The Toronto Maple Leafs stepped back in time with their thrilling 5-4 overtime win over the Nashville Predators to end their four-game homestand. The firewagon hockey on display resembled the earlier years of the Auston Matthews-William Nylander era, when the Leafs often relied on outscoring their opponents.
It's an entertaining style of play, but it doesn't translate to playoff success, as the Maple Leafs and their fans know all too well. The Leafs stormed back for a morale-boosting win, but made ugly miscues throughout the game. As it begins its road schedule with a difficult trip through Vegas, Colorado, and Utah, Toronto must make adjustments.
The Defensive Miscues the Maple Leafs Must Fix for the Road
Matthews' return to dominance and Gavin McKenna's breakout performance overshadowed the Leafs' biggest weakness: their defense. While Toronto kept the opponent under 30 shots against for the fourth game in a row, normally reliable players made some glaring errors.
On Steven Stamkos' power-play goal that gave the Predators a 1-0 lead, the Maple Leafs missed clearing the defensive zone twice with full puck possession: once by Brandon Duhaime and once by Jake McCabe. Both players were integral parts of Toronto's perfect penalty-killing numbers before the Stamkos goal.
McCabe and partner Chris Tanev were at fault for Nashville's second goal. They botched a simple dump-in, were left scrambling, and never got back into position on Nils Hoglander's goal.
The egregious mistakes weren't finished. Next, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson completely whiffed a defensive-zone clearing attempt. The Predators turned it into Hoglander's second goal for a 3-0 lead early in the second period. Ekman-Larsson doubled down on his miscue by lacking awareness to pick up Hoglander. Then, he made a feeble attempt to check the Preds' forward.
At that point in the game, the Maple Leafs could have trailed by more. Starting goaltender Anthony Stolarz made spectacular saves earlier on that kept the Leafs from being behind by four or five goals. The game started to turn in Toronto's favor after John Tavares got the Leafs on the board, assisted by Stolarz and McKenna's first NHL point.
The Maple Leafs weren't finished with their sloppiness. Tied 4-4 late in the third period, Tanev tried an ill-advised, no-look, backhand pass behind Stolarz that the Predators almost converted into a likely game-winning goal. The Leafs were that close to another disheartening, one-goal regulation home loss before going on the road.
Toronto's underlying stats are mostly positive after four games, but the blatant, momentum-killing mistakes must stop. Relying on comebacks and outscoring the opponent is not a sustainable blueprint.
The Maple Leafs absolutely should be excited about the offensive fireworks, particularly the encouraging performances from Matthews and McKenna. Yet, they need to watch the game film and clean up their defensive structure. The upcoming challenging road trip through Vegas, Colorado, and Utah won't forgive all the defensive blunders.
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