The Toronto Maple Leafs Melt Down Against the Penguins

The Toronto Maple Leafs were destroyed Saturday night in Pittsburgh.

After a loss against San Jose on Friday, the Toronto Maple Leafs completely failed to capitalize on a Penguins team that didn’t have either Crosby or Malkin.

It was as bad of a game as I have seen in a while. Worse, in a lot of ways, than some of the Leafs recent let-downs, because the loss to Montreal was so demoralizing that you’d really like to have seen them power through any bad shooting luck with a refuse-to-lose-attitude, due to, you know, their many previous embarrassments.

It felt like this should have been a statement game for them, and they completely blew it.

To be fair, they have played well enough to win every game before Saturday night, they have solid team stats, they haven’t gotten a single goal from their best player and even so, without too much crazy luck, they could have started the season 5-0.

As much as last night’s game sucked, it really is only one game.

Toronto Maple Leafs Get Demolished

The Leafs were tied at 1 and were on a 12-1 run of shots when Pittsburgh scored two goals on two shots in ten seconds.  Up until that point, I assumed the Leafs were going to win the game without too much  trouble.

This kind of decimating and demoralizing loss usually comes with someone getting fired or traded.  The Leafs famously stayed the course this summer, doubling down on their belief in the construction of their team.  It will certainly be interesting to see what happens, although I do think that not overreacting to a single event is one of the best things about the team’s current management.

This team once had the identity of a free-wheeling offense-first puck-possession team on the rise with a coach who has new ideas and a young GM that is going to think differently and bring a consistently better team.

The shine has worn off that sales pitch by about three years.  Now everyone’s just frustrated and angry and you don’t see too much hope or positivity around the team, which I think is a shame because I think they have gone on a recent spin due almost entirely to bad shooting luck, and we know these things happen to teams all the time and that they don’t last long.  Still, despite the fact that they are a predictable fact of life for NHL teams, no one ever acknowledges them because it is much more fun to demand a trade or scream at somebody.

The Leafs have taken several notable and embarrassing beatings. Last night they took perhaps the worst one yet.  Who cares? Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.  This team is talented and the craziest thing is – other than last night – they’re playing well.

For about ten games now the team can’t seem to score.  It’s literally the best problem they could have, since that is their best attribute and so fixing that problem should require nothing but time and patience.

So ultimately, I’m a little frustrated at the team’s inability to establish an identity as a team that is hard to play against because of their  relentless offense.  It’s frustrating to have two super-star packed lines and never, ever, see them both going at once.

However, the recent losses tend to cloud the bigger picture. It is likely that Tavares and Matthews will eventually contribute simultaneously. This team was already good and looks to have added really good supporting players in Michael Bunting, David Kampf, Ondrej Kase and Rasmus Sandin.

If you need a reason for optimism, that’s a pretty solid tier of players to have after you add Campbell,  Rielly, Muzzin, and Brodie in with the Big Four.  My take is they are a frustrating team because if they don’t score they don’t really look like they do anything. Other teams have been way better at making losing look good. When these guys lose, it’s bad.  Still, a bad loss and a good loss all count the same. I don’t anticipate there will be too many nights like Saturday for the Leafs this year.

The roster is good, the problems they do have won’t look so big once Marner and Matthews get going, which they will. That’s it.