Analyzing the Toronto Maple Leafs Crucial Road Trip Ahead
The Toronto Maple Leafs have some serious work to do
Despite finishing with back-to-back losses, the Toronto Maple Leafs played about 55 minutes of good hockey in both contests against the Philadelphia Flyers and Colorado Avalanche. While there are lots of positives to take away from each game, the time for moral victories has run out.
The best players on this team have been unable to come through and make big plays when needed, and that has been a direct reflection of their recent struggles. We need a goalscoring explosion from Auston Matthews, or some more overall production from Morgan Rielly, whatever it may be, it needs to happen soon.
The Leafs have some much needed rest before going back at it on Saturday in St. Louis, which is the first of a four game road trip which could seriously urge some more change to come in the organization if all goes wrong.
Toronto has not performed well on the road so far, as they currently sit with a 6-9 record and have averaged four goals against in games outside of their building. As playoff hopes have began to come into question, this road trip is the perfect opportunity to start stringing together some statement wins against some of the stronger teams in the league.
(All Stats Courtesy of NHL.com and Hockey-Reference.com)
St. Louis Blues
Despite missing two of their top players in Alex Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko due to injury, the St. Louis Blues have not missed a beat in their first 28 games of this season.
The Blues sit first in the Central division and are third in the league with an 18-6-6 record, and have won four of their last five games.
Jordan Binnington will most likely get the start Saturday night, and has continued to been a strong force between the pipes.
Binnington sits tenth in the league save percentage with .925, and sits fourth in the league in saves made behind Frederik Andersen.
One key for the Toronto Maple Leafs in this game will be prioritizing handling the Blues in the defensive end, and staying disciplined.
Before their loss to Pittsburgh which ended a four game winning streak, St. Louis outscored their opponents 16-6 and went 30% on the power play in those wins, attributing to their strong, sixth ranked power play in the league.
Vancouver Canucks
Much like the Blues, the Canucks have been scoring at a high rate as of late. they currently have the most goals for in the Pacific division with 97 and have scored 18 goals in their last four games, but one of their biggest issues this season has been goaltending.
Despite the strong offensive start from the core of Petterson, Boeser, Hughes, and the surprise of J.T Miller, the Canucks are stuck with rotating Jacob Markstrom and Thatcher Demko in net, who are not high caliber NHL goalies.
Markstrom has not recorded a shutout this season, and has let in three or more goals on eight of his 18 starts, while Thatcher Demko is coming into his first full season in the NHL and has allowed 31 goals in his 11 starts.
As mentioned, the Canucks offence has been top notch this year, and while the Leafs defence will be put to the test, the key to this game for the Leafs is to pump as many goals as possible past Markstrom or Demko.
You can count on Andersen to play well after getting a couple of days off from Saturday’s game, and this match has the potential for the Leafs to build confidence offensively.
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are in a similar position to the Toronto Maple Leafs right now; not performing to expectations, and not having the production they need from their top players.
Coming off of career high seasons with Johnny Gaudreau’s 99 points and Sean Monahan’s 82, both of the Flames stars are on pace for their worst seasons of their established careers. Gaudreau has just 6 goals and 16 assists, while Monahan has seven goals and 16 assists through their first 30 games.
The Flames currently sit sixth in the highly competitive Pacific division, and are currently on a three-game winning streak and seem to be putting it together as of late. Interim coach Geoff Ward demoted Gaudreau to the third line, which may have lit a spark in the Flames lineup.
The Leafs may have caught the Flames at a bad time, as they seem to be finding ways to win despite the lack of production from their top performers. I can easily see the Flames going on a run in the coming weeks and putting themselves back in the playoff conversation.
What the Leafs will need to do to beat the Flames is put together a strong performance on the power play. The Flames have the third-best penalty kill in the league with a hefty 85.6% success rate, but if the Leafs can start to put it together with the man advantage, that may be the difference maker against this Flames team.
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are one of the most dangerous teams in the NHL, which is going to make this game so much more exciting to watch.
Connor McDavid is doing Connor McDavid things, and Leon Draisaitl is making the case for himself to be in the conversation for the Selke Trophy this season, while also jockeying back and forth for first in points with McDavid.
With the best power play in the league, and the second-best penalty kill, the Oilers have still continued to play well even in the absence of Zack Kassian and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, some of their most key offensive players. These injuries have forced Draisaitl to be separated from McDavid and centring the second line in between Sam Gagner and Jujhar Khaira, which is a significant downgrade to say the least.
The Oilers sit second in the Pacific division and eighth in the entire league, and the Leafs will have to take advantage of their bottom-six core if they want to secure two points against them.
While no current timeline of Nugent-Hopkins’ return, the poor offensive depth of the Oilers is set to be exposed throughout the next few games. This means that the Leafs will need big performances from guys like Kasperi Kapanen and Alex Kerfoot, who both have been struggling to produce offensively as of late, to try and take advantage of as much time as possible that McDavid and Draisaitl are on the bench.
Next. A Deeply Unfounded Criticism. dark
According to Money Puck, the Toronto Maple Leafs now only have a 36% chance of making the playoffs. The Athletic has them much, much higher.
While the next couple of weeks could seriously change the way that number looks because of how gifted this team is, the Toronto Maple Leafs need to stop expecting wins to come easily, and worry about one game at a time.