Toronto Maple Leafs: An Amazing Performance by Andrei Vasilevskiy

I’m just happy the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to get one puck Andrei Vasilevskiy

In a huge clash between the top two teams in the Atlantic Division and the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs ran into a returning Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Russian netminder stopped 48 of 49 shots, halting any momentum for the Leafs as they lost 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Maple Leafs are now 15-1-1 when scoring first this season, with last night being their first regulation loss in that area. The loss also puts them at 21-10-1, eight points behind the Lightning and only one point ahead of the Buffalo Sabres.

It is always important to stay optimistic in a loss, especially to a team with the depth and ability that the Lightning have, but last night was frustrating for a myriad of reasons.

Maple Leafs Meet a Brick Wall

The Maple Leafs only found the back of the net once last night when Kasperi Kapanen scored the first goal of the game in a Nikita Kucherov turnover in the offensive zone. After that, Vasilevskiy decided he didn’t like the idea of being scored on, and turned into the human equivalent of the Thing from The Fantastic Four.

Mitch Marner had seven shots, John Tavares and Nazem Kadri had six shots, and  the Toronto Maple Leafs had a total of 49 shots on net. They were only able to score thanks to a goal off of a brutal giveaway in the offensive zone. Vasilevskiy stood on his head all night. When one team out shoots another 49-21, the game usually goes in the direction of the team with 49 shots. Last night just happened to be exception to the rule.

With That in Mind…

You may not get completely mad at the Maple Leafs for putting up shots, but you can be wearisome about how the Maple Leafs went zero for six on the power play and even allowed a shorthanded goal to boot.

Watching the Leafs fail to find the net despite getting chance after chance with a man advantage was infuriating. But this game is a double-edged sword, some might say the Leafs failed to find the net, and some might say Vasilevskiy stopped everything in sight. Both sides are right and neither side is wrong, but it is frustrating never the less.

The defense was also sloppy on multiple Lightning goals, allowing the Lightning to control the puck for extended periods of time and tire the Leafs out. While the Maple Leafs went preferred having a quantity of shots, the Lightning focused on quality. They may have only had 21 shots on net, but the Bolts focused on precision and used their skill to beat Frederik Andersen. They didn’t need a lot, but this is the Lightning, they don’t need a lot of space or shots to make you pay for it.

Some Bad Calls Didn’t Change the Result

There were two calls that you could argue changed the course of the game: Kucherov’s goal being reversed from a no-goal call and the Leafs getting a similar goal called back in the third period. The Kucherov goal turned out to be the game-winner, so I could see why some may be mad at that, but Vasilevskiy was playing like a madman last night, the Leafs were not getting anything by him.

Losses like this happen all the time, and the Toronto Maple Leafs should wash their hands of it and get ready for their Saturday night match-up with the Florida Panthers in Sunrise. The Leafs just went put up 49 shots against the best team and possibly the best goalie in the NHL. It’s a tough loss, but the Leafs can learn from this, and hopefully grow as a team as the season continues.