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The Toronto Maple Leafs go toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, but in the end, come up short.
Where have we seen that before?
In spite of defensive mistakes and being outshot 34-21 in the game, the Leafs were tied with the Boston Bruins late in regulation, but a neutral zone turnover by John Tavares resulted in Matt Grzelcyk’s game-winner with 1:16 left gave the Bruins a 4-3 victory at TD Garden on Saturday.
While the loss itself was minor in the overall scheme (the chances of the Leafs catching Boston for top spot in the Atlantic are slim) it was more important in how it translates to Toronto’s main focus this season, which is to advance in the playoffs.
The Bruins are consistent. They get regular production from their stars (Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak tallied), they get positive production from the depth of their lineup (fourth-liner AJ Greer put them in the lead in the second), and at the key moments of the game, they do not shrink from a challenge or come up short.
As for Toronto, the Rasmus Sandin-Timothy Liljegren pairing and Mark Giordano (5 blocked shots) were impressive, Michael Bunting (a PP goal and assist), Mitch Marner (2 assists), and Auston Matthews (the tying goal in the third) played well, and in spite of giving up four goals, Matt Murray made some key stops to keep his club in the game.
The difference was bad giveaways by Morgan Rielly on the Bergeron goal, Conor Timmins on the Pastrnak goal, and Tavares on the Grzelcyk game-winner (in other words, mistakes that losing teams make and winners avoid) as well as getting little or no contribution from their fourth line of Wayne Simmonds, Alex Kerfoot, and Dryden Hunt.
Hunt and Kerfoot played less than 10 minutes, Simmonds saw just 4:49 on the night after a first-period bout with Nick Foligno and a misconduct for some post-buzzer verbal jousting with Greer, and the unit was on the ice for Greer’s fourth goal of the season.
In the Leafs last head-to-head meetings with divisional rivals Tampa and Boston, Toronto lost 4-3 to the Lightning early in overtime on a bad Alex Killorn goal from long range, and by the same score on Grzelcyk’s first goal since late October.
In the microanalysis, the Leafs goaltending with Murray and/or Samsonov is in a better place than Jack Campbell last season, the blueline should be better when Brodie returns from injury and Morgan Rielly (who appears to be struggling after his return from a knee injury) gets back up to speed. Timmins has proved to be an excellent find but is a better fit playing protected minutes with a defensive blueliner like Giordano than the offensive-minded Rielly.
Toronto was at a disadvantage on Saturday because a valuable depth player like Pontus Holmberg was out with an illness. That forced Sheldon Keefe to play his top nine forwards heavy minutes in their third game in four nights.
Before the trade deadline, it is incumbent on Keefe and GM Kyle Dubas to explore whether internal candidates like Bobby McMann, Alex Steeves, Joey Anderson, or Adam Gaudette can fill fourth-line roles, because it is painfully apparent that Hunt and Simmonds cannot contribute anything other than an occasional fight or physical moment.
The loss in Boston is yet another sign that the Leafs are missing a key cog that possesses the ability to play with a calm demeanor amidst the chaos of the postseason, and someone who inspires others to do the same.
If they do not add that player, whether it be Ryan O’Reilly or someone else potentially available before March 3, it is hard to imagine that a postseason meeting with Tampa will end up any different than it did 12 months ago.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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