The Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night by a final score of 5-2.
To be honest, I was prepared to roast the Maple Leafs for a bad effort, but the statistics show that they were better team. The Leafs led the Captials in puck possession, shots, scoring chances, dangerous chances and expected goals. That said, they didn't dominate any of these catagories, they just led them slightly.
In the game I thought I watched, the Leafs were were the worse team, not making Washington work hard for their scoring chances, and barely sustaining any pressure while making several costly mistakes (Matthews Knies, I am looking at you).
So which is it? Did the Leafs play well and lose, or did they get what they deserved?
I would say, on this night, a bit of both.
Without Auston Matthews, the Leafs and Capitals rosters are somewhat close talent-wise, though the Leafs still probably have the better team on paper. Last night's game was a game where two close teams played a fairly even match.
Despite a slight statistical advantage, I'd say the Leafs still probably got the result they deserved. Simply put, in a close game the Washington goalie made saves that Matt Murray did not, and the Washington Capitals executed when the Leafs players did not.
Then again, if Nylander scores on either of those plays in the first period, this is an entirely different game. At least Alex Ovechkin scored though.
Toronto Maple Leafs Flat Effort Results in Another Loss
To me, the biggest problem with a game like last night is, if you're going to play Craig Berube Playoff Hockey, which sounds nice in theory, where is that identiy in real life? (naturalstattrick.com).
To me, if defense and dumping and chasing is the name of your game, that should come with a degree of snarl and hard-to-play-against-ness that I just don't see from this team on a regular basis.
This was a game in which the Leafs could have won, but didn't.
Their goaltending was bad, and for a team that hopes to win tight games, they didn't do nearly enough of the things teams have to do to win them - which basically means crush people and make them pay for every inch of ice you give up.
The Leafs - by humble assessment at least - are a team caught between how they are built and how they want to play. This lineup is assembled up front to be a highly skilled, high scoring team. Then at the bottom of their forward lineup and nearly the entirity of their blue-line is made up of grinders.
A smarter choice would have been to get a coach who fits the lineup, not force a lineup to fit a coach.