Just like that, the pendulum in Leafs Nation swings from concern to crisis.
Okay, crisis might be a stretch—the highs and lows of the Maple Leafs fortunes always seem to get exaggerated.
However, after assembling a deceptively good 6-1 start to the season, back-to-back setbacks have the faithful wondering what is up with this team.
Everyone should take a deep breath, of course, and remember the old cliché that you are never as good as you think you are and never as bad as you fear.
Somewhere in between lies the truth, and so it is with the Leafs.
In getting off to that great start, despite having numerous injuries and a suspension to David Clarkson, there were still plenty of blemishes on their game. They were leading the league in giveaways, were sloppy in their own zone, but the combination of brilliant special teams and goaltending were allowing them to survive and win.
But then comes the clumsy loss to Carolina, then the failed test in a measuring-stick of a game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.
In neither game did the Leafs play especially well, blowing a 2-0 lead against the Hurricanes, then an uninspired 3-1 loss to the Blackhawks in which they had profound problems generating not just threatening offence, but simply shots on goal. The Leafs put just three shots on Corey Crawford in the first, double that in the second and 11 in the third for a total of 20. The Hawks doubled that number.
If you prefer the cup-half-full theory, you can say the Leafs shouldn’t be overly concerned with where they stand because their record is still solid overall, and they have done it without several regulars and without finding a way to hit on all cylinders. You can cling to the hope that they can only get better.
If you are a cup-half-empty type, then after nine games you wonder whether the blemishes are really full-fledged warts, if they are less blip and more blight. You wonder whether the defensive play can actually tighten up, whether Phil Kessel can become a more consistent contributor, whether the Leafs are suffering without a bona fide No. 1 centre (and maybe even a No. 2).
Whether you’re an optimist or pessimist, the next week or so will be an interesting time for the Leafs, as coach Randy Carlyle tries to “review, reset and revisit.”
On the horizon is another tough Western Conference opponent, the red-hot Anaheim Ducks, followed by back-to-back weekend games with the improved Columbus Blue Jackets, and Pittsburgh Penguins led by Sidney Crosby, who’s back to being the best player in the world.
The Leafs had better hope Carlyle’s message takes, and that the return of the likes of Clarkson, Nikolai Kulemin and Mark Fraser offers a boost and the work ethic improves and they start to again outwork opponents, which was a prominent characteristic in the past when they have genuinely played well.
Against the Ducks, with Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf on fire, and against Crosby and company, the Leafs had better find a way to keep their end of the rink cleaner and to increase the amount of time that they have the puck — especially in the opposition’s end. If they don’t, it could be a very, very long week indeed, and what to call their crisis will be their least concern.