• Leafs give up four goals in 3rd period
• Small errors had big implications for Toronto
• Budding Leafs will be in tough for playoff race
TORONTO – There was a point earlier in the season when a general manager from another NHL team stopped in at Air Canada Centre to see what these Toronto Maple Leafs are all about.
Eyes wide on the elevator after the game, he remarked: “When they get another defenceman or two – look out.”
It was a conversation that came to mind Saturday night while watching Ottawa race ahead, fall behind, and ultimately beat the Maple Leafs 6-3 with the help of two empty-net goals.
The game was high on entertainment, swings of emotion, and intrigue. But it came with a heavy helping of disappointment for a Toronto team acutely aware of its diminishing place in the jam-packed standings, and an inability to lock down another third-period lead.
“We know what’s going on,” said defenceman Morgan Rielly. “That makes tonight that much tougher.”
It was Rielly who committed the error head coach Mike Babcock cited in his post-game press conference. He was skating the puck around his own goal shortly after William Nylander made it 3-2 and inexplicably fired it to an area where no teammates were stationed.
Erik Karlsson intercepted, Kyle Turris delivered a nice backhand pass into the middle, and Mike Hoffman scored with an all-world release.
Call it an unforced error.
“We made a big-time mistake on their tying goal where we had two guys in the corner, we had no pressure on us so we rimmed it around and gave it away,” said Babcock.
In a division where just 14 points separate first from last, and a playoff race where virtually every game involving an Eastern Conference team reshuffles the deck, it was one of those small errors in judgment that may have seemed more important than it really was.
Stepping back from the heat of the moment, the game itself was a reminder of a fundamental truth: this Leafs team still isn’t ready.
They have climbed to impressive heights and may still yet barge their way into the postseason. They can score with the best, and have great specialty teams, but the defensive holes are hard to ignore.
“We had ample, ample opportunity to win the game down the stretch,” said Babcock. “I think we can play way better though. I think we can play better structurally defensively, so we have to get better.”
Depending where you fixed your eyes, there were plenty of positives on display against the Sens. The Leafs were missing top scorer Mitch Marner on Saturday because of a minor shoulder ailment and needed to jumble some well-established forward lines as a result.
And on that side of the puck, you’d never have known the skilled rookie was out.
Josh Leivo was once again a revelation – sliding up alongside Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov and repeatedly digging the puck off the wall deep in the offensive zone. He earned another assist, his sixth point in the last three games.
“I like the way Leivs plays,” said Kadri. “He’s a big body, he’s got skill, he can see the ice, he’s good on the forecheck. I really like his game the way it is – all he needed was a bit of confidence, maybe a couple shots to drop for him or a couple points to go his way.
“He’s really effective, especially down low.”
Nylander was reunited with centre Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman.
That trio heavily tilted the ice at even strength and Matthews found Nylander during a third-period power play to briefly put the Leafs ahead. There’s a pretty strong argument forming here that the Matthews-Nylander combo should stay together even when health returns.
They are dynamic together.
“We know where each other’s at,” said Matthews. “He was skating tonight, so that’s always a good sign when he’s skating because he’s making plays all over the ice.
“Not the result we wanted, but…”
But?
All was not lost. All will not be lost, regardless of what happens over the final 25 games of a rather charmed regular season in Toronto.
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The Leafs are in a “funk” – as Kadri termed it – and facing another back-to-back situation with a visit to Carolina on Sunday. In the here and now it’s starting to look bleak, but there is still plenty of highway to negotiate before the playoff seedings are finalized.
That road ahead is all part of the process. That’s what this season is truly about.
“The reality is we’re all big boys, we can read the standings,” said Babcock. “You’ve got to win hockey games. What I just said to our team is we’re going to Carolina on a long weekend. Worry about this game.
“We haven’t been very good back-to-back, mentally we haven’t dug in. So, we have to win a game. You can feel sorry for yourself if you want. No one else is going to. We need to find a way to compete harder and find a way to win.
“That’s all there is to it. It’s that simple.”
