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Leafs get lit-up by seven Lightning bolts

October 26, 2016, 10:56 AM ET [490 Comments]
Lucas Neilson
Blogger •Atlantic Division Writer • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Toronto Maple Leafs have started the season with a 1-2-3 record and could easily have a couple more points overall. That’s part of the growing pains of the rebuild; some nights are going to be more positive than others.

It didn’t take long for the boo birds to give Stamkos a taste of their displeasure with his teasing the Leafs faithful by baulking in the summer when meeting with the Leafs brass as they tried to persuade him into joining the rebuilding Maple Leafs. Stamkos obviously had some interest or he wouldn’t have wasted his time, nor would he have wasted the time of Shanahan, Babcock and Lamoriello.

Obviously it wasn’t the right time for Stamkos and Toronto, so he signed a fair deal with Tampa Bay and stuck with Yzerman and his Eastern Conference contender.

Stamkos quickly silenced the crowd when he scored just 1:19 into the first period. Truth is, the goal was crap and extremely lucky, but it found the back of the net either way. A rough start for Andersen, but reality is the defense was atrocious for Toronto in the first period, coughing up pucks in their own zone and doing a lot of watching/chasing the puck.

We can all see that Andersen is struggling, but this defense is just teeing up the puck for the opposition to bury. They have to be stronger on the puck, and most importantly stop leaving players like Stamkos alone in front of the net. When you give opportunities like the Leafs have been to superstar players, they will cash those chances in more times than not. Babcock is going to have to light a fire under some of these defensemen so they can get their goalie back on track.

The longer Andersen struggles the more garbage we will hear from the Toronto media and the impatient Leafs fans who are forgetting the team is in a rebuild.

It really is unbelievable there is so much negativity around a team that was 30th place last season. It’s not like the addition of Matthews was going to turn this team into an instant contender, patience is still a big part of the process before the Leafs are secured in a playoff position for years to come.

What the additions of the youngsters will do is create a lot more offense, but will certainly take time for them to fully establish a complete game. Positives are continuing as Matthews and Nylander continue to put points on the board game after game. Kadri is starting to chip in offensively (four points in last four games) and Marner and Brown seem to be settling in nicely in their rookie seasons.

How about Peter Holland's shot off the mask of Ben Bishop? Picking up his teeth off the ice, only to toss on his back-up helmet and finish the game...only in hockey would you see that toughness! Not even the soccer spray-bottle would have helped.

One thing to note from last night’s game was the combo of Rielly and Zaitsev.

Together on the top pairing they were able to come out of the game with an assist each and a +- rating of 0. Not bad considering the Leafs had seven goals against. It would be great for Toronto going forward if Rielly and Zaitsev hit it off as a solid offensive/defensive duo on the top pairing.

Just six games into the season, Matthews has an NHL leading ten points and Nylander is riding shotgun with nine points himself. This is one deadly duo, hopefully they can continue to produce at such an outstanding rate and we continue to see their dominance together for years to come.

Babcock and his assistants will have to get together with the video coaches and look at some of the major mistakes they are making in their own zone. If they can reduce the number of turn overs and do a much better job of clearing out the front of the net, they will instantly be in better shape for next game. Toronto as a whole has been giving up way too many golden chances. Last night the Leafs actually had the majority of the scoring chances, as they had 43 shots and Tampa only had 24. The issue is those 24 shots; half of them were golden opportunities. The defense has to tighten up and the forwards need to give better support by getting the puck out instead of turning it over at the blue line.

You can bet the boys will be skating hard and working on their play in the defensive zone.

Toronto will face-off against the Panthers on Thursday, perhaps the Leafs will get to face their former starts in James Reimer.

Look for a much better effort on Thursday as you know Babcock will have the Leafs hungry after such a disappointing game.

Thanks for reading.
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