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It may be a good time for the Toronto Maple Leafs to hit the road.
After scoring goals in bunches in October and compiling a 6-1 record at home, the Leafs lost their second game in a row at Air Canada Centre, a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
Nazem Kadri scored twice for Toronto, and opened the scoring midway through the first, but the Flyers responded with a pair of goals before the period was completed and Valtteri Filppula’s game-winning power play goal midway through the middle frame.
Leafs head coach Mike Babcock did not get the kind of energetic response from his club that he expected, after cutting short practice on Friday and making Saturday’s morning skate optional.
“We didn't have everybody competing hard enough. It's a process for us, for sure. Things were easy for us early and now teams have done a real nice job in the neutral zone and made it harder for us. We had 10 neutral zone turnovers in the first period.… Babcock said following the game. “I think a little reality therapy is probably set in for us – everything was great and everyone was telling us how great we were. We probably weren't as great as we felt at that time and right now we're probably not as bad as we feel at this time.…
One of the players that Babcock may have been referring to is Tyler Bozak. The veteran center has six points in 11 games (just two of them have come five-on-five) and is tied with Mitch Marner for a club-worst -9.
Bozak began the game between Patrick Marleau and Mitch Marner, but with the club scrambling for offense in the third, Marleau moved to center and Josh Leivo was promoted to that line, while Bozak was demoted to the fourth line with Dominic Moore and Kasperi Kapanen.
“Multiple people have been through (Bozak’s) line and it's not going. The biggest thing when it goes bad is confidence. So, we've got to help them find their confidence.… Babcock said.
The Leafs head out on the road for four straight, beginning with a three-game road swing through California starting in San Jose on Monday.
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The Leafs are hoping to repeat the success they had finding help on the blueline with Nikita Zaitsev and are continuing to scour the European leagues.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Hockey Night in Canada’s Saturday night Headlines that club has their sights set on KHL defenseman Igor Ozhiganov.
The right-handed shooter played for Russia at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Edmonton/Calgary and was a teammate of Leafs blueliner Nikita Zaitsev in 2015-16.
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