The Toronto Maple Leafs have actually gotten off to a good start to the season, which I guess is somewhat ironic considering they have already lost to two of the worst teams in the league.
The Toronto Maple Leafs record doesn’t look great, but the results of a four game sample are irrelevant, and the team has had many positive developments to build on.
It wouldn’t take much *and hasn’t* to spin this in the worst possible way, but let’s get a grip shall we?
In both games the Leafs lost, the finishes to the games were extremely weird and anomalous. And even if the Leafs clearly could have been better in both games, they would still normally win them.
Lots of Early Season Positives for the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs tied the game against Montreal late, then allowed a goal in the last minute that needed their most reliable defensive player to screw up twice in order to happen.
The way the Arizona game ended was an embarrassment to the NHL, and even if they shouldn’t have been in position for that to matter, it’s still a pretty unlikely occurrence that caused the loss.
Additionally, in these two games, the Leafs, with Auston Matthews on the ice, took 35 shot attempts while allowing only 14, good for 71% puck-possession, but they somehow didn’t win those minutes.
And they combined to go just 1 for 9 on the powerplay.
Now these aren’t excuses. The Leafs should be able to win these games even when things go wrong. But it does matter how a team loses.
If the Leafs were being outworked, outplayed, and outcoached, we would have a problem.
But that isn’t the case. (all stats naturalstattrick.com).
The Leafs lost two games for reasons that will almost never happen. Whatever this team’s weaknesses, Auston Matthews not winning his minutes, and a power play that goes 1-9 (including at least four of those without even a shot) are not among them.
Those are strengths of this team. When you lose because your biggest strength fails you, that’s actually a good thing. It means you don’t need to make too many adjustments. It means you’re going to normally win, all else being equal.
If your best player has the puck for 71% of the time and your play-play goes 1-9 and your opposition still somehow needs to beat you in the last minute of the game, I think you should probably be pretty happy with those results.
Especially when you’ve nearly played a different goalie in every game, and its early in the season and there have been injuries and a bunch of new players getting comfortable in the lineup. The Toronto Maple Leafs have once again performed well but hid it behind bad results. Expect that to change soon.