Early mistakes cost Leafs as road woes continue

Kristen Shilton

TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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It was more of the same from the Maple Leafs on Friday, where another early deficit became a 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The second straight defeat was the first time Toronto has lost consecutive road games all season, dropping them to 9-3-0 on the road and 15-8-0 overall. 

TAKEAWAYS

Deja vu all over again

For the third consecutive game, the Leafs found themselves down 2-0 in the first period – and it was the second time in five nights they were trailing by two goals so quickly to the same team.

Toronto entered Friday’s game after hosting the Blue Jackets on Monday in their rink. Early in that outing, Columbus was leading its hosts 2-0, but Toronto stormed back to take two points in a 4-2 win. Fast-forward to Wednesday night in Carolina, and the Leafs were in an identical 2-0 hole by midway through the first, and went on to lose to the Hurricanes 5-2. 

So the Leafs found themselves in uncomfortably familiar territory when a pair of goals by Josh Anderson had them down to the Blue Jackets 2-0 just 9:57 into the opening frame on Friday. 

Anderson first got on the board courtesy of a blunder by defenceman Morgan Rielly, who tried sending an ill-advised backhand pass to Patrick Marleau in his own end that returned possession to Columbus at the blueline. Boone Jenner eventually got the initial shot on Frederik Andersen, and Anderson was there to pot the rebound. It was the third straight game where Toronto had given up the first goal, and the 14th time in their first 22 games (they’re 6-8-0 when the opposition scores first). 

Moments later, Anderson came calling again, capitalizing on the Leafs’ chaos around their net by batting a puck out of the air and behind Andersen to extend Columbus’ lead.

Before the first period was over, Ron Hainsey responded with his third goal of the season (and first in 18 games), a seeing-eye shot through traffic. But Toronto’s lack of early execution and inability to capitalize on their own chances (they held 60 per cent possession on the night) ultimately took its toll.

Rough night for Leafs’ stars

It was Rielly’s error on the breakout attempt just 3:55 into the first period that set up Columbus’ first goal, and his night didn’t improve from there, ending with a career-worst minus-4 rating and a team-low 41 per cent possession. 

Later in the third period, both Rielly and Hainsey were turned around on Markus Hännikäinen’s goal, swatting at the puck ineffectively to try and keep it out. 

In the end, Rielly was on the ice for all four of Columbus’ goals, but the entire 60-minute performance was uncharacteristic of the Leafs’ best and most consistent defenceman all season. He’s had a long run of offensive success to date (with nine goals and 26 points to pace all NHL defencemen), but Rielly can’t allow that to push his defensive responsibilities to the back burner. 

Up front, Friday was a tough go for John Tavares as well. The Leafs’ top centre took two penalties in the second period, slowing Toronto’s much-needed momentum, and then got burned by a toe-dragging Cam Atkinson on the power play to give up a shorthanded goal. Tavares leads the NHL in goals on the road this season (11) but couldn’t covert on his chances in front of Sergei Bobrovsky when the Leafs needed it most. He finished minus-2, with two shots on goal. 

In net, Andersen also struggled uncharacteristically, producing his worst save percentage (.833) since Oct. 6 in a 20-stop performance. That was the third-fewest stops Andersen has made all season, and the game marked the third time in his last four starts Andersen has allowed three or more goals-against. 

A significant part of Andersen’s success this season – his 12 wins led the NHL at American Thanksgiving for the first time by a Toronto netminder since 1961 – has been his play away from Toronto. Through eight road starts before Friday’s, Andersen was an impressive 7-1-0, with the lone loss coming Wednesday in Carolina. By the final buzzer in Columbus, Andersen had accrued two road losses in a row for the first time this season, and back-to-back losses for the third time. 

Kapanen keeps making his case

If the Leafs want restricted free agent William Nylander in their lineup this season, there’s just one week left before the NHL’s Dec. 1 deadline to get a deal done. But even if (or when) that happens, Kasperi Kapanen is making an increasingly compelling case for why he should retain a prominent role in Toronto’s offence. 

His game-tying goal in Columbus was Kapanen’s second score in as many nights, putting him at 10 in the last 21 games and four in his last five outings. It’s a notable uptick in production for Kapanen, who went seven games without a goal after being moved to the Nazem Kadri line with Marleau following Auston Matthews’ shoulder injury in late October. Kapanen had played with Matthews for eight games prior to that, recording five goals and four assists in the first consistent top-six opportunity of his young career.

While not all of Friday’s game was strong for Kapanen – he finished minus-2 with two shots – his increased consistency and confidence is hard to ignore. If (or when) Nylander returns, coach Mike Babcock will have to decide which players will be bumped down the lineup (and out of it entirely) to make room. Kapanen has predominantly played on the fourth line in his NHL chances the last three seasons, and started this season there as well. But with his speed, vision and goal-scoring ability having a major impact on Toronto, Kapanen is doing his part to make whatever conclusion Babcock comes to a difficult one. 

Power play (still) can’t perform

Whatever the reason, Toronto’s power play has been anemic at best since early November, and they put up another goose egg with those units in Columbus (0-for-3). It was the fourth straight game Toronto hadn’t converted on at least one power play chance, and seventh time in their last eight outings they hadn’t scored on at least one try. Excluding a three-goal showing against the last-place Los Angeles Kings, Toronto hasn’t scored a power play marker since Nov. 3, and is 3-for-24 in that stretch. 

Friday was more of the same on the man advantage, with Toronto not generating many high-quality chances and at times struggling just to stay in the Blue Jackets’ end. Their third opportunity was by far the best, and challenged Bobrovsky with some dangerous shots, but the goaltender was there to halt them all. 

Milestone alert

Igor Ozhiganov, the Leafs’ third-pairing defenceman alongside Travis Dermott, assisted on Hainsey’s goal, marking this first point of his NHL career in his 19th career game. 

Blue and White Trending

Tracking Leafs’ trends all season long

Atkinson’s shorthanded goal was the first Toronto has allowed this season on the road, and the second overall. 

Next game

Toronto comes home to face Philadelphia on Saturday.