The Toronto Maple Leafs lost their third straight game on Wednesday night, this time against the Minnesota Wild, with the final score being 3-1. Let's take a look at what could be contributing to this rut.
The overall game play for the Toronto Maple Leafs was adequate. Auston Matthews (C) had a total of 21:40 ice time and posted six shots on 12 shot attempts - unfortunately none of them ended up in the back of the net.
William Nylander (RW) had 23:58 ice time, one goal, one shot and four shot attempts, one of which went off the goalpost.
Mitch Marner was relatively quiet this game with only two shots and only two shot attempts. The Minnesota Wild went into the game with a 29-17-4 record, but the Toronto Maple Leafs went in with a similar 30-18-2.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Lose Their 3rd Straight - What Have We Learned?
The issue may be as simple as this - The Toronto Maple Leafs need all of their "star power" in order to be successful.
Matthew Knies and John Tavares being out may be the biggest handicap working against them. Even though the Leafs went 10-5-0 with Auston Matthews being out due to injury, they have had a lackluster performance without Center John Tavares, who has been out since January 15th since injuring himself in practice.
Tavares currently has 20 goals and 22 assists in the 44 games he's played. Another missing piece was Matthew Knies (LW), who suffered an upper-body injury against the Blue Jackets on January 22nd. Knies has 18 goals and 13 assists on the year and is a very helpful addition to the Matthews and Marner strong first line. (stats can be found at naturalstattrick.com).
The Leafs have only scored three times during their most recent losing streak, and for a team that already struggles with depth scoring, it's clear that they just don't have the firepower to compete when two of their best scorers are out of the lineup.
While the Leafs haven't dealt with too many injuries this season, there were two prior to this that were highly impactful - Auston Matthews (as previously mentioned) and Goaltender Anthony Stolarz. Stolarz has been out since December due to a minor knee surgery and has been expected to return in early February. (see Loss of Stolarz Could Sink Maple Leafs).
The Leafs lack of recent success seems to stem from injuries. Hopefully they are able to regain Matthew Knies and John Tavares soon so they can recreate the winning lineup that finally gave them the look of a team that could finally make it past the second round of playoffs.