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A few days ago I made reference to some conversations around Phil Kessel and his “slump… which he is currently dealing with.
With 3 goals and 4 assists over his previous ten games played, Kessel is considered to be slumping in his points production as others around him start to catch up in terms of the leaderboard. But does anyone continue to care?
I can say with confidence that I for one do not care for this conversation. It’s certainly always nice to have that one player who can be constantly relied upon to score goals, but when your team is ultimately winning games and playing a better “team… game, should anyone really criticize or complain about individuals who are not scoring? Personally, I like to look at line combinations and how the group fairs against their opponents.
Given that Kessel is now widely known for his scoring abilities, he and JVR who is also credited for his scoring abilities have taken away the focus from their centreman, Tyler Bozak. While Kessel “appears… to be slumping, that first line is being damn productive as a group. And this is what I like to see when assessing talent or success from certain teams.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are not going to win hockey games because Kessel is on a strong scoring pace; at least not alone. As I made mention, Toronto is at their best when they have scoring from all lines and production from all four lines. With Bozak putting the puck away and taking away the pressure from Kessel to score, we can see a stronger unified line than we previously saw. We can all recall that over recent years if Kessel wasn’t scoring, his line wasn’t scoring. He was relied upon for production and if he disappeared or struggled, that 18 wheeler would start heading toward that cliff, or so it would seem.
At the present moment what we have been seeing from this Leafs group is scoring and production from just about all four lines. There’s still some work to be done here, however if guys like Kadri and Clarkson can continue to chip in goals, and guys like Komarov, Santorelli, and Booth can offer that 3rd/4th line pressure, this team has a chance.
In terms of all that has been said above, I’ve liked what this team has shown over the past 10 games or so. We are getting to the point where history would typically suggest that the Leafs are due for an epic 5+ game losing streak and lose sight of what they need to do in order to be successful. So far, I have not seen these patterns emerge, and while there’s still time for error, I maintain that with a balance group which they appear to have, that when one player struggles, another should be able to pick up the slack.
It’s…well…how successful teams win! (or so I've been told)
You can’t rely on only a few players each night, and it would seem that Randy Carlyle may finally have his players buying into his system and sticking to their individual roles on the team when called upon.
I would certainly like to see some better defense play from the group, but as I’ve mentioned the group is still considered quite young and we should continue to see mental errors from guys like Rielly and or Gardiner.
What do you think? Are we seeing similar patterns from previous years where the Leafs are winning games due to lucky bounces and unsustainable shooting percentages etc., or are they actually playing strong hockey which could be sustained?
Thanks for reading!