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If you were going to try and encapsulate the Toronto Maple Leafs play at home over the last few weeks in one sentence, it would be 57 minutes of frustration, followed by three minutes of exaltation and that was pretty much the case for their 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday at Scotiabank Arena.
For the fifth straight time on home ice, Toronto was held scoreless for the first two periods and staged a late rally to climb back into the game. Patrick Marleau scored the only Leafs goal with just over three minutes left in regulation after goals by Jamie Benn and Devin Shore gave Dallas a 2-0 lead.
The Leafs overall performance was better than in their loss to Calgary earlier this week, as Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Marleau misfired on good scoring chances, but Toronto was thwarted by Stars backup Anton Khudobin, who made 31 saves on the night, including a glove stop on Marner in the waning seconds of regulation.
Marner's toe drag in the final seconds fools two Dallas defenseman. But he couldn't fool Khudobin.
— Flintor (@TheFlintor) November 2, 2018
Leafs lose 2-1. pic.twitter.com/YhsErT42zU
“I thought we worked hard, I thought we started good. In the end, you've got to score.… Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “I thought we had a real good push in the third. Now, what I liked about us is we didn't lose our focus, we didn't start running around the rink, we kind of stayed with it. I don't think (Dallas) gave up very much until the end and I don't think we gave up very much. In the end, we've got to find a way to win the game.… While the sudden struggle to score may be blamed on the injury to Auston Matthews and the absence of William Nylander, the difficulties at home predate the loss of their best forward. The Leafs are now 3-5 at home and following a road game in Pittsburgh on Saturday, the club returns home for a pair of games against Vegas on Tuesday and New Jersey on Friday. *******
On the William Nylander front, another comparable that would seem to put the Leafs reported offer to the free agent winger in a favorable light is the deal that Tampa Bay and Yanni Gourde signed on Friday.
The undrafted Gourde scored 64 points in his first full NHL season last year and the 26-year-old agreed to six-year, $31 Million deal ($5.166 Million AAV) with the Lightning. According to various reports, the Leafs have offered in the $6 - $6.5 Million range on a long-term deal for Nylander (who scored 61 points in consecutive years for the Leafs), but that the 22-year-old’s representatives are looking for in excess of $8 Million AAV on a long term deal.
There continues to be little evidence of any progress being made in negotiations with Nylander, but speculation regarding a possible trade only gained more momentum with the continuing presence of Carolina Hurricanes scouts at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.
Canes Assistant GM Rick Dudley and two other Carolina pro scouts were at the game, which would indicate if the interest involved Nylander that a potential deal would include other players on the Leafs roster.
Two scouts from the Chicago Blackhawks and 11 other NHL teams were represented at the game and while it is possible that there are other explanations for their presence, a club’s Assistant GM and multiple scots being at four Toronto games in the last two weeks is likely not a coincidence.
On this week’s 31 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman including the Hurricanes as one of four teams with significant interest, but said that the stealth team might be the Philadelphia Flyers.
Dubas did check in on the Flyers during his week of scouting following his trip to Switzerland, and they they do have a stockpile of young blueliners led by Ivan Provorov, Shayne Gostisbehere and Travis Sanheim, so the ingredients for a possible deal are there.
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— Norman James (@NormanJamesTLC) November 1, 2018
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