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Leafs split in Sunshine State after lackluster loss to Panthers

January 18, 2019, 11:42 PM ET [93 Comments]
Mike Augello
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After an impressive victory over the NHL’s best team in Tampa Bay on Thursday, the Toronto Maple Leafs completed their two-game road swing through Florida with a 3-1 loss to the Panthers at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL on Friday.

It was a particularly difficult night for the Leafs offense, who after scoring four times against the Lightning had difficulty generating scoring chances against a Florida club who came into the game losers of seven straight.

Ron Hainsey gave Toronto just 1:49 into the game on a slapshot that beat Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo, but the Leafs only managed 21 shots on the night, and could not overcome Florida first period tallies from Mike Hoffman and Michael Matheson.



“I thought (the Panthers) were better than us at the start, it appeared like it took us a while to get our legs going (and) we got ourselves behind.” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “I thought they did a real nice job and we didn't execute at a high enough level to make it hard on Luongo at all tonight. Give them credit – they had good energy, they played real well. We were unable to follow up last night's effort with one of the same.”

Backup Garret Sparks made 26 saves in his first start since December 29th, and kept the Leafs within striking distance in the second half of the game.

Unlike their effort on Thursday, Toronto did not have Frederik Andersen to cover up for their defensive shortcomings, including Nikita Zaitsev and Jake Gardiner losing battles along the boards and giving up the puck on Hoffman’s goal.



Auston Matthews and William Nylander had another rough game. After being on the ice for Florida’s opening goal, Babcock substituted Andreas Johnsson for Zach Hyman in hopes of sparking the pairing, but they on the ice for Matheson’s game winner late in the first.

“We want Willy being a contributor for our hockey club. He's an honest kid and usually puts in a good effort.” Babcock said. “The line change came with trying to win the hockey game. I changed the lines in the first, I changed them in the second, you're just trying to get something going because we weren't going.”

After maintaining a nearly goal-per-game pace through 20 games, Matthews has scored just once in his last 11, while Nylander has just three points (1 goal, 2 assists) since signing his six-year contract on December 1.

The pair were both -3 on the night and Nylander finished the game on the fourth line with Par Lindholm and Frederik Gauthier.

“I think the chances have been there throughout a lot of the games and I just haven't been able to find the net.” Nylander said. “Today was a little tougher. I've never had a slump like this in my life. I'm just trying to find a way to work through it. I've just got to work harder and harder.”

The Leafs through December were able to maintain a high level of success without Nylander contributing, but with Matthews, Nazem Kadri and Patrick Marleau struggling and the only consistent offense coming from John Tavares and Mitch Marner, it is imperative that they get some offense out of the talented winger.



Nylander has put together some good efforts early in games against Boston and Colorado, but the most objective observer has to admit that is nowhere close to the player he has been over the last two years.

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