After every Leafs game, we try our best to write a detailed review recapping the game’s events and providing insight into individual performances, storylines, and other notes beyond the boxscore.
Tonight, there is no point in any of it. This was as unprofessional a performance as you’ll see in the NHL from the Maple Leafs. It was an effort that screamed “we are tired of this,” “we have quit on the coach,” “we have no pride,” or some combination of all of the above.
Compounding the disgraceful effort, it came on the heels of back-to-back losses to division rivals: one game in which the Leafs didn’t belong on the ice with their opponent, and the other in which they were blitzed early and never even threatened to be competitive.
How bad was this 5-2 loss to Ottawa by comparison? Orders of magnitude worse.
I debated with myself for half of the game, wondering what Leaf loss in recent history was worse than this performance. The only one that sprang to mind was the 6-1 loss to Pittsburgh, marking the Leafs‘ fifth straight loss, right before the firing of Mike Babcock. The Zamboni driver game against Carolina is also up there.
The Leafs started this game by receiving a gift of a power play, creating absolutely nothing with it, and scoring a goal out of thin air as the man advantage expired. Normally, when playing a division rival (one the Leafs met in the playoffs last spring) while mired in a run of poor results, it should go to the players’ legs. Instead, the Leafs did not put another shot on net the rest of the period (17+ minutes). Their opponent, who likely won’t make the playoffs this season, recorded 16 and tied the game.
It was about as uninspiring a period as you could possibly play, but if you wanted to remain optimistic, it was still technically 1-1 after the first period. When a team is completely tilted for a period in any situation — much less this one (at home, against a division rival, during a losing streak, etc.), pride usually kicks in.
Instead, Ottawa scored four times in the second period, outshot the Leafs 15-8, and by the end of the middle frame, the Leafs were out-attempted 56-19. I honestly can’t believe the fans weren’t booing earlier. There was a smattering of them in the final few minutes of the period, but it was actually tame relative to the lack of effort on the ice. Perhaps the fan base’s anger or frustration has morphed into indifference, the most damning emotion of all.
Without getting into a full analysis of the state of this team in a post-game review, I will at least say this: You cannot convince me this roster is this bad. You could argue it has huge holes, players are playing injured or underperforming, or whatever else, but it’s not “can’t even touch the puck against Ottawa” bad.
This team has zero system or structure. They are routinely outplayed, with no clue what to do about it. Even when they stumble onto changes that work — like the defense pairings before the Olympic break — they walk them right back (all due to Morgan Rielly’s return?). The most basic deployment and usage decisions are completely baffling, and now they’re about to make trades under this guise.
The lack of effort put forward tonight would and should not be tolerated by even a semi-serious organization. If they accept this effort tonight — and no, a depth player move or assistant coach firing isn’t sufficient — there are no standards, and there is no accountability in the Maple Leafs organization.
Post-Game Notes
– To the surprise of nobody other than those on the Leafs coaching staff and management group, Easton Cowan looked exactly like a player who hasn’t played in a month. This is not a criticism of Cowan; the organization is letting him down so far this season. Somehow, the Leafs’ attempt to reinvent player development — in which 20-year-old rookies practice instead of playing games — did not result in improvement. Frankly, his agent should probably have stepped in at some point to advocate for his client.
– I am not sure a single Leafs defenseman or forward can leave the arena with their head held high. Joseph Woll was pulled, and while I wouldn’t suggest he was downright bad, he wasn’t good, either. Anthony Stolarz is about the only Leaf who can leave the arena feeling good about his game. He stopped all 12 shots he faced, including a number of grade As and a breakaway.
– Once again, it was ridiculous to watch opposing players running the Leafs’ goalies with impunity. Stolarz rightfully took exception to Ridly Greig, but this has been the culture all season, starting in preseason: free runs on the Leafs’ goalie, and maybe, if the score is bad enough or whatever, they may sort of respond. It’s not like any Leaf returned favour on Linus Ullmark. Meanwhile, Brady Tkachuk ran around finishing every hit, and nobody was remotely interested in (or capable of?) doing anything about it.
– I am not sure how the Leafs could possibly return the same team and staff to work after this one. Yes, it’s trade deadline week. Yes, something will eventually happen. Yes, there’s no point in hiring a new head coach at this point. But this was painfully awful. It cannot be stressed enough that the Leafs need to uphold professional standards and begin making changes that signal to the players and the fans that this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the organization.
– That includes bringing up Marlies. They might not be flush with talent, but at least promote some players who will be excited to be in the league and will put forth an effort commensurate with that.
Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts
Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts 