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The Toronto Maple Leafs once again were unable to string an excellent 60-minute effort in a 6-3 loss to the struggling Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, due mostly to fatal defensive errors at the most inopportune time of the game. With it tied 3-3 in the third period after Nick Robertson’s first goal of the season, the Leafs gave up goals to Dominik Kubalik, Tim Stutzle, and Claude Giroux in the span of 3:11.
Joseph Woll had a difficult outing, allowing six goals on 31 shots, and was at fault for the opening goal to Kubalik and a giveaway outside of the crease that resulted in Giroux’s insurance goal, but it is difficult to hang the result of the game just on the Leafs goaltender and not the performance of the players in front of him.
“Some of it is individual. Some of it is collective within the structure. Some of it is just being committed to it.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe commented on the club’s defensive issues after the game. “We sit here and celebrate guys who score big numbers and score a ton. We don’t talk enough about what we give up. That is the reality. We have to prioritize keeping the puck out of our net.”
The Leafs are under .500 at home (3-4-0), due mostly to them giving up an average of over four goals per game at Scotiabank Arena, but that lack of success is also due to the mentality that has been omnipresent during the Shanahan era, which is that the club can outscore their defensive problems.
That has led to regular season success and postseason failure. The only time the Leafs have had success in that period is when they added two-way players like Noel Acciari and Ryan O’Reilly, and physicality on the blueline in Jake McCabe and Luke Schenn before last year’s trade deadline.
There continues to be inconsistent defensive buy-in by the top-six of the club, insufficient quality depth up front, and a defensive corps so flawed that it will prevent them from having any kind of success. The fourth line of Noah Gregor, David Kampf, and Ryan Reaves were on the ice for another goal against, and the Leafs special teams failed them, giving up the game-winning goal on the power play as Kubalik’s shot deflected off of Mark Giordano’s skate past Woll.
While Keefe’s cry for more effort in all three zones is understandable and accurate, the flaws in the club’s makeup have been exposed.
Toronto is near the bottom in the NHL in penalty killing, due in part because they were unable to retain or dealt good defensive forwards like Acciari (signed as a free agent with Pittsburgh) or Sam Lafferty (traded to Vancouver), in favor of Noah Gregor (who was barely used on the PK with San Jose) and overusing top forwards Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews on regular shifts and both special team units.
The signing of Reaves has been an unmitigated disaster after one month, with the enforcer -9 in 13 games averaging just 7:46 per game.
Where the problems are most obvious are on the blueline. The injuries to Timothy Liljegren, Jake McCabe, and Conor Timmins have exposed the Leafs lack of blueline depth. While William Lagesson and Simon Benoit are capable of filling in on the bottom pairing in a pinch, the issue has been lumping on top-four minutes to Mark Giordano and John Klingberg. Both were -3 on Wednesday and Keefe said after the game that Klingberg’s issues were concerning.
Let’s face it, we saw last season that Giordano is well suited to playing controlled minutes, but when forced to play 20 minutes a night, he is exposed. The same goes with Klingberg, who in Dallas was a premier offensive defenseman and power play quarterback, which covered up his defensive issues. Klingberg has gone pointless in the last seven games and without his offensive production, he becomes a total liability.
GM Brad Treliving may be powerless at this point of the season to rectify these situations, with the Leafs up against the cap, but the club’s defensive issues were quite apparent going back to the summer and were not adequately addressed. They may pull out of these struggles and have success as they have the last few seasons, but in the end, it will cost them as it has before.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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