TORONTO — Crummy puck luck.
That was the theme inside the Toronto Maple Leafs’ dressing room after they blew another lead to another divisional rival and suffered a second one-goal regulation loss in their opening week after being very much in the contest.
“I don’t want to make excuses, but somebody said we had six or seven posts or crossbars. Lots of iron,” said head coach Jim Hiller, reluctant to be overly critical after Saturday’s 2-1 lead dissolved into a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Margins for success are expected to be thin in an Atlantic Division that features a five-alarm blaze in Detroit (is it too late to trade Matthew Knies for Simon Edvinsson, the latest Red Wing talent who wants out?) and seven organizations that have every intention of making playoffs.
So, if you’re the overhauled Maple Leafs, do you chalk up winnable games but losing results to Montreal and now Ottawa as squandered points? Or rather decent, if flawed, showings that double as building blocks?
No biggie. All that clanged iron can eventually be ironed out.
“Some unlucky bounces, some posts, and then just got a little undisciplined at the end, and they capitalize (two seconds after) their power play, and you’re trying to chase it the last six, seven minutes to find one. We weren’t able to do it,” said Auston Matthews, who scored his first in the second with a nifty downward tip of a Morgan Rielly sifter.
“A lot of good chances, crossbars, pucks lying there, and I think it’s just a matter of time. But I feel like we’re moving the puck a little bit better offensively, especially on the power play, which is a huge part of the game.”
William Nylander echoed the captain’s sentiment, noting countryman Linus Ullmark’s strong showing (.931) in what was the Senators’ opening game and first action in a week.
“We had a lot of chances to score today, so that’s probably the difference,” Nylander said. “We had enough chances to win the game, there’s no question.”
He’s not wrong. But there is more to it here.
Sure, the Leafs game-breakers could’ve executed sharper on their 22 high-danger looks (per Sportlogiq) and left with a point or two. But the team that controlled play in the second period got the ice tilted toward Sergei Bobrovsky’s crease in the third. This despite Ottawa losing its No. 1 defenceman, Jake Sanderson, to an aggravated lower-body injury early in the first.
Two sloppy stick penalties away from any real danger — a Kirill Marcenko high stick on Tim Stützle and a Jack Roslovic neutral-zone trip — gave the Senators’ power play momentum that they carried into 5-on-5 play, pinning the Leafs in the own zone late. And Toronto’s own third-period power-play and 6-on-5 desperation look failed to convert.
(While Matthews signalled a dive on Stützle for the neck snap, the Leafs did not complain publicly. “Penalty is penalty, and it’s on me,” Marchenko said. “I can play better next time in those moments.”)
Don’t construe the fact that Leafs could have won to mean they should have won.
Through 60 minutes, the Senators proved the more organized and hungrier outfit. They earned a 5.01-3.26 edge in expected goals, spent more than two minutes longer in Toronto’s zone than the Leafs did in theirs, and won 64 per cent of the puck battles.
Puck luck played a role, but it wasn’t the sole reason. The Leafs got outworked in crunch time and outcoached in the neutral zone.
Hiller’s bunch has another level to reach in terms of clean zone exits, locking down leads, and striking chemistry with four new lines and two new power-play units.
Everything’s early. Give it time. That’s the sentiment in Leafland one week into the gauntlet.
“I think we can score five at least or six,” Marchenko said. “Just in the first week of the season, and we will work on that, and we will just look to the future.”
The future holds an optional skills practice Sunday, ahead of what should be an easier test Tuesday against the visiting Nashville Predators.
• Two studs from Whitehorse faced off in a historic night. Gavin McKenna actually played with Luke Cozens, the younger brother of Ottawa’s Dylan Cozens, growing up in the Yukon.
“It’s pretty special,” Cozens told reporters of sharing the sheet with McKenna. “If you would’ve asked people from Whitehorse 10 years ago if they thought they’d ever see this, not many people would’ve believed it. I’m really happy to see all the success he’s had.
“It’s all about giving the kids belief. Growing up there, you might not think you can make it. You might not think people can see you or will find you. But if you just work at it, enjoy it and keep at it, you will be found.”
• New Leafs associate coach Daniel Alfredsson on those pesky Sens: “Wish them the best. And wish us a little bit better.”
And on Leafs ambassador Darcy Tucker: “We kissed and made up.”
• Jake McCabe knew to get off the ice when he saw blood seeping through his sock during the home opener, his wound the result of an accidental slice from Jake Evans’ skate.
Because the defenceman was wearing a cut-resistant underlayer over his ankles, his injury was minor.
McCabe has been wearing the protective socks since college and had previously had tendons in his finger as well a thigh sliced by an errant blade. He’s been stepped on in the past and doesn’t mess around.
“Cut-proof socks work,” McCabe said.
• Travis Green on coaching his 500th game in the show: “Time flies when you’re having fun.”
“I would have given everything to stay in Toronto. I loved it,” Campbell said. “They didn’t offer the deal I felt I deserved.
“I’d say Kyle cares a lot about the people behind just how they’re performing on the ice, which is really incredible as a general manager because they have as much stress as anybody to perform. But he actually cares.
“(He) saw me struggling off the ice, especially with the booze, tried to help me, and I just wasn’t ready. Looking back, it was totally clear why they probably wouldn’t sign me to that same deal.”
That deal — five years and $25 million — landed him in Edmonton for two seasons before he was bought out. Campbell retired from the net in July.