The Toronto Maple Leafs Win Again, But Not Convincingly

The Toronto Maple Leafs have put  together a nice little streak.

Unfortunately for the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans, it’s mostly smoke and mirrors.  The team is getting results, but they aren’t exactly earning them.

The Leafs avoided losing their fifth game in a row last week when they beat Tampa after the Lightning stopped skating after a blow-out first period.  The Leafs made a 3 goal comeback, then went on to get hammered by the Ottawa Senators the next day.

The loss to Ottawa would have been their sixth in a row, but instead, they went out and beat Calgary (blew a three-goal lead and got lucky in OT) and then Vancouver too (after a first period on par with the first period in the Tampa game).

Factor in yesterday’s multi-goal comeback against Detroit, and the Leafs have won four out five, and the people who wanted to push the panic button are looking quite foolish.

Well, except they aren’t.  Other than a competent bottom-six, which is heavily improved with the additions of Nick Robertson over Ryan Reaves, the team’s coaching, blue-line and goaltending all remain suspect.

The Toronto Maple Leafs could easily have lost nine games in a row.  They need help. The fact that they have an elite core that can cover up all their problems whenever they get a decent game from their goalie shouldn’t obscure that.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Win Again, But Not Convincingly

Even though the first period was extremely boring, the last two periods of yesterday’s game were pretty action packed.  You can’t do better than a strange non-goal followed by a very stupid call and a penalty shot (amazing move by Sprong, btw) when it comes to entertainment.

The Leafs woke up and played one of their best periods of the year in the third, and William Nylander – wow – what more can you say about this guy?  He’s awesome.

He’s now just two points and two goals off the league lead in both categories, and if the season ended today he’d get a Hart nomination and maybe even win.

The Leafs next game is tomorrow at 8 AM our time, and they will take on the Minnesota Wild.  I for one am not getting up early on my day off to watch the Minnesota Wild do anything.  I will, however, tape it and watch it later.

The Toronto Maple Leafs now have four multi-goal comebacks this year, along with at least three games where their goalie stole a point (2-0-1) and a 4 for 6 OT record.

They are 21st in the NHL in expected-goals percentage.  (stats naturalstattrick.com).

Probably no one wants to hear it, but the foundation is cracked and water is seeping in.  This team’s current record is extremely favorable compare to how they’ve actually performed, and worst of all, their best players are playing at near career-best levels, meaning they probably can’t get much more out of this iteration of this roster.

But, as usual, I will give you an accurate forecast, you will notice that it is sunny and you believe me.