Toronto Maple Leafs Offense Is Out of This World

Everything is bigger in Texas, but the Toronto Maple Leafs just proved their offense is even larger than that.

Another game, another seven goal performance by the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs took down the Dallas Stars 7-4 at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night. The Leafs have now scored 20 goals in four games against 17 they have allowed.

This was a fun, fast paced game that showed what both sides could do offensively and I was lucky enough to be in attendance to see it. Luckily the Leafs’ offense was too strong for Ben Bishop and the Stars to handle.

More importantly this was the second consecutive win on the Leafs’ four game road trip that also heads to Detroit on Thursday and Washington D.C. on Saturday. But there are still a few kinks the Leafs need to iron out, and once again they come from the blue line.

Ron Hainsey

Yes, he scored a goal on a nice, low shot from the point, but that doesn’t excuse why Ron Hainsey is still on the top defensive pairing. I’m going to keep kicking this dead horse until something is done, Hainsey is too slow to handle any above average NHL forward off the rush.

From the nosebleeds where I was sitting I could spot #2 from a mile away. He was beaten to pucks constantly, he was not good for possession (-0.2% relative Corsi), doesn’t have an ounce of physicality and was burned by Tyler Seguin leading to a breakaway goal to tie the game at two.

Hainsey does not have the wheels to keep up with guys like Seguin or other superstars in the league. If Mike Babcock continues his stubborn approach in using him, it’s going to cost the Leafs goals and eventually games. Not to be left out is Nikita Zaitsev, who had a rough night with a -17.0% relative Corsi, the worst on the team and had the Stars first goal of the game deflect of his skate and into the net.

I thought Igor Ozhiganov had his best game as a Leaf so far. He seemed more confident in his handling of the puck and made a few nice stretch passes to help the Leafs streak into the offensive zone, and he challenged Bishop with two decent shots from the point.

But that Offense!

The main story continues to be the jacked up Toronto Maple Leafs offense. Auston Matthews and John Tavares both had two goal nights, and now have seven and six goals on the year, respectively. Matthews and Morgan Rielly are tied for the league lead in points with ten points, while Mitch Marner is sitting on eight points in four games, licking his lips at the amount of money he’s going to get next summer.

KasperiKapanen also had a two point night, solidifying his spot on the top line with Matthews and Patrick Marleau.

But it was the line of Josh Leivo, Frederick Gauthier and Tyler Ennis that caught my attention. They never made knee jerk decisions, always dumped the puck in perfectly, got off the ice quickly for a line change, and were just all around nasty to play against. One shift in particular comes to mind with the Leafs leading 6-4 in the third period. They kept the puck in the offensive zone for what felt like an eternity, tying it up along the boards and forcing turnovers, killing any momentum the Stars had and in my opinion sealing the victory for the Leafs. All three of them had a relative Corsi above 9% (Ennis and Leivo had 20.9% and 16.9% respectively.) and would always jump into the boards to dig for the puck. Babcock could be onto something with this line and I hope he sticks with it.

While they allowed four goals, this was arguably the best game of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ season so far. The defense seemed to have more structure (Hainsey excluded) and the offense just would not give the Stars any chance to catch their breath. I know we all joked about the Leafs scoring seven or six goals a game to make up for the defense, but you can’t deny it’s fun to watch at the beginning of the season.

Who’s Next?

In the third game of their road trip, the Toronto Maple Leafs head to the Motor City to take on the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesar’s Arena on Thursday.