A 5-4 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday concluded a busy opening flurry of activity for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who started the regular season with divisional losses to Montreal and Detroit.
Early struggles were expected for Toronto after an offseason of significant turnover and the exit of leading scorer Phil Kessel, as head coach Mike Babcock put more of an emphasis on grasping a new philosophy and having players making better decisions on the ice. Three games into the campaign, it is evident that this metamorphosis will take some time before positive results are seen.
Toronto surrendered a trio of power play goals from Kyle Turris, Alex Chiasson and Milan Michalek in the first five minutes of the middle frame, but the Leafs wiped that deficit away with goals from Joffrey Lupul and Tyler Bozak in the second and Peter Holland’s tally with the man advantage early in the third.
Mark Stone restored Ottawa’s lead with a deflection of a Mike Hoffman shot midway through the final stanza, but Daniel Winnik responded with the equalizer late in regulation. The clubs remained scoreless through an exciting three-on-three overtime, but the Sens earned the victory in the shootout on the strength of Hoffman’s tally past goalie James Reimer.
The Leafs have an eight-game losing streak that began on September 25th with a 6-4-exhibition loss to the Buffalo Sabres. The loss to Ottawa was the first time since the Sabres defeat that they managed to score more than two goals and three games into the regular season, Toronto has been outscored 12-5 in spite of equaling or surpassing their opposition in shots on goal.
While no conclusions are being drawn based on a sluggish start, some early signs are not encouraging.
Goalie Jonathan Bernier has done nothing to instill confidence thus far, surrendering a weak goal on the first shot of the season from Montreal’s Max Pacioretty and three goals on nine shots in Detroit last Friday. James Reimer has only been slightly better, playing well in relief of Bernier, but allowing four goals on 33 shots and two goals in the shootout on Saturday.
Babcock’s focus leading up to the season was for speedy blueliners Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly to push the pace of the Leafs offensive attack with their skating ability, be more cognizant of their defensive responsibilities and lighten the workload on team captain Dion Phaneuf.
Early results are mixed, as both defensemen have not registered a point and have been inconsistent defensively, while Phaneuf once again topped the Leafs in ice time on Saturday with more than 24 minutes and leads the club with three points. Nazem Kadri has not shown any noticeable upgrade in his performance after proclaiming the capability of being the club's first line center at the start of training camp. The sixth-year pro's ample offensive skills continue to be minimized by his subpar play defensively.
Kadri leads Toronto with 14 shots on goal, but also leads the club with a -5 plus/minus rating and has not improved in proficiency on faceoffs.
20 minutes into a Leafs loss and he gives you this look pic.twitter.com/st5spfWtKs
— Sara of Spooks (@helmerroids) October 12, 2015In the season opener, the 25-year-old lost a key draw in the offensive zone with Bernier pulled for an extra attacker, which led to Pacioretty’s empty-net goal. Against Ottawa, Kadri lost 12 of 17 draws, which forced Babcock to substitute in Nick Spaling or Tyler Bozak for critical faceoffs late in the game.
Bozak scored a breakaway goal on Saturday and has seen more ice time than Kadri in each game, which has to be interpreted as a sign that Babcock has more confidence in the much maligned center.
GM Lou Lamoriello is not expected to be hasty in making moves, which gives Babcock some time to become more accustomed to his roster, but the impressions made early on the Leafs hierarchy may be tough for certain players to shake off.
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Shawn Matthias was a late scratch on Saturday due to an upper-body injury and was replaced by Michael Grabner. Grabner played 11:47 in his first game as a Leaf and was held scoreless. Veteran defenseman Roman Polak also made his first start of the season, replacing rookie Scott Harrington and made four hits and four blocked shots in 20:44. *******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******
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