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The Toronto Maple Leafs could not find an offensive spark in their 4-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Monday, but that is not something that will convince head coach Mike Babcock to radically change his approach and put Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on the same line.
“That’s great that everyone wants that, but what we like to do is we’re trying to win every night. It’s (Matthews and Marner) responsibility to drive a line every night, that’s there job here.” Babcock said after practice on Tuesday. “If we thought that would help us win more games, that’s what we’d do. I don’t foresee it happening any time soon.”
Toronto struggled to get things going early, not registering a shot until near the eight-minute mark against a team that had allowed a league-worst 85 goals against.
“The first 10 minutes (the Coyotes) were better. We got the game coming, but when you don't start on time and you're not prepared to go right, you don't deserve good results. We got what we deserved.” Babcock said after the game. “A lot of the guys that are driving us like the young skill guys, not today. They weren't here today.”
After Brendan Perlini opened the scoring with the man advantage midway through in the first, the Leafs responded on the power play 33 seconds into the middle frame on James van Riemsdyk 11th goal of the season.
After falling behind 2-1 on Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s power play goal, the Leafs once again resorted to scrambling their forward lines to generate a spark, with one combination being Matthews with Marner and Zach Hyman.
Toronto appeared to tie the game with 3:50 left in regulation as Matthews circled the net and fired a shot past Antti Raanta, but the goal was reversed due to Hyman making contact with the Coyotes goaltender.
“I think my stick hits (Raanta’s) pad. Obviously, I think I was pushed in but, I don’t know, I think the goalie had enough time get across.” Hyman said after the loss. “I thought he got into his position well, but I guess that’s how they’re calling goalie interference.”
At practice, the Leafs returned to the familiar units of Hyman, Matthews and William Nylander, Patrick Marleau, Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov, Marner with van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak and Matt Martin, Dominic Moore and Connor Brown and are expected to start their next game against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.
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Bad news for Leafs prospect Carl Grundstrom. The 2016 second round pick, who had five goals in 11 games for Frolunda, suffered a knee injury during a 4-3 loss to Lulea on November 16.
According to Swedish outlet
Expressen, surgery will be performed on the 19-year-old’s knee in the next few days, which will determine how long he will be out.
The best case scenario for Grundstrom's knee is a return by Christmas, but if the damage is severe, his season could be over.
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