The Maple Leafs lost 4-0 to the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena. Monday is a day off for the team.
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The injuries and losses are piling up for the Maple Leafs as they navigate an unrelenting schedule featuring top opposition.
“Guys gotta look in the mirror and just ask a little bit more of themselves and take on a little bit more,” captain Auston Matthews said following the latest setback on Sunday.
Toronto has dropped five of six games with all the defeats coming in regulation. As a result, the Leafs have fallen to seventh in the Atlantic Division and have the same record through 19 games (8-9-2) as last year when they finished 28th overall.
Matthews believes the early-season adversity can make the team stronger.
“What we do with this, you know, I hope it’s something that can kind of propel us forward and bring us a little bit closer together,” Matthews said.
The Leafs were missing four regulars on Sunday and that was before forward Colton Sissons left the game with an undisclosed lower-body injury late in the second period. But, regardless of who’s been in the lineup, the team is being plagued by the same problem.
“It’s kind of the same story,” Matthews acknowledged. “I thought we had a good first period [Sunday] and it’s just been tough for us to string together momentum and just consistency through 60 minutes of play and that’s really just been our Achilles’ heel all season long.”
The schedule isn’t helping. The Leafs are in the middle of a challenging six-game homestand, which started with losses to the Utah Mammoth, Montreal Canadiens and Devils. The opponents are just as tough, if not tougher, this week with the Colorado Avalanche (Tuesday), Minnesota Wild (Thursday) and Edmonton Oilers (Saturday) all visiting Scotiabank Arena.
“The games aren’t gonna get easier,” Matthews said. “Playing some really good teams here coming up and we just got to flip that mentality a little bit. You know, it’s simple. I think we’ve shown through moments and stretches and periods of times against good teams that we’re a really good team and we can compete.”
In fact, the Leafs already beat both the Avalanche and Oilers earlier this season thanks to strong road efforts.
“It’s just a matter of doing that consistently and not getting too high or too low,” Matthews continued. “It’s just staying even keel throughout 60 minutes, knowing that there’s going to be ups and downs. And making sure that that next shift, whether it’s a good one or bad one, we’re flushing it and going out there and getting after it again.”
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Jake McCabe stressed that the excitement and energy level needs to be high right from the opening faceoff on Tuesday.
“Try to be patient, but getting that lead I think is important, because we have been chasing a lot of games and that wears on you,” the veteran defenceman said.
The Leafs seemed to get deflated after the Devils grabbed the lead in the second period on Sunday. Toronto has fallen behind in all their most recent losses, and the deficit has been multiple goals in four of the five defeats.
“We went down [3-0] to Montreal,” head coach Jim Hiller said. “We tried to battle our way back. I thought [Sunday] the first goal was going to be really important and when they got it, we fell back.”
Hiller leaned on his top players a lot down the stretch on Saturday in a bid to rally in a crucial divisional duel. Matthews and William Nylander played just under 23 minutes against the Canadiens while John Tavares was up over 21 minutes in his first game action since Oct. 15. Darren Raddysh logged just under 30 minutes.
“We emptied the tank,” Hiller said. “I don’t want to make excuses, but it’s pretty hard coming back when you played a lot of guys, and then you miss a few guys who are important players for you ... We didn’t have it. That’s the bottom line. Just didn’t have it.”
The Devils also played an emotional divisional game against the New York Islanders on Saturday night and, unlike the Leafs, had to travel afterwards.
After getting hired, Hiller vowed to improve the spirit of the team. What’s the coach’s message at a time like this?
“Well, it’s a long season and it’s a hard stretch for us, no question, playing good teams under those circumstances [with injuries], but it’s the NHL,” Hiller said. “You just have to be the best version of yourself, each player. Some guys are getting more opportunity than they’ve ever had. They got to take advantage. The other guys who are our key leaders have to make sure their game is up to par. And we just all got to do it together. There’s just no other way ... [We’ve got to] fight for one another.”
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Defenceman Chris Tanev, who has dealt with a series of injuries the last two seasons, was scratched on Sunday in a planned load management move by the team.
McCabe noted it was “extremely” tough for Tanev, one of his best buddies, to sit out.
“You all know how much of a competitor he is, but that’s the plan and we’re gonna support him in every way,” McCabe said.
Defenceman Morgan Rielly sustained a lower-body injury in Saturday’s game and also missed Sunday’s game.
“A tweak, a muscle strain, nothing serious,” TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger said. “He’ll likely miss a week.”
The absence of Tanev and Rielly opened the door for Dakota Mermis and Cole McWard to draw in against the Devils. McWard was suiting up in his 10th career NHL game and first with the Leafs.
“It’s good to get out there,” McWard told TSN in an intermission interview. “It’s an honour to wear the jersey and really happy to be part of it.”
McWard received a text on Saturday night informing him that he’d be in the lineup.
“Obviously, there’s big lights and everything like that,” the 25-year-old said. “But, you know, it’s just playing hockey, so trying to be calm and make plays out there.”
McWard and Mermis were the only Leafs defencemen to not be on the ice for a goal against on Sunday.
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Vinni Lettieri got even less time to prepare than McWard as Jack Roslovic took warm-up rushes on the top line before being ruled out.
“You got to be prepared for that stuff,” Matthews said of losing his linemate moments before puck drop. “You know it was 50-50 going into it.”
“He wanted to play,” Hiller revealed. “He said, ‘You know what, I’ll be alright. I think I can do it.’ And then he just was unable. So, it was a hard one to gauge.”
Roslovic, who’s off to a great start with 18 points in 18 games, sustained an undisclosed lower-body injury during the second period of Tuesday’s game against the Mammoth. He missed Wednesday’s practice but was able to take part in Friday’s practice and log 20 minutes against the Canadiens. His career long seven-game point streak was snapped on Saturday.
The Leafs are listing Roslovic as day-to-day.
Sissons started Sunday’s game in Roslovic’s spot on the top line before he was forced to leave the game. Hiller had no update on his status afterwards.
Top-six winger Kirill Marchenko (lower body) missed a fifth straight game on Sunday and remains out week-to-week.
“We need guys to step up,” Hiller said. “That’s the bottom line. You need your top players to continue and then you need [help] from underneath, whether it’s Gavin [McKenna] or Cowboy [Easton Cowan], or I could go down the lineup, but you just need these other guys, who contributed pretty good so far this year, to keep going. It’s a lot to ask those young players, but we need them.”
Cowan, a sophomore winger, is fourth on the team with 12 even-strength points but has gone four straight games without hitting the scoresheet. He’s currently playing on the top line with Matthews.
McKenna was benched after committing a pair of costly turnovers on Saturday but responded with a goal in the third period against Montreal. That is his only point in the last four games.
Mckenna was elevated to the second line with Tavares and Nylander for Sunday’s game but finished without a shot on net for the first time in his young NHL career.
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The Devils scored a power-play goal in the third period. It was the seventh straight game that the Leafs allowed a goal while shorthanded.
“Right now, it’s gone in quite a bit and we’re just a little shell-shocked,” Hiller said. “And now you’re just trying to survive. It’ll turn again. It’s not like we’re giving up all kinds of opportunities. They’re creating some pretty good looks and finding the back of the net.”
Toronto killed off 37 of 38 penalties in the first 12 games and led the league in penalty-kill percentage (97.4). The team has allowed eight power-play goals over 25 opportunities in the past seven games, and their penalty-kill percentage (68) ranks 25th in this stretch.
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Last year around this time, then general manager Brad Treliving held a media availability to talk about the team’s disappointing performance (“too much vanilla”) through the first quarter of the season.
The Leafs are set to hit the quarter mark of this season on Thursday, but new general manager John Chayka is not scheduled to meet with reporters this week.
Chayka did hold an off-camera scrum with the travelling media on Oct. 26 in Calgary. TSN is told the plan is for him to meet with reporters at least once a month throughout the season in addition to whenever notable moves are made.
Chayka’s November media session is expected to be in front of cameras.
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Leafs’ lines to start Sunday’s game:
Cowan - Matthews - Sissons
McKenna - Tavares - Nylander
Joshua - Paul - Lettieri
Duhaime - Blueger - MacEwen
McCabe - Raddysh
Ekman-Larsson - Stecher
Mermis - McWard
Stolarz
Bobrovsky