Every player on the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders knew that the return of John Tavares to Nassau Coliseum would be an emotional event for a fanbase that felt spurned by the superstar center after he chose to sign with his hometown team as a free agent last July, but instead of rising to the occasion in support of their teammate, the Leafs put forth a weak effort in a 6-2 loss on Thursday that raises questions about their readiness for the postseason.
Tavares endured the booes and signage from the Islanders faithful, had plastic snakes and jerseys thrown at him prior to the game, and was derided with chants throughout the game and during the video presentation, but in a postseason atmosphere, the Leafs allowed six unanswered goals after Zach Hyman’s opening goal and melted under the pressure.
Jersey thrown at John Tavares while he was heading down the tunnel after warm up pic.twitter.com/JvMsT1XuZI
“We turned the puck over way too many times. (New York) played the right way every shift and when you turn the puck over, you don’t have a chance against them, so that was the second half of our game.” Hyman said after the game. “It’s a good learning experience. This is what playoff hockey is like, it’s loud, fans are in your face, it’s passionate, it’s exciting. We were embarrassed tonight, but we’ll learn from it.”
As usual in the second of back-to-back games, Garret Sparks got the start and the Leafs backup made some key stops early, but later fell victim to the club’s penchant for giveaways and allowed another goal from long range.
The replacements for injured blueliners Jake Gardiner and Travis Dermott had a rough first night. Martin Marincin was primarily responsible for Valtteri Filppula’s goal late in the second and was -3 on the evening, while Justin Holl went -2 in his first game since December 23rd.
The Islanders also targeted Jake Muzzin and Nikita Zaitsev and laid the body on the Leafs second pairing whenever they could, which clearly affected Muzzin later in the game with an errant pinch on Anthony Beauvillier’s tying goal and a giveaway on Casey Cizikas short-handed goal.
The most troubling aspects of the night was again the lack of pushback from the Isles energetic physical play and how the club seemed to fold after falling behind in the second period.
The only noticeable response was Holl responding to a Cal Clutterbuck hit with a hard check of his own, but in most other instances, the Leafs turned the other cheek. After the tying Hyman goal was overturned because of an offsides video review and Cizikas goal shorthanded tally, Toronto’s energy evaporated and star players like Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner were barely noticeable.
The Leafs play the Buffalo Sabres for the second time this week at Scotiabank Arena and have six weeks to get Nazem Kadri, Gardiner and Dermott back into the lineup, but even with a full roster, the level of doubt has to be increasing on whether this group can step it up when it counts against Boston in early April.
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