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Barkov foils Leafs late comeback; Q & A - December 16 Edition

December 16, 2018, 9:15 PM ET [265 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs followed an all too familiar blueprint in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday, putting forth a subpar effort against an opponent near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and hoping to steal two points with a desperate rally late in the game.

The Leafs penalty killing was victimized on the night, allowing power play goals from Alesander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau that gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. John Tavares cut the Florida lead to 2-1 on a deflected point shot and Mitch Marner tied the game late in the third, but Barkov replied 27 seconds later to put the Panthers back in front.



Marner tied the game with 1:40 left in regulation and Frederik Andersen pulled for the extra attacker, as his screenshot evaded Roberto Luongo. The late rally earned Toronto a point, but Barkov would not be denied in overtime, as he deked out Andersen for his third goal of the game to give the Panthers the win.

“The first two periods we weren't good enough. (Florida’s) special teams were better than our special teams (and) we weren't good enough.” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “The bottom line is you've got to be ready to play every night in the league. You play lots of games so some nights you're not, you've got to find a way to respond and find a way to win.”

Toronto has lost their magic touch on the road on their current five-game stretch, with a win over Carolina and losses in Boston, Tampa Bay and Florida. The Leafs play in New Jersey on Tuesday before closing out December with four of their next five games at Scotiabank Arena.



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In spite of their success this season, it does appear that the Leafs have to address a couple problem areas before they will be considered the equals of the Lightning and other Stanley Cup contenders.

With more than two months until the NHL trade deadline, the question is how GM Kyle Dubas will take advantage of the empty cap space the club has this season and can they add difference makers before February 25th to improve the club’s chances in the postseason.

With that in mind, we go to the wonderful world of Twitter (which is so accepting of differing opinions) to answer some of your questions about the Leafs:





A - Addressing why the forwards are not brought deeper into the defensive zone, the Leafs do not have wingers that are strong along the wall and their continued practice of throwing long bomb passes to stretch the opposition’s defense takes advantage of their speed and skill and clears the defensive zone with less difficulty.

That has worked to a certain extent, but they will have to come up with something different as teams play a more responsible game in the second half and the playoffs. The stretch pass was pretty much neutralized by Boston in the first round last season and teams have been able to clog up the middle at times on them this season.

As for Holl, he appears to be this year’s Josh Leivo and Frankie Corrado, someone that Babcock does not believe is as good as his other options on the bottom pairing (Igor Ozhiganov, Martin Marincin), but will not clear waivers if they try to send him down. It’s doubtful that changes and only injuries or illness will get Holl playing time.





A - Moore was called up last month during the West Coast swing and did not crack the lineup in his native California, but it’s likely that he would be the first call up to fill the spot of a top nine winger, since he leads the Marlies with 15 goals and impressed Babcock at training camp.

Marchment would add some size and sandpaper to the Toronto lineup and if they continue to get pushed around, it may be a promotion that is necessary. The big winger has eight goals in 22 games, but more importantly his skating is good enough to keep up with the pace and he could replace Tyler Ennis on the fourth line if the Leafs are playing a more physical team like Boston.





A - Let me come to the defense of Nikita Zaitsev. Many Leafs fans and analysts think he is vastly overpaid and a liability, but he is a victim of circumstance on a defense that is in desperate need of upgrading.

It would be tough to convince someone who had not seen a Leafs game for two years that Zaitsev is the same blueliner who scored 36 points as a rookie and quarterbacked the Leafs power play for a time in 2015-16. After signing a seven-year extension and with Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner filling the offensive puck carrying duties, the Russian blueliner was put into a role that did not suit his skills; being the responsible defense partner for Gardiner, one of the Leafs primary penalty killers and as a shot blocker (4th in the NHL with 73).

As for the trade suggestion, Duncan Keith is a shadow of the guy who played 30+ minutes per night in the Hawks last Cup run and Brent Seabrook is one of the worst “bang for your buck” contracts in the league. Their experience would be an upgrade in the short term….maybe…..but the term on both of their deals rules it out.





A - Kyle Dubas and Leafs management recognize that they have a one-year window with cap space ($5.8 Million per Cap Friendly) and the option to create more by placing Nathan Horton on LTIR, so it is fairly certain that they will make a significant addition at the deadline. They are likely waiting to give up as little as possible in a swap for a defenseman, which means exploring all avenues and exercising some patience.





A - Remember this, Kasperi Kapanen is not William Nylander. He had nine points in 38 games last season. The speedy Finn is having a great year, but he goes into negotiations with the Leafs with just this year’s totals as leverage to ask for significant money on a new contract.

A bridge deal makes the most sense for Kapanen, so he can get paid and prove that this season is not a fluke.





A - Andersen has not been at his best in the losses on the recent road trip, but he has been one of the best goalies in the league this season and you have to consider that fatigue may be becoming a factor (he has made the third most starts (27) in the NHL).

Part of the reason why his workload is high is that Babcock does not appear to have a level of trust in Sparks as he did in veteran Curtis McElhinney.

When asked at training camp if he would play Andersen less this season, the Leafs head coach said we’ll see what happens. Sparks in six starts has been good in three and subpar or bad in three. That does not exactly breed confidence.





A - I thought last summer was the best opportunity for the Leafs to move Gardiner and get a sizable return with a year left on his contract. Your scenario of flipping Gardiner and using the assets to get another D makes sense if talks with agent Pat Brisson do not show progress towards a new deal, but more than likely the Leafs will add a blueliner at the deadline and keep him as an own rental for the rest of the year before he walks next July.





A - Answer to both questions is no….the concerns over the blueline and toughness are not overreactions. Most of the top analysts recognize that the Toronto defense corps has some good aspects to it, but that they are one or possibly two additions away from being good enough to have success in the playoffs.

As for team toughness, “heavy” players as Babcock would call them are in short supply on the Leafs roster and that is something that teams like Detroit and Boston have already taken advantage of during the regular season. Just imagine what it will be like during the playoffs.

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