Toronto Maple Leafs: Kasperi Kapanen Needs to Step-Up in Game 4

With the Toronto Maple Leafs looking to advance past the first round of the playoffs, they need Kasperi Kapanen to leave his mark on the series now more than ever.

The Toronto Maple Leafs currently hold a 2-1 series lead over the Boston Bruins thanks in large part to a strong team effort in both games. Monday night’s game especially was an inspiring performance especially given that Nazem Kadri was suspended for the remainder of the opening round.

Despite the gaping hole left behind by Kadri, a lot of the Leafs stars stepped up in a big way including Auston Matthews and Andreas Johnsson. The former broke through offensively with a key goal and added an assist, while the latter took over Kadri’s spot and got two points himself including the game-winning tally.

Meanwhile, the third member of that line, Kasperi Kapanen, had once again made a marginal impact on the game as a whole and continues to struggle offensively. This has been lingering since the end of the regular season, but the continued slump of Kapanen will become more glaring if the series remains as close as it has been.

If the Leafs want to increase their odds of slaying the dragon, they will need Kapanen to step up beginning on Wednesday.

Marginal impact since March

Kapanen had enjoyed ample success for the first few months of the season but has hit a snag since the beginning of March. Since then, the struggles of Kapanen have been amplified and carried over into the playoffs.

From opening night until February 25, Kapanen was 5th on the team in scoring with19 goals, 21 assists, and 40 points. At 5v5, he posted a 52.99 CF%, a 50.99 FF%, a 56.67 GF%, a 51.48 xGF%, a 51.98 SCF%, a 52.87 HDCF%, and a 62.96 HDGF%, all of which were in the top 10 on the Leafs.

He was clearly an integral part of the Leafs offensive attack and had developed strong on-ice chemistry with Matthews. But as mentioned above, things took a turn for the worst afterwards.

From February 26 onward, Kapanen only recorded 1 goal, 3 assists, and 4 points in 16 games played, including a 15-game goalless slump that didn’t end until the final game of the season. His underlying numbers at 5v5 slightly regressed as well, registering a 52.61 CF%, a 51.80 FF%, a 40.00 GF%, a 50.52 xGF%, a 52.61 SCF%, a 54.22 HDCF%, and a 44.44 HDGF%.

The glaring issues have been in his on-ice decision making which has been frustrating to watch. Whether that be poor passes in the slot or holding onto the puck for too long resulting in low-percentage scoring chances, Kapanen has been struggling to make a consistent impact on the game offensively for weeks now. (All stats naturalstattrick.com).

Regardless of if this is due to confidence issues or a continued recovering from a concussion he suffered last month, Kapanen has remained silent on the scoresheet and clearly has a lot more to give.

A passenger on his line so far

The aforementioned offensive struggles have carried over into the playoffs and have continued to be a glaring issue as the series has progressed.

Not only has he yet to get on the scoresheet in these playoffs, but Kapanen has also only recorded 3 points (all goals) in 16 career playoff games. It goes beyond the lack of offence, his underlying numbers at 5v5 have taken a nosedive all across the board which is a huge cause for concern.

It’s not like he was the only player to experience this, both Matthews and Johnsson have seen their underlying numbers in the first three games falter. The difference is that both players have stepped up with a strong Game 3 while Kapanen’s impact was marginal at best.

Combined with the second power-play units continued slump (the Leafs as a whole have gone 2-7 thus far), and it’s no wonder Kapanen has struggled to find consistent offence for the past few weeks. It has carried over into the playoffs and has only grown more glaring with each passing game he’s failed to make an impact.

While his ending to the regular season and subsequent playoff performance is less than ideal, he still has a chance to rewrite his script. His play in Game 3 showed flashes of improvement and he is on a line that showed signs of life at a critical time of the season.

But with the suspension to Kadri still lingering and the ample opportunity presented, the Toronto Maple Leafs will need Kapanen to make an impact beginning on Wednesday. He is extremely vital to the team’s success at both ends of the ice and him being on top of his game brings nothing but positive results for the Leafs.

With a chance to take a stranglehold on the series at Scotiabank Arena, the stage is set for the redemption to commence. It’s now up to Kapanen to prove if he can shake the monkey off his back for good, and help the Toronto Maple Leafs win.

Thanks for reading!

All stats unless otherwise noted are from Hockey-Reference.com and Natural Stat Trick.