Dec 15, 2017
Stalock slams door on Leafs
Wild backup goalie Alex Stalock, who was briefly a member of the Maple Leafs’ organization, earns a shutout against the NHL’s fourth-ranked offence, with Toronto now losing seven of its last eight games to Minnesota, TSN’s Kristen Shilton writes from St. Paul, Minn.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Maple Leafs had avoided being shut out all season, but that streak came to an end Thursday night in a 2-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild. Toronto has now lost seven of their last eight to the Wild, and the team hasn’t won in Minnesota since March 2011. Thursday marked the Leafs’ second consecutive loss, the first time they’ve lost back-to-back games since Nov. 4.
TAKEAWAYS
Revenge tour complete
He never suited up for the Maple Leafs, but Wild backup goalie Alex Stalock was briefly a member of the Leafs’ organization. The goaltender was traded to Toronto from the San Jose Sharks in 2016 as part of the James Reimer deal. The Leafs put Stalock on waivers the following day and after clearing he went on to play just three games for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies before departing as a free agent that summer. Stalock said before the game that not getting a real opportunity with the Leafs “left a fire in my belly” and he proved it on Thursday, earning his first NHL shutout of the season and his first in the league in three years. Stalock became the first goalie all season to shut the door on the Leafs’ fourth-ranked offence. The Leafs sent most of their shots at Stalock from the near slot, but by failing to get bodies in front of him he was able to track the puck easily. He finished with 28 saves. At the other end of the rink, Frederik Andersen had another solid showing for the Leafs. Both goals came off defensive zone turnovers by his teammates, and clean looks for the opposition. For his marker, Mikael Granlund was left all alone in the slot to take a pass from Eric Staal behind the net and easily put it high glove on Andersen. Toronto looked like it was regressing in terms of defensive zone play, closer to where they were to start the season when turnovers and blown assignments were repeatedly costing the team goals. Andersen finished with 24 saves for a .923 save percentage.
Low-event hockey
The Leafs charged onto the scene this season playing an exciting, high-octane brand of hockey that was goal-heavy. Thursday’s game was the polar opposite of that. Although players preached not sitting back the way they did in Tuesday’s loss to Philadelphia, that’s still what happened early. The Wild had their way with Toronto for much of the first two periods, outshooting the visitors 19-12 and leading 1-0. At the halfway point of the game, the Leafs had managed only eight shots on net. Toronto was putting too much stock in a pattern that’s emerged over this last week – one or two Leafs explode out of the zone towards centre ice looking for a stretch pass that inevitably deflected off the boards or was intercepted by the Wild. That would lead to another Minnesota zone entry and offensive pressure, the likes of which the Leafs were hard-pressed to sustain at the other end. Toronto found more of their game by the final minutes of the second period, and won the possession battle at 60 per cent in that frame, but Minnesota did a better job clogging shooting lanes (they blocked 21 shots to Toronto’s eight) and the Leafs didn’t get much traffic in front of Stalock. The third period was Toronto’s best and they generated a game-high five high-danger chances in front of Stalock, but Granlund was the only player to find the back of the net. Afterwards, Mitch Marner likened the game to a playoff tilt where there was no room through the neutral zone or space to shoot, which ultimately doomed the Leafs.
Power failure
In a game where they didn’t have many even-strength chances, Toronto let opportunity slip away with some poor power-play chances. The Leafs looked disorganized, making sloppy passes, and giving up short-handed chances the other way. On one man advantage, Jake Gardiner had to chase down a Minnesota two-on-one and get between the give-and-go pass from Daniel Winnik to save a goal and turn play back the other way. On four power-play chances, the Leafs generated just four shots on goal, none of which were especially dangerous, and won only 50 per cent of their faceoffs. Capitalizing on even one of the three man advantage chances they had in the first 40 minutes could have been a difference-maker for the tone of the game. Toronto now has only one power-play goal in their last six games (1-for-14).
Taking his shot
Josh Leivo doesn’t get many chances in the Leafs’ lineup, but with Auston Matthews missing his third straight game with an upper-body injury, Leivo has been a regular on Toronto’s fourth line. While he hasn’t traditionally been a grinder in his career, the more experience he gets there, the more Leivo is finding ways to balance his scoring abilities with his defensive duties. He was also a catalyst for the Leafs’ eventual turnaround towards the end of the second period, when he put together a great pair of shifts that resulted in two quality scoring chances on Stalock. Leafs head coach Mike Babcock harps on his players to “compete” and Leivo was the definition of that throughout the game, chasing down loose pucks, forechecking well and winning one-on-one battles. He finished with two shots on goal, one takeaway and 64 per cent possession. On the opposite end of the possession spectrum was Patrick Marleau’s line alongside Zach Hyman and Mitch Marner. Babcock assembled that group at the Leafs’ morning skate and they spent most of the game in their own zone, hovering around 30 per cent possession, right alongside the defensive pair of Nikita Zaitsev and Jake Gardiner (35 per cent).
Next game
Toronto heads to Detroit for the second game of back-to-back road games on Friday. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m. on TSN4 (Leafs region only).