For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
This week in “As the Toronto Maple Leafs Turn…, the club that appeared to be well positioned to put the floundering Florida Panthers in their rear view mirror lost their third game in a row to a team at the bottom of the Western Conference. The Leafs completed their sojourn to the West Coast with a 2-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center on Friday, squandering another chance to widen the gap in the “race… for third place in the Atlantic Division.
As with their shootout loss to Los Angeles on Thursday, Toronto was off target on many of their offensive chances and stymied by good goaltending, but it has been noticeable that when asked to play a more responsible defensive game, the normally high-flying offensive Leafs cannot walk and chew gum at the same time.
“When you look at the last couple games on this trip, we haven't been able to generate much offensively.… Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “You'd never think that our team would give up two goals in two games and only come away with one point, you'd probably think we were talking about a different team, but that's the reality, that's the way it was this week. The offense dried up for us, a lot of things that have been going in for us haven't and didn't on this trip and we don't get results as a result.…
William Nylander was the only Leaf in the Southern California portion of the trip to have any success finding the target. The winger beat Jonathan Quick in the shootout and scored his 30th goal of the season late in regulation to snap the club’s scoreless drought at 144:33.
Carter Rowney scored in the first and Adam Henrique extended the Anaheim lead to 2-0 in the third, providing the combination of John Gibson and Ryan Miller with enough of a cushion. The tandem stopped 30 of 31 shots in the win, while Jack Campbell made a number of spectacular stops to keep the Leafs within range on the night.
The level of frustration became apparent in the game, as Mitch Marner took an uncharacteristic penalty in the second period and the power play was thwarted on three chances during the game. The loss gave Toronto only one of a possible six points on the road trip and has them five points ahead of the Panthers with 13 games remaining.
“We're all in this together. You play through the good and the bad and the adversity and obviously, in the position that we're in, there (are) lots of critics and lots of stuff that comes with it.… Auston Matthews said after the game. “I think in this room we're headstrong, and it doesn't matter what's going to get thrown our way, we're going to come out of it stronger. Obviously, not the road trip that that we really wanted. So, that's on us and we've got to just build forward and put this aside, learn from it and be better.…
Florida has two games in hand, but will make them up in the finale of their five-game homestand vs. Montreal on Saturday and in St. Louis on Monday. The Leafs have three days off until their next game at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
*******
Pregame Podcast. Enjoy.@MikeInBuffalo @TheLeafsConvo #LeafsForever #TheLeafsConvo #LAKings #NHL https://t.co/OPAWy0T2tE
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) March 5, 2020
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******