In the most anticipated game of the 2018-19 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs delivered their most disappointing effort in a rowdy atmosphere.
Last night’s game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Islanders was marked on just about every hockey fans’ calendar because it was John Tavares’ first game back in Long Island.
This was a game that clearly meant a lot to both the Islanders and their fanbase, which was highlighted by the intense crowd inside Nassau Coliseum. By contrast, the Leafs had an understanding of the game’s importance but were more focused on getting two points.
Because of this disparity between the two team’s differing levels of view on this game, we ended up with a 6-1 rout in favour of the Islanders. Meaning the Leafs let down Tavares’ once again in a game against his former team.
Not only did the Leafs failed to deliver a proper homecoming for the Mississauga-native, but they also had their worst game of the season so far. Talk about a double-whammy.
No excuses for a horrific effort
Prior to puck drop, the Leafs were already at a disadvantage in terms of their chances of leaving Uniondale with a win. They were on the second half of a back-to-back, having played the previous night in Toronto, were playing their backup goalie, and were missing key players due to injury.
Even with all of those things going against the Leafs, there are absolutely zero excuses for what was a terrible showing for the team in nearly every aspect of the game.
From a visual perspective, the Leafs had a strong first period but fell completely flat from the second period onward. While the Islanders deserve credit for clogging up the neutral zone and preventing the Leafs from generating much off the cycle, the fact Toronto failed to make adjustments to the playstyle was aggravating to watch.
In fact, the only line that really came to play was the Tavares line. Mitch Marner, Zach Hyman, and Tavares had the highest xGF of any line at 0.88, an 80% CF, a 90.91% SCF, and an 83.33 HDCF% at 5v5. They scored the team’s only goal and would have had another if it weren’t for the offside challenge that called back Hyman’s goal.
Every other forward line and defensive pairing failed to deliver at both ends of the ice. The team as a whole was very sloppy with the puck which resulted in countless Islanders chances off turnovers and in tight on Garret Sparks. While the shots were ultimately close at 37-35 favouring New York, the home team got much better looks and scored on their opportunities.
As Hyman said himself after the game, the Leafs were embarrassed by the Islanders. Excuses aside, there’s no justification as to why the Leafs turned in that performance.
Sparks’ worst start of the season
All season long has seen fans divided over whether the Leafs made the right call in having Sparks as the backup instead of either Curtis McElhinney or Calvin Pickard. Last night’s game did not help improve Sparks’ case or confidence in those who were against the decision.
Having faced 37 shots in this game, Sparks only managed to stop 31 of them. He also saw 15 high danger shots and allowed 6 of them into the net, a .400 SV% in high danger areas. In both games against the Islanders, he has allowed 10 goals (!) on 65 shots, a 15.4 SH% for the opposition.
From the eye-test, the goals that Sparks allowed were the result of either a poor read of the play, poor control of his rebounds, slow reaction times to cross-ice passes or shots, or a combination of all three. In fact, the score would have been significantly more lopsided had it not been for a desperation save from Morgan Rielly.
Simply put, Sparks was not good enough in this game. While it didn’t help that the Leafs defence did a horrific job at protecting the puck, transitioning up the ice, and allowing odd-man rushes, Sparks failed to make the important saves and, by extension, keeping his team in the game.
While the overall impact of Sparks on the Leafs this season has been marginal at best, games like this demonstrate that Mike Babcock still can’t have a backup goalie he can lean on. It’s no wonder that Frederik Andersen has played in 46 games so far this season while the backups have combined for just 19 games.
Even with everything going against the Leafs, Sparks needed to be better than he was on Thursday night. His poor performance played a factor into why Toronto ultimately got blown out of Nassau Coliseum.
Looking Ahead
The next time the Leafs head down to Uniondale to face the Islanders is on April 1st on the first half of a back-to-back. Unless there are unforeseen circumstances, Andersen will likely get the start in that game, which will no doubt be an electric atmosphere just like Thursday night’s game.
In the meantime, the Leafs return home to face the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. It’s a rematch of Monday’s contest in which Toronto won 5-3. After that, the Leafs head over to Western Canada for a three-game road-trip.
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All stats unless otherwise noted are from Hockey-Reference.com and Natural Stat Trick.