Columnist image

TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

| Archive

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs could have been playoff-bound by Thursday night. Instead they were searching for answers after their second straight loss.

Facing an injury-depleted Tampa Bay Lightning team fighting to keep its slim postseason hopes alive, Toronto showed flashes but never truly established its game, losing 4-1. It was the first time the Maple Leafs have suffered consecutive regulation losses since Feb. 15-18, and the first back-to-back home losses since Dec. 7-11.

“We knew what was at stake, we knew the game plan, we had a lot of meetings, we were well-prepared but we didn’t do our job,” said Morgan Rielly. “We’re not very pleased with the game tonight and it just puts more pressure on the next one.”

The Lightning and New York Islanders (who beat the Carolina Hurricanes) both moved to within three points of the Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference standings, while the Ottawa Senators clinched their own playoff berth. There’s one spot left up for grabs in the East, and it belongs to Toronto – for now. They still control their own fate but hoped it would be sealed by now.

“We wanted to come out and win tonight but that didn’t happen,” Rielly said. “Now we look forward. We’re still in a spot where we can be playing in a week or two weeks, and we have to focus on what we can do to make sure that happens.”

The first step will be figuring out what went wrong against the Lightning. Head coach Jon Cooper said before Thursday’s game that while he couldn’t guarantee any result, he knew his Tampa Bay team would give a “hell of an effort,” and they delivered with a performance that far surpassed what the Maple Leafs turned in. Tuesday’s loss to the Washington Capitals could be blamed on fatigue – Toronto played on a back-to-back coming off a three-game road trip – but Toronto pointed the finger at themselves on Thursday.

“As good as Tampa was, we got in our own way tonight,” said Mike Babcock. “We weren’t very good tonight for whatever reason. We have to look at ourselves. You go over and over a foundation of how to play so in the big moments you know what to do, and we didn’t do that. We came here hoping to get in the playoffs, but what you have to do is come here and do your job just like you do every night.”

After a scoreless first period, the Lightning jumped out to a lead in the second period that was quickly answered by a Nazem Kadri goal. The Maple Leafs didn’t draw as much momentum from the score as they had hoped, relying on another solid performance from goaltender Frederik Andersen to keep the game close. But they failed to give their netminder much help.

Suddenly the Maple Leafs’ red-hot offence has gone stone-cold, producing just two goals in the last six periods for the first time since Feb. 9-11. The more frustrated Toronto got against the Lightning, the harder it became to stick to their blueprint.

“They like to get rolling around, play with speed, cycle down, cycle up and make us skate and that’s what they did," Rielly said of the Lightning. “Our game plan was to make them stop and we weren’t able to do that and when they get moving around guys lose track. With players like they have, they’re going to create offensive opportunities.”

Noting how the Lightning’s most important players had a big impact on the game – Victor Hedman tallied three assists, Ondrej Palat had two, Kucherov scored after dancing through Toronto’s defence and rookie Brayden Point scored twice – Babcock didn’t see the results he is accustomed to getting from his team these last couple of months. Toronto’s players steadfastly denied before the game they were getting ahead of themselves with the possibility of clinching a spot within reach, and there was no outward sense of panic about a lull in their game at the worst possible time.

“We’ll fix this. We’ll get ourselves right to play, and play like we normally do,” Babcock said. “[We can’t] let the excitement of the moment or the energy of the moment get in the way of who we are. That’s why you go through these opportunities, so you can learn from them. We had frustration on our bench and just in the way we played and once we cool down and come back in the morning and deal with that, we’ll get better.”


Takeaways

Dodging bullets: Auston Matthews has gotten used to being the center of attention, on and off the ice, but the Lightning were playing Toronto’s leading scorer as tight as any opponent this season. Near the end of the first period, Tampa Bay defenceman Jake Dotchin took it up a notch, laying a knee-on-knee hit on Matthews as he entered the Lightning zone that dropped the rookie to the ice. He managed to skate it off, and didn’t miss any shifts, but the unpenalized strike didn’t go over well with the Maple Leafs’ bench. Brayden Coburn depositing Matthews into the net at the start of the second didn’t either, and Matt Martin dropped the gloves with Coburn to make sure he knew it. Towards the end of that frame, another high-profile rookie – Mitch Marner – was also felled briefly, by what appeared to be a puck to the face. Marner made it back to the bench but was in obvious discomfort. Toronto’s last two games have been especially physical, offering a window into the type of atmosphere they can expect in the postseason with so much on the line.

Calm Kadri: Continuously lost amid the hype over the Maple Leafs’ rookies is how strong a season Kadri has had. He is one of Toronto’s emotional leaders, and one of only four skaters in the game Thursday who was on the ice in the team’s last playoff game in 2013. When Toronto needed a boost, Kadri found a way to provide it in the second, rushing towards the net and perfectly redirecting Matt Hunwick’s shot from the halfboards to tie the game with his 32nd goal of the season. The ensuing pressure by the Maple Leafs was exactly what they needed to feel in control again after a strong first period, but they weren’t able to maintain it for any period of time. No matter what situation Kadri has been put in these last 10 games, he finds a way to have an impact and contribute. Kadri finished the night with a game-high six shots on goal, and 61 per cent in the faceoff dot.

All about Andy: Andersen has to be Toronto’s best player every night for them to be at their best, and the Maple Leafs squandered some good goaltending by him against Tampa Bay in a 26-save performance. With Toronto allowing a number of clean looks and odd-man breaks, Andersen had to be sharp. He made a jaw-dropping glove save on Jonathan Drouin, and an equally impressive stop of a Kucherov breakaway to preserve Toronto’s chance at a comeback in the third period. But too often Toronto left him out to dry, like when Andrej Sustr was able to put a perfect pass from behind the net right to a wide-open Michael Bournival on Andersen’s doorstep. Bournival was just called up from the AHL on Wednesday. Since showing good progress tightening up after the defence pairs were rearranged, it was a sloppier showing by the backend compared to what they are capable of. It was Andersen’s first regulation loss since March 14.

Missing piece: In a playoff-like game, special teams are bound to play a decisive role in the result, and they did on Thursday. The Lightning took three penalties by early in the second period (including two back-to-back infractions) but their 16th-ranked penalty kill outdueled the Maple Leafs’ second-ranked power play each time. Toronto put four shots on goal, none of which got through, and were stoned with the extra man for the first time in four games. Meanwhile Roman Polak took an ill-advised interference penalty halfway through the middle frame and the Lightning capitalized on their one and only power play shot when Point sent a wrister from the slot past Andersen. Toronto finished 1-for-2 on the kill.

Next game: Toronto will welcome in Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.