The Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 shootout loss in Chicago on Saturday was a further example of what can be expected from a young club trying to find their way and evaluate what they have to work with. Five games into the 2016-17 regular season, the Leafs have led all five games entering the third period, but only have one victory to show for it.
For each positive, such as the rookie duo of Auston Matthews and William Nylander combining on two goals, aspects like goalie Frederik Andersen early struggles and the club’s blueline being taken apart are signs that a lot of work is needed before the Leafs can ascend to the level of a playoff contender.
Offense is not a concern for Toronto thus far, Matthews/Nylander duo have 15 points and other than a two-goal output against Minnesota on Thursday, the Leafs have averaged four goals per game.
That would be enough production on most nights to achieve victory, but Toronto has given up 19 goals (24th in the NHL) and eight of those goals have come in the final 20 minutes.
Other than his lone victory against Boston at Air Canada Center in the home opener, Andersen has appeared uncomfortable between the pipes. That could be symptomatic of a lack of playing time during the pre-season after a shoulder injury in an Olympic qualifying tournament or because the big Dane is not playing behind a defensive corps with Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen.
As expected, Morgan Rielly is leading the club in average time-on-ice (23:21) and newcomer Nikita Zaitsev has handled his NHL baptism of fire well with over 22 minutes per game, but the Leafs lack of depth on the blueline has forced head coach Mike Babcock to give major minutes to Martin Marincin and youngster Connor Carrick. During the club’s road trip, Marincin played over 24 minutes in Winnipeg, while Carrick played nearly 22 minutes in Minnesota and both were -2 on the night.
Babcock was forced to heap major minutes on Matt Hunwick and Roman Polak on Saturday. Both veterans played in excess of 20 minutes and were on the ice in key defensive situations, when Chicago pulled goalie Scott Darling for an extra attacker and during the Hawks 4-on-3 power play in overtime.
Hunwick and Polak are known commodities and with a blueline short on experience and bereft of toughness, Babcock will likely continue to go to them throughout the season.
Unless GM Lou Lamoriello has a deal for Jacob Trouba or Hampus Lindholm in his back pocket, the Leafs defensive improvement will have to come from inside the organization, such as inserting Frank Corrado into the lineup or recalling Rinat Valiev or Viktor Loov from the AHL.
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The Toronto Marlies started the weekend with their first loss of the season, but ended with a pair of home victories.
AHL Player of the Week Kasperi Kapanen and Byron Froese scored in a 5-2 road loss to the Rochester Americans on Friday. Veteran Brooks Laich saw his first action of the year after being sent down by the Leafs and goalie Garret Sparks allowed four goals on 20 shots.
The Marlies bounced back at Ricoh Coliseum on Saturday with a 4-2 win over the Manitoba Moose. Froese scored twice, Laich and Brendan Leipsic scored for Toronto and Antoine Bibeau made 28 saves for the win.
It was a similar story in the second of back-to-back games with the Winnipeg Jets AHL affiliate, as Bibeau stopped 22 shots for his first shutout of the season and the Marlies got goals from Kapanen, Froese, Justin Holl and Colin Smith.
Winger Brendan Leipsic cutting towards the goal in the Toronto Marlies 4-0 victory over Manitoba on Sunday. Leipsic leads the AHL with nine points.
Courtesy of Christian Bonin at TSG Photo
The diminutive Leipsic leads the Marlies and the league with nine points (2 goals, 7 assists), while Froese continues to have goal scoring success in the AHL. The 25-year-old center has scored seven goals in his last nine games with the Marlies.
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