Toronto Maple Leafs Show Positive Signs Against Carolina

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost again.

You would have thought that the loss to the Penguins and the fact that they were facing ex-teammate Freddie Andersen, would have been enough to motivate the Toronto Maple Leafs to a hard fought victory, but it wasn’t to be.

Honestly, with Tampa and Toronto, Vegas and Colorado all struggling to a different degree, it was unfortunate that the Leafs had  had to face off against one of the two  Stanley Cup Contender currently playing well.

The Hurricanes are (by far) the best team Toronto has played so far, and for once at least you can say that the Leafs weren’t beaten by a hot goalie (games one through five, and the Penguins game until the Penguins third goalie) but actually just outplayed by an excellent team.

With the Leafs struggling, maybe putting up a good effort against the Hurricanes will be enough to get them going.  Then again, there is only so much you can do while you’re at the bottom of the NHL in shooting percentage.

The Leafs, Colorado and Tampa,  the NHL’s three best teams by far, are a combined 6-12 on the season.  The Leafs and Tampa are at the bottom in shooting percentage, while the Avalanche are 5th last in save percentage.  It is pretty clear why each team is struggling.

All three teams will rebound and resume their status as the NHL’s top three Cup Contenders.  That is unless you think Buffalo, San Jose and the Penguins AHL team and their combined 11-5 record is for real? (Naturalstattrick.com)

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Carolina Hurricanes

The Leafs – from the parts I saw at least – played a decent, if unspectacular game.  The Hurricanes repeatedly frustrated them by clogging up the middle of the ice, but at 5v5, the teams played even: 28 scoring chances each and an 50% expected goals split.

The Leafs couldn’t generate any chances and neither Matthews, Marner, Nylander or Tavares looked particularly dangerous.  I think it’s a bad sign when you demote Nick Ritchie to the fourth line and he ends up being the most noticeable player on the ice.

On one hand, while I was watching this game, I got frustrated enough to start skipping large chunks of it forward, but if I can divorce myself from my emotions, I think the Leafs played a pretty decent (if boring) game against the league’s current best team (Edmonton is more one guy than a  team).

I think there are a lot of good signs in this game. First: they came up more or less even against a top team 5v5.  Second: Auston Matthews did score (though he probably got through his first couple games on adrenaline, and could be slightly out of shape, as he was as unnoticeable for most of this game as I’ve ever seen him).

Overall, here is how concerned you should be with the Toronto Maple Leafs early season record: They have played seven games and have 13 goals.  That is less than two goals per game, for a team with four elite offensive players, including two of the very best, and which also has four blueliners capable of 40 points.

So not very.  If your best attribute is causing you to lose, it’s called a cold streak and it’s nothing to worry about.