The Toronto Maple Leafs put forth a concerted effort to be more defensively responsible against the Los Angeles Kings in the first game of the club’s four-game Western road swing. The Leafs limited the Stanley Cup Champions to just 20 shots on goal, but their attention to detail at one end of the ice came at the cost of any success at the other end.
Toronto struggled to generate any significant scoring chances and were unable to overcome Anze Kopitar’s early first period goal, as Kings backup goalie Martin Jones faced just 19 shots in a 2-0 shutout victory over the Maple Leafs at the Staples Center on Monday.
Kopitar scored the opening goal just 37 seconds into the game, firing a wrist shot just underneath the crossbar past Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier, but play continued for close to a minute before a stoppage allowed the video review to confirm the goal.
The Leafs were successful at limiting Los Angeles to just 19 shots and Bernier shut the door on his former team until Marian Gaborik scored into an empty net in the final minute, but Toronto was unable to create many offensive opportunities and went 0 for 3 with the man advantage.
“I thought they came out very hard and I think our guys kind of responded and I thought it was a few things early in the first period that we poorly executed coming out of our zone but the resolve was there.… Leafs coach Peter Horachek said after the game. “It’s disappointing that we can’t capitalize. Our power play didn’t score a goal that maybe we needed it to, but you’ve got to take some solace in the fact that their shots and chances were lower and we think we’re going to be able to score some goals going forward.…
Toronto is 1-2-0 under Horachek and in spite of the generally positive spin and attitude towards the new regime from the players and some observers, the Leafs continue to have problems doing what is necessary to win on a consistent basis.
Even prior to the firing of Randy Carlyle, the Leafs were trying to augment their approach and take care of their end first. This philosophy led to limiting Minnesota to 29 shots on January 2 and Washington to 26 shots on January 7. The problem is that Toronto was outscored 9-3 and lost both games.
With the exception of a four-goal first period outburst aided by a two-man advantage against Columbus last week, the Leafs have scored two goals or less in every game in 2015.
Toronto continues to be incapable of playing an effective two-way game as Chicago, Nashville, Anaheim, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay have done with regularity this season. The reason for that is not the message, the strategy or the messenger delivering that strategy, it is the shortcomings of a roster of the core group, some of which are on their third head coach.
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Winger Leo Komarov left the game on Monday after colliding with two Kings players behind the net in the second period. The 27-year-old winger left for the locker room and returned to the ice for one shift before retiring for the night with a shoulder injury.
#GottaSeeIt: @MapleLeafs' Leo Komarov went crashing awkwardly into the boards during the second period: http://t.co/LE8FrNKwwu
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 13, 2015Horachek indicated following the game that the injury could be a stinger and that the feisty winger may be available for Wednesday's game in Anaheim. Komarov returned to the Leafs lineup on December 31 after missing over a month with concussion symptoms.
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