Struggling at Scotiabank, Leafs listless in loss to Flames (maple leafs)

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Struggling at Scotiabank, Leafs listless in loss to Flames

By Mike Augello

Nov 3, 2018 • 12:10 pm

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Life without Auston Matthews began on a sour note for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as they once again had difficulty generating any offense on home ice in a 3-1 loss to the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.

The Leafs were heavily outshot and outworked for most of the night, as their revamped forward lines seemed out of sync without their leading scorer, who will miss a minimum of four weeks with a shoulder injury. The game was a dismally boring affair that was scoreless after 40 minutes due mostly to the goaltending of Frederik Andersen, who made 31 saves on the night.

The Flames finally broke through early in the third, as Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm scored 55 seconds apart, but Toronto responded with just under four minutes left in regulation on a two-man advantage, as Nazem Kadri scored his third of the season.

The Leafs thought they had tied the game moments later, as Zach Hyman’s shot landed on the mesh outside of Mike Smith’s cage, but it was not the case, much to the chagrin of the Toronto forward.

“Any time you hear the horn and see the puck behind the net, you think it’s in and then you react like it’s a goal – the tying goal.… Hyman said. After the game, Leafs head coach Mike Babcock did not have many answers for his team’s lack of energy early in the game and their inability to turn things on until late in the third period.

“I just thought (the Flames) were prepared. I thought they skated, I thought they worked, I thought they sailed out of their zone and beat us up the ice. The first period, we turned the puck over – the game is frustrating when the other team works harder than you.… Babcock said. “Our top group playing against their top groups weren't good enough. We look at the whole group, obviously. We weren't good enough. So, we get an opportunity to ask ourselves why and get it straightened out so we can be better.…

A growing concern for Toronto – even prior to Matthews injury – is their performance on home ice. The Leafs are a perfect 5 – 0 and averaging over five goals per game on the road, but at Scotiabank Arena they are under .500 (3-4-0) and averaging just 2.14 goals per game. In fact, there only complete effort on home ice was a 4-1 win over the struggling LA Kings.

The season opening win over Montreal was a struggle, their victory over Winnipeg last Saturday was a late rally after being outplayed for most of the game, the contest against Ottawa was a rare off night for Andersen and losses to Pittsburgh, St. Louis and the Flames were a result of the Leafs being unable to break out of their own zone with speed and the opposition closing off the center of the ice. Babcock said prior to Monday’s game that he would stick with the 12 forwards remaining on the roster and not call up anyone from the AHL Toronto Marlies in spite of a vacancy on the 23-man roster with Matthews being placed on injured reserve. While the loss to the Flames can be blamed more on the top two lines and top defensemen, the Leafs continue to get no contribution from their third and fourth lines.

Frederik Gauthier provides zero offense, is average defensively at best and struggles on face offs, which means the reason he is in the lineup is because Matthews is out and he is big. Andreas Johnsson was hardly noticeable on Monday, which is a far cry from the player that we saw the end of last season and the playoffs.

The Leafs next game is Thursday against the Dallas Stars.

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