The Toronto Maple Leafs have three weeks to straighten out their issues before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but their performance recently casts doubt on whether this club can get healthy and play the type of hockey that will result in post-season success.
The Leafs capped a bad week with a 6-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Center on Saturday. Toronto once again fell into their all-too-familiar pattern of starting slow (allowing 17 shots in the first period), falling behind (5-2 to the league’s worst team) and not having enough fuel in the tank to stage a late comeback in the second of back-to-back games.
The issues that have caused the Leafs to give up 23 goals this week to Tampa Bay, Chicago, Philadelphia and Ottawa and blow what might have been their last opportunity to catch Boston in the race for home-ice are not the result of one particular thing, but a multisystem failure.
“It probably feels that one little bounce or one mistake has proven very costly but that’s the way it’s going right now.” John Tavares said after the game. “Everything gets very tight and the margin for error is very small, and that’s no matter who you’re playing against. No question, we’ve got to be a lot better than we’ve been. It’s obviously been a hell of a week.”
Toronto has the fifth-best record in the NHL, so to say this season is a disaster would be hyperbolic, but the Leafs simply have not shown any ability to play a style more conducive to playoff success and that is a failure of every level of the organization.
Kyle Dubas has to be credited for the signing of John Tavares, getting Auston Matthews extended and adding role players like Tyler Ennis in his first season as GM, but the failure to add defensive depth at the deadline and the ongoing inconsistency of the backup goaltending has left the Leafs vulnerable going into the postseason.
The club is an offensive powerhouse with the addition of Tavares and the ascendance of Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson, but weaknesses in other areas call into question the decision to not give up one of their many offensive weapons to address needs on the blueline.
The loss of Jake Gardiner was compounded by the injury to Travis Dermott on Deadline Day and further exacerbated by injuries to depth options Calle Rosen and Andreas Borgman. That left Mike Babcock in the untenable position of rotating the trio of Martin Marincin, Igor Ozhiganov and Justin Holl.
The Leafs head coach has to accept some of the blame for there not being any significant change or improvement in the defensive zone and also his management of the players on the roster. Babcock said earlier in the week that he expects one of Marincin, Ozhiganov or Holl to grab a spot on the bottom pairing with Gardiner’s return in question, but it is clear that he has little confidence in any of his options, limiting their ice time and giving Morgan Rielly, Ron Hainsey, Jake Muzzin and Nikita Zaitsev more minutes.
Sparks allowed six goals on 44 shots in the loss on Saturday. The Leafs backup has a .500 record (7-7-1) and below average numbers in goals against (3.24) and save percentage (.902). The decision to keep the Calder Cup winner over the more experienced Curtis McElhinney or Calvin Pickard has cost Toronto valuable points in the standings and Sparks’ inconsistent performance likely means that Babcock will rely more on Frederik Andersen in the final 10 games while there is still a chance to catch the Bruins.
“Being a professional is getting ready each and every day and doing your part. So if you’re (Sparks), your job is to stop the puck and if you’re a (defenseman), it’s to move the puck and keep it out.” Babcock said. “You’ve got to dig in, you’ve got to do your part and when you go through lows you’ve got to work that much harder and compete.”
The Leafs should get Kapanen back from his concussion issues, Dermott back from his shoulder injury and call Rosen up from the AHL before the end of the regular season, but for Toronto to have any chance for success, they will have to show a higher level of effort and attention to detail than they have displayed all season.
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