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Through the first three games, there has been little surprising about the Toronto Maple Leafs. The addition of center John Tavares to go along with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner has given head coach Mike Babcock a dynamic offensive trio, but concerns about the performance of their defense and backup goaltending revealed themselves in a wildly entertaining 7-6 overtime victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on Sunday.
Tavares registered his first hat trick in Blue and White, while Matthews scored twice and a pair of assists, giving him eight points on the season, the NHL lead in scoring and earning NHL first star of the week honors. Marner added a pair of helpers and Morgan Rielly registered three points on the night, including the game winner 19 seconds into overtime.
.@sportingnewsca Auston Matthews on holding his hand to his ear after his go ahead goal and seeing Patrick Kane do the same in response "You gotta love it, (Kane) is a guy I love to watch. When that happens, all I can do is sit back and laugh." #Leafs#TMLTalkpic.twitter.com/7flTOAuvHS
”(Matthews is) a determined guy. You're not getting a more determined guy, in my opinion, a better leader, in hockey than that guy.” Babcock said after the game. “He knows how to play, he's better in the big moments. It doesn't matter who you play with him, they're always good players. They might not be, but when they play with him, they're good players and that's what you want from Matthews. You want a guy who's going to -- he wants to be the best player in hockey. In order to do that, you've got to play 200 feet and play with and without (the puck).
While keeping Toronto off the scoreboard will be a tough task for the opposition, they are going to need production from players outside of their core group. Of their 13 goals, only one has been scored by someone other than Matthews, Tavares, Marner or Rielly and Kasperi Kapanen’s first period tally was a result of a lob pass from Matthews.
More of a concern was a shoddy defensive performance and a subpar opening effort from backup Garret Sparks that made it necessary for Toronto to score seven times to earn the victory. The Leafs struggled early, a tip in goal by Jonathan Toews gave Chicago the lead and a Kapanen turnover led to a defensive zone breakdown and Alex DeBrincat’s second of the season.
The speedy Finn and Matthews scored 34 seconds apart in the first to tie the game, before Tavares got into the act, scoring a pair in the middle frame and his hat trick goal midway through the third, but every time the Leafs pulled ahead, the Hawks had a reply. John Hayden scored in the second through the pads of Sparks to keep the deficit only one goal entering the third and Brandon Manning tied the game early in the third on a long screen shot that caught the inside of the post past the Leafs netminder.
Sparks allowed six goals on 31 shots in his debut and with the Leafs holding a one goal late in regulation, the Elmhurst, IL native allowed short side and five-hole goals from Patrick Kane to force overtime.
“It was probably fun for the fans, a lot of entertainment out there. Obviously, it was going in on both nets. We had a lot of good plays. (The Hawks) were flying, we were standing there watching them at the start -- I don't know if that's too much respect or what that was at the start, but once we got playing I thought we did a real good job.” Babcock said. “Yet, the puck kept going in on our net. I thought we were home free a few times, but that never happened.”
This type of performance is something we have seen before. Last season, the Leafs home opening win was an 8-5 track meet against the New York Rangers in which they blew a 5-1 lead. While other teams are playing loosey goosey hockey, Toronto can earn victories on pure offense alone, but as the season progresses and their opponents play tighter, the Leafs will need their defense to step up and their goalies to make big saves.
At this point, to use the expression of former NFL coach Dennis Green, the Leafs are who we thought they were.
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