The Toronto Maple Leafs need to bounce back following a brutal loss to the Minnesota Wild, 6-3, in Toronto. The Maple Leafs need to come together and find ways to better and build off of what was a previous successful road trip and put Monday's game in the past.
Luckily for the Maple Leafs, they still only remain one point behind the Buffalo Sabres, as they lost a tight game with the Carolina Hurricanes for the final wild-card spot. The Maple Leafs need to find ways to bounce back as they are in a critical time in the schedule.
The Maple Leafs were beat up and down the ice and had no jump from the beginning. The Wild got out to a hot start and never looked back. Heading into the second period, the Maple Leafs looked as if they still had some hope, only trailing by one goal after John Tavares scored a power-play goal. The second period saw the Wild strike twice in just over two minutes. The Wild continued to control the play for the rest of the period. The third period saw the Maple Leafs show a little bit of life, with them scoring two goals and pushing with the net empty. Marcus Foligno stole the show on Monday night in Toronto by capping off his hat trick with an empty net goal.
Starting the game on time
The Toronto Maple Leafs have played strong hockey as of late, collecting points in 12 of their last 14 games. The Leafs need to stick to Craig Berube's designed game plan and play full 60-minute games. The Maple Leafs have often fallen behind the 8-ball this season and would need to come back; while the Leafs have been able to do this, it is not a sustainable way to win, especially when you are attempting to get back in the playoff circle. The Leafs moving forward need to get off to better starts and try to take control of the game from the get-go instead of fighting their way back.
Over the last stretch of Maple Leafs hockey, they have often gotten off to a rough start, often trailing games within the opening minutes of the contest. The Leafs need to learn how to be able to get offensive pressure from the beginning of the matchup and have their opponents on their heels. Craig Berube can do this by double-shifting the Matthews line for the first 5-10 minutes to build momentum and generate some early offence.
Defence core needing to be better
The Maple Leafs will also need their defensive core to be more connected. They have played better as of late after getting off to a slow start to begin the season; last night seemed to be the Leafs going back to their old ways. The Leafs often left Joseph Woll out to dry and gave him no support in their own zone. There were multiple times throughout the game that the Leafs just left the middle of the ice wide open and had terrible gap control, leaving open attacks for the Wild. If we could see the blueline transition into what we saw last season, then the Maple Leafs will have a good chance to make the playoffs and have a lot better, more competitive hockey games.
The Maple Leafs' defence core has been very inconsistent this season. They started the season terribly, being the worst team in the NHL. They have recently improved, but the stats may tend to prove otherwise. The Leafs currently sit 31st in the defensive zone, spending 42.9% in their own zone. They also have a goals against average of 3.33, which is towards the bottom of the NHL. This is a huge drop-off from last season, when they had a goals against average of 2.99. This stat alone covers the Maple Leafs' struggles from this season to last.
They need to be able to spend more time in their opponents' zone and play more structured hockey so that they aren't giving up north of 3 goals every game. A big reason for the Maple Leafs' defensive struggles is injuries. Chris Tanev, who has missed nearly the entire season, plays a crucial role on the blueline. Missing Brandon Carlo and Jake McCabe at times this season has led to some defensive liabilities, but as they start to get back to full health, we need to see more consistent efforts.
These are all minor mistakes that the Maple Leafs have been making all season long, but if they can get back to their ways and find some more consistency, then they will be just fine. The Maple Leafs will continue their homestand with a matchup against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.