There is no doubt some frustration right now in Leafs Nation. Last night the Maple Leafs only registered 18 shots on goal and ultimately lost the game 3-2. Perhaps they were trying to tighten down defensively? Regardless, 18 total shots in a game aren’t going to give you the results you are looking for. When the Buds are firing on all cylinders they can get 18 shots in a period, so last night’s effort just wasn’t good enough.
Frederik Andersen has been decent, not great, not horrible but decent. He’s 6-5 with an ugly GAA of 3.46 and a save percent of .896. He’s a much better goalie than these stats show and by seasons end I wouldn’t be surprised to see him between .910-.915. He has his work cut out for him right now with the Leafs getting into penalty trouble or coughing the puck up at the wrong time.
After turning the puck over way too many times on Saturday night against the Flyers the Leafs did a better job last night but ultimately lost the game because they weren’t generating enough offense. They were not able to pressure the Sharks enough to get a penalty called against them but had four called against themselves.
Plain and simple the team is going to have to work through this and deal with their first losing streak of the season in the works dropping the last three.
Tomorrow the Leafs square off against Anaheim to continue their road trip and that game certainly won’t be a walk in the park. Last night’s loss had Toronto slide to third place in the Atlantic with 14 points in 12 games (7-5). Simply put the boys better be flying next game or they will be looking from the outside in before returning back to Toronto next week.
The Leafs won’t get any resting time after tomorrow night as they travel to Los Angeles the night after and then back to St Louis for Saturday night.
Babcock better rally the troops and hopefully some leadership from Marleau can help get the engine revved up and the Leafs back to their winning ways.
Matthews and Kadri seem to be carrying the team right now so it’s time for some of the other players to chip in and play a responsible 200 foot game while doing so.
What do you think? Should Babcock tweak the lines now and try to light some fires under some arses?
What are some good options? I would like to see Marner play some shifts with Marleau and see if they can ignite each other.
Before this team makes its big leap forward they will have to improve this defensive core. Simply put they need one more top four defender who can do it all. Does management continue their patience or are they actively pursuing a player to fit that mould?
One thing is certain, the Leafs blistering start to the season has begun to slow down and these next three road games this week are big ones. It’s simply a bump in the road and I have full faith that Babcock will settle the boys down and they win two of their next three.
Have a great day, happy Halloween!
Thanks for reading.