The 6-1 loss in Raleigh on Thursday night was the latest in a series of confounding efforts by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have lost their last three games by a combined score of 18-5 and have fallen out of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
The state of the club has to be a growing concern for Leafs GM Dave Nonis, as it is appears that all the lineup juggling and tweaking roster moves are not helping to remedy the core problems that have caused Toronto to go 11-15-5 since the end of October.
Many are quick to focus the blame on Randy Carlyle and believe that his firing would be the solution to the current predicament, but the problem is much deeper than a veteran head coach, who has only been behind the Leafs bench for 111 games since the firing of Ron Wilson in March, 2012.
Carlyle is not free from any fault in the current situation. His limited use of the fourth line creates a disadvantage against opponents who roll four lines and have more energy at the end of games. He also is using his top pairing of Dion Phaneuf and Carl Gunnarsson(separated since the acquisition of Tim Gleason last week) over 25 minutes every night, do mostly because the other defensive pairs are generally unreliable.
The physical presence, energy and intimidation factor generated by the likes of Colton Orr, Frazer McLaren, Mark Fraser and Leo Komarov was an integral part of what made the Leafs difficult to play against last season, but that intangible quality is no longer present.
The main problem with the Leafs is their top players want to play and are most suited to play a brand of hockey that simply is not conducive to winning consistently in the NHL. Everyone enjoys fire wagon hockey and players like Phil Kessel, Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk and Jake Gardiner flying all over the ice and dazzling with their incredible speed and skill, but what makes teams more successful is to have those players adapt their games to be defensively responsible and to provide that effective two-way game night in and night out.
At this point, the Leafs are playing tentative and appear to have a fragile psyche, where one bad giveaway resulting in a goal sends them into a funk.
The struggles of David Clarkson in his first season has been a blow to the Leafs, as is the loss of the veteran savvy and work ethic provided by Dave Bolland, but the root cause of Toronto’s problems has been a lack of leadership and consistency from their core players, most of which were present when the last coach was dismissed.
Nonis is not one to make rash decisions and will not use Carlyle as a scapegoat for a group of players who cannot seem to find their way. With the increase in the salary cap next season, the ability to make trades involving big dollar contracts will be easier. No doubt if the Leafs struggles continue, no player will be safe.
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The Leafs take on the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center on Friday.
Washington is also struggling recently, having lost six of their last eight games, but ended a four game losing streak with a 4-3 win in Tampa on Thursday. Rookie goaltender Phillipp Grubauer won his sixth game of the season against the Lightning, but veteran Michal Neuvirth will get the start in the second of back-to-back games.
Toronto will also make a switch in goal, as Jonathan Bernier gets his seventh start in the last eight games.
Jake Gardiner, who was scratched on Thursday in favor of Mark Fraser, is likely to be re-inserted into the lineup.
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