Columnist image

TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

| Archive

The Maple Leafs fell in extra time for the second consecutive night, losing 3-2 in overtime to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. It was the first time Toronto has lost two games in a row since a four-game skid from Jan. 8-18, but also marked their sixth straight game in which they earned at least one point. The loss moved the Leafs to 39-20-7 on the season.

TAKEAWAYS

Down - and then out

The Leafs have found themselves down early in games pretty frequently of late, but more often than not they have also showed the poise to get themselves out of those problematic jams.

For the sixth time in their last seven games, the Leafs gave up the first goal of the game, this time to Panthers superstar Aleksander Barkov on a first-period power play. Then it was Jonathan Huberdeau doubling the Leafs’ deficit with a score early in the second frame that kept all the momentum on the side of the home team. The challenge of coming back has seemed to embolden the Leafs of late though, and they got back to work with furious vigour in short order. It only took Dominic Moore 1:11 to respond to Huberdeau’s goal and cut the Panthers’ lead to one, and Zach Hyman erased it all together with his 12th of the season midway through the frame.

The second period has been Toronto’s Achilles heel all season – and it was certainly their weakest frame in Monday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning – but against the Panthers it was where they were most dominant and did the best job of shutting down middle ice and not letting Florida generate much speed. The four goals scored in regulation exceeded the number of goals scored in the first two meetings this season between these teams combined; those contests were goalie duels that ended up being low-scoring affairs. Once Hyman’s tally went in, that’s exactly what Tuesday’s game became for Curtis McElhinney and Roberto Luongo. The goaltenders turned aside a total of 27 shots the rest of the way to overtime, but with few really high-danger chances to speak of as time wound down towards the end of regulation.

In overtime, the Leafs had too many missed opportunities, and then a bad pinch by Nikita Zaitsev opened the door for Jared McCann to wrist home the game-winner in extra time. For the second straight night, the Leafs found themselves in a situation where the outcome could have gone either way. Toronto controlled possession in every period, finishing at nearly 65 per cent on the night, but were able to roll four lines pretty effectively. But when the chances were there for the taking (like for Patrick Marleau with a breakaway in overtime, same as he had against Tampa on Monday), the Leafs couldn’t get them through. And it cost them another point. 

Slick Willy style

With Auston Matthews out of the lineup, Leafs head coach Mike Babcock tapped William Nylander to move from the wing to centre the Leafs’ top line, saying that if things went well with him there then that would be the arrangement for the foreseeable future. Monday’s game in Tampa went decidedly not well for Nylander, who posted a team-low 22 per cent possession centring Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen and had none of the explosiveness or defensive awareness that he’s capable of bringing to that role. So it was no surprise that Babcock made an adjustment against the Panthers, putting Nylander back on the wall and moving newcomer Tomas Plekanec into the middle of that line.

Whether it was motivations derived from the demotion away from centre or not, Nylander put forth an electric effort against Florida. That unit had good pressure early in the first period, driven by Nylander in the neutral zone and Hyman forechecking down low. Those two ended up connecting in the second period on what was a game-tying goal at the time, all courtesy of a tremendous sequence from Nylander. He would not be denied the puck as he hounded it off the stick of Evgenii Dadonov in the neutral zone, and whistled his way through to drop it off in front of Luongo for Hyman to bang home. That was Hyman’s first goal since Feb. 5, snapping a 10-game goal drought, and was Nylander’s 16th point in his last 19 games (five goals, 11 assists).

As Babcock has said over and over again regarding Nylander, it is easier to play on the wing than in the middle at the NHL level; the energy and effort has to be there every shift to play a 200-foot game. It’s clear Nylander has the ability to bring what’s required, but doing it regularly remains a barrier to his potential future at centre. Only time will tell if he can put all the pieces together to take on that responsibility full time down the road. Nylander finished the night with 61.90 per cent possession and one shot on goal.

Mac making his starts count

Nearly every time McElhinney steps between the pipes for Toronto, it’s in an unfavourable situation (the second night of a back-to-back) where he’s trying to live up to the high standard set on a nightly basis by starter Frederik Andersen. It’s as mentally challenging a position for any backup goaltender to find themselves in, but after putting a rough stretch in December behind him, McElhinney continued to stay hot in net against the Panthers. Heading into the matchup, he had won his four previous starts, with a 1.17 goals-against average and .964 save-percentage.

The first two goals Florida scored were more circumstantial than because of McElhinney’s mistakes – Barkov’s was on the second of two Panthers’ power plays in three minutes, and the Leafs’ defence gave Huberdeau the slot free and clear from which to score. From there, however, McElhinney was rock solid, aided by the fact neither team was generating too many high-quality scoring chances. When they did, though, McElhinney was there. He made a good positional save on McCann in the first period after the Leafs did a poor job defending middle ice that left McCann alone in the slot. After being a little too aggressive on the puck earlier on, McElhinney was smarter down the stretch in prioritizing efficiency of his movements and tracking the puck well through traffic.

When the game got to overtime, McElhinney was tested early, but he made a sensational stop on Huberdeau off a two-on-one chance for the Panthers and a couple more big saves before McCann went barrelling in unopposed. McElhinney stopped 28 of 31 shots for a .903 save percentage. His next start projects to be on March 5 against Buffalo, the second-to-last time Toronto will play on a back-to-back this season. 

Brown lifting his linemates

Even with a 20-goal NHL season already to his credit, Connor Brown is never thought of as being a particularly flashy or highly skilled winger, in the same vein as one who can drive his own line. But he is consistently dependable, and it was that which was on display in a game where his line had trouble making much of anything happen early on.

Tyler Bozak’s two stick infractions in the first period, separated by just 3:07, cost Toronto the game’s opening goal and put them on their heels. But while Bozak struggled, Brown was shining with a disruptive forecheck and by creating space for Bozak and fellow linemate James van Riemsdyk (who also found himself in the box in the second period). The veterans don’t have the same defensive acumen as Brown, but when they play on a line with the sophomore he does enough on the defensive side of the puck to help mask a lot of the trouble that unit might otherwise find itself in.

And it wasn’t just at even strength that Brown was making his presence felt – he tried to mimic a patented van Riemsdyk move on the penalty kill as well, attempting to shoot from between his legs on Luongo while short-handed. Had the puck gone in, the goal would have been one of the best displays of Brown’s offensive prowess yet, but the confidence that radiated from him the entire game was immense considering it wasn’t a good night for either Bozak or van Riemsdyk. That unit still finished with the lowest possession of the night for the Leafs at 55 per cent; Brown finished with two shots on goal in 16:53 of ice time, including 2:56 short-handed. 

Next game

Toronto will play its second outdoor game in as many seasons on Saturday, when they battle the Washington Capitals at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.​