The Toronto Maple Leafs Give Up Their Lunch Money Too Easily
The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently 4th in the entire league with a .716 Pts%.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are also the #1 ranked PP in the NHL and the 7th best PK. They are 5th in goal differential, 3rd in scoring chance differential, and 3rd in high danger chance differential (all stats from hockey-reference.com).
Simply put, this is an elite team.
The team has struggled defensively in January due to a combination of factors, partly attributed to the struggles of Jack Campbell and the injury to Jake Muzzin, but they still sit near the top of the league despite the defensive slump.
Toronto Maple Leafs Do Have Just One Problem
If you omit the losses at the beginning of the season, when the team was just awful, the Leafs are actually an astonishing 28-7-2 since Oct. 10, 2021. That’s not a lot of losses folks.
Why then, do some fans still worry about this team after a 5-2 loss to the Flames during a seemingly meaningless game in February? It wasn’t the score, and it wasn’t the “win-o-meter”. It’s because the Flames asked the Leafs for their lunch money, and they basically just handed it over to them.
In my opinion, the book is out on the Leafs. Play them very physical, don’t make many mistakes, don’t take too many penalties, and make a few saves. Put the game in the hands of the referees, who won’t save the Leafs, and collect your 2 points.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Loss to the Flames
In the Calgary game, where the Leafs were credited for a whopping 7 hits, Calgary was credited with 18 hits in the game and several of them were of the bone-crunching variety. Kase literally left the game after getting rocked by Zadorov and did not return.
Let me be clear, it’s not just the number of hits in the game, it’s the fact that players were getting bullied in corners and in scrums. Tavares, Matthews, Nylander, Muzzin, all of which, like Kase, were relentlessly harassed and challenged physically.
I fully understand that Toronto had the puck a lot in this game, which means they don’t have to hit, but it still begs the question: If a team is getting bullied, is 7 hits enough of a response to stick up for yourself? No. No it’s not.
Would it have been different if Simmonds and Ritchie were dressed for the game? I have no doubt the Flames would have received a cordial greeting or two in response to their physicality, but it honestly doesn’t change the narrative.
Seriously, outside of Simmonds, none of our regular forwards really hit anybody (Ritchie is not a regular forward). A 21-year-old Rasmus Sandin is our most physical defenseman (he’s 5’11 and 180 lbs), and yes, he leads our defensemen in hits with 5.78/60 (tied with Muzzin).
I’m not asking this team to become the Barry Trotz Islanders, I’m just looking for some kind of physicality in a game that is very physical.
Let’s go back to the moments in recent history that set people off when they watch a Leaf game like the one Thursday night in Calgary.
Recent Playoff Failures
Boston bullied the Toronto Maple Leafs into choking in the first round of the 2018-19 playoffs. The Bruins went on to the Cup final and then got bullied by the St. Louis Blues.
Columbus bullied the Leafs in 2019-20 to defeat them in the qualifying round and keep them out of the playoffs altogether. The Jackets went on to face the Lightning, who literally hit them into submission on their way to the first of back-to-back championships. Most people don’t realize Tampa led the playoffs in hits/game that year.
Montreal bullied the Leafs in 4 straight games to win the first round series last year on their way to the Cup final, eventually losing to the dynasty also known as the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Do you see a trend? It’s there. You can’t miss it. As good as this team is, and they’re REALLY good, they just don’t have enough mental or physical toughness when the games get a little nasty.
And in case you haven’t been watching the playoffs the last 3 years…the games tend to get a little nasty.
Is This Year Different?
I wrote an article here 10 months ago, where I asked myself if the Leafs had enough toughness to be successful in the post-season. Turns out, they didn’t. Has anything changed?
Tampa is the pinnacle of NHL success right now, but Tampa isn’t just skilled, they’re also tough. It’s the combination of both, together, that is the key to their incredible run. Tampa loses games just like the Leafs do, everybody does, but you won’t ever see the Lightning get bullied like the Leafs did on Thursday night.
Unfortunately, we all know that no matter how good this Leafs team is, they will be judged by their performance in the post-season.
Because of this, it looks like another trade acquisition with the incredibly unpopular word “grit” is coming. Prepare for it, because this core just doesn’t have the necessary toughness on its own, and Dubas knows it.
Next. Even When the Leafs Lose, It's Impressive. dark
We all know that there will be more losses as the team grinds to 82 games. What we need to know, as fans, is that there won’t be any more losses where the Leafs get bullied.
It brings back bad memories, and Leaf fans have enough of those already.