For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter Dramatic. Exciting. Entertaining. All those words and more describe the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday, but there is another word that could also be used in regards to the Leafs continuing trend of giving up early leads and attempting to erase them with a late rally. Troubling. For the fourth straight game, Toronto started the game sluggish and allowed two or more goals in the opening forty minutes with some questionable defensive play. This formula resulted in going 0-2-1 against Arizona, St. Louis and Washington, but on Saturday the Leafs stepped up their effort to start the second period and climbed back in the contest with a pair of power play goals from Auston Matthews and Tyler Ennis, and then tied the game early in the third on a fortuitous bounce off the end boards converted by William Nylander for his fourth goal of the season. Zach Hyman scored on the rebound of a Mitch Marner shot past Carey Price with 1:50 left in regulation for the game-winner and Andreas Johnsson and Hyman added empty netters for insurance in the victory that moved the Leafs five points ahead of the Canadiens for third place and three points in back of Boston for second spot in the Atlantic. “When (Montreal) scored, for whatever reason, we lost composure there for a bit. Even their power play goal, we weren’t in the right spots. We were able to get in the room and get regrouped.… Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “Freddie [Andersen] had a good sequence in the second period where they could have probably put the game out of reach. I don’t know what the score was at that time, to be honest with you, but I thought he did a good job there.… The concerns for the Leafs are their continuing inability to get off to better starts in games. During the regular season, it is possible for teams to erase deficits, but it is a much more difficult task at playoff time. The first two Montreal goals were a result of bad defensive coverage, with Andreas Johnsson and Jake Muzzin being unable to corral Andrew Shaw on the opening goal, and Frederik Gauthier’s turnover in the neutral zone and Jake Gardiner being caught out of position on Tomas Tatar’s tally. With just over 24 hours left before the NHL Trade Deadline, we will see if GM Kyle Dubas will be able to make any upgrades that might help the Leafs start quicker or play better in their own zone. *******
Check back for updates throughout the day.
Update - 7pm
The Leafs were not able to add defenseman Brandon Montour, who was dealt by Anaheim to Buffalo for prospect Brendan Guhle and a 1st round pick. GM Kyle Dubas may take some heat with the 24-year-old defenseman going to a division rival for less cost than Toronto paid to get an older left-handed D in Jake Muzzin. Montour is a right-hand shot that the Leafs desperately need, is under control through next season and an arb-eligible RFA after that.
Muzzin is more experienced and has a Stanley Cup under his belt, but Mike Babcock's usage of him, especially in the last few games has made the deal less impactful than most people thought when it occurred last month.
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The New York Rangers moved forward Mats Zuccarello to Dallas on Saturday and are sitting forward Kevin Hayes and defenseman Adam McQuaid for their Sunday afternoon matinee in Washington. The Leafs continue to be rumored to be interested in the 32-year-old veteran blueliner. The Leafs have an extra fourth round pick (from the Nikita Soshnikov deal with St. Louis last February), which might free them up to give up a mid-round pick to acquire some blueline depth, but the expectation is that the Rangers are looking for a third round pick in return after giving up a fourth and seventh to get McQuaid from Boston before the season. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Saturday night’s HNIC broadcast speculated about the availability of Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour, due to his decreased ice time under GM and interim head coach Bob Murray. Montour was playing over 23 minutes per game and on the Ducks top pairing under former Leaf coach Randy Carlyle, but has not exceeded 20 minutes under Murray and saw just under 16 minutes in a 2-1 loss to Edmonton on Saturday. *******
Brand new pod as we make our way to the NHL Trade Deadline. Enjoy. #TMLTalk #LeafsForever #HockeyTwitter #TheLeafsConvo @MikeInBuffalo @TheLeafsConvo https://t.co/IaR5tCivvw pic.twitter.com/Et05rx9kbT
— The Leafs Convo (@TheLeafsConvo) February 24, 2019
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