out-worked the Sabres.

Positive takeaways in terms of the team grasping the style and tactics of their new head coach, no doubt. But the intensity and concentration must remain throughout the full sixty – a couple of simple lapses forced Bernier into unneeded action and likewise led to the Sabres’ goal.

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Missing The Injured Men

Tyler Bozak was sorely missed, especially for his face-off winning abilities. The count of face-offs lost was akin to last year’s side and not the Maple Leafs team that dominated the FOW% standings entering the game.

Likewise, Jake Gardiner’s injury saw Morgan Rielly have to step up for more ice-time, seeing time on both the powerplay and penalty kill units. Babcock has been careful to restrict his powerplay time this year, thus far.

As reported before the Buffalo game, Gardiner suffered an ‘undisclosed injury’. Likewise, Tyler Bozak continued his stint on the shelf following his departure from the ice the other night.

There isn’t a huge amount of strength in depth for either position; Gardiner and Bozak sit in the top three on any Leafs depth chart, presently so the team did well, for the most part, to cover off their injuries and not come away with a point.

The hope is for Bozak to return sooner rather than later; whilst the movements of Frank Corrado suggest Gardiner may be injured for an ‘undisclosed’ amount of time:

All in all, the game was a success minus the lack of another 1 in the W column. There were limited chances to close out the game, and those that were available were unfortunately spurned.

The pattern of stating the team deserved more, the team played well, the team did the small things right can only keep people happy for so long. We know it’s a long season, we knew it’d be painful but we want a win. We deserve a win eventually. Surely!

Next: Maple Leafs News: Bozak, Gardiner, Corrado

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