Not Enough

 Game 29: Leafs vs. Sens

Simon B

For the last 3 games, I've said the exact same thing at the beginning of every post. The Maple Leafs need to rack up points ASAP because they're off all of next week and the Jets are only 4 points back for first in the division (with two more games than the Leafs on the schedule). Toronto was only able to take 2 of a possible 6 points against the Jets but they had a chance to go into their week off on a high note if they could beat the Senators.

Michael Hutchinson got the start last night. The second half of a back-to-back against an inferior opponent is probably the right night to give Andersen some rest. He'll definitely need it because the way things are pointed, it looks like Freddy's workload is going to get heavier as the regular season gets into its latter stages.

The Game

The first three minutes or so was one of the most boring brands of hockey I've seen the Leafs play this season (the Sens too for that matter). Both teams were clogging up the neutral zone and no passes were connecting. The only way the puck possession would ever shift from one team to another was if there was a turnover. Toronto had way more turnovers than Ottawa and it came back to haunt them multiple times throughout the game. 

The first was when Travis Boyd tried to make a pass back to Pierre Engvall in Toronto's end but put it right on the tape of Brady Tkachuk. Tkachuk sniped one past Hutch and it was 1-0 Ottawa. Not to say that that goal was entirely Hutchinson's fault but he can't let that shot trickle b him so easily. It's fine the Leafs will have a good response sh- Ryan Dezingle just scored and it's 2-0. What!? Yup. The Leafs completely left him without a check and he put it right through the five-hole on Hutchinson. Now the first goal was one where Hutch could've been blamed but the second one was on him completely. Dezingle's shot never left the ice and it was more of a pass than a shot. Any NHL goalie needs to make that saves 10 times out of 10. That would be the end of the night for Hutch who allowed two goals in 7 seconds. Andersen came in to take over from then on. 

Toronto looked as sleepy as I've seen them this year. Not a single ounce of energy or willpower out of anyone. Anyone except the one guy who's always digging after losing pucks even if they're down by 10. Zach Hyman did a brilliant job of getting to the net with Matthews to crowd out Ottawa goalie Joey Daccord. Hyman pounced on a loose puck in front and just like that the Leafs would cut the Sens lead in half. Another positive was the Freddy Andersen looked pretty sharp even though he came in on the short notice.

Toronto started the second much better than the first period dominating most of the puck possession. But that domination quickly faded away and it was right back to that sloppy play we saw throughout the first. Hyman took a boarding penalty and on the issuing power play, Tim Stuzle made a beauty of a backhand pass to Drake Batherson who had the whole net to shoot at and made no mistake and the Sens were up by 2. Ok, this time Toronto will surely resp- Again! Drake Batherson only needed 30 seconds to get another goal. This one was a bit of a scramble in front and Batherson buried the loose biscuit and made the score 4-1. After that, the Toronto Maple Leafs went back to being the Toronto Maple Leafs we all know and love. The ones who look like they don't want to play hockey. The kind of play that puts a team in a 54 season Stanley Cup drought. If they even dare to play like that in the playoffs, they'll get eaten alive by a team like Vegas or Tampa Bay.

Another good start to the period in the third and this time they were able to keep the momentum somewhat in their favor. The third line was breaking in and Pierre Engvall went right into the crease to bug Sens netminder Joey Daccord. Morgan Rielly walked in from the blue line and fed a pass across to Ilya Mikheyev and he got the Leafs their second of the night. However, on the replay, you could see that Engvall (who did a great job getting to the net on that play) prevented Daccord from being able to come across and make the save ao the call was reversed. 

You could tell that Toronto was really looking for a spark but it just wasn't coming at all. Sheldon Keefe made a really unconventional decision and pulled Andersen with a full six and half minutes to go. I mean when you're down by three, might as well right. It took a while for the Leafs to get set up on the six-on-five but once they did, they were able to get a shot into a crowded area in front of the net and Zach Hyman banged in his second of the game. Maybe there is some hope after all. About a minute later (still with the extra attacker out) William Nylander did pretty much the same thing as Hyman except on the opposite side of the net and put in a loose rebound and the Leafs suddenly made this game interesting. Ottawa had a bunch of chances to score on the empty net but couldn't capitalize which gave me some degree of hope. Unfortunately, they would fall a goal short of the comeback and drop their fourth in their past five games.

The Wrap

I think it's safe to say that the Leafs are in a bit of a slump. These are the games where having Wayne Simmonds would really be helpful but he's still recovering from an injury. Sheldon Keefe has until Friday to tighten the bolts on this Leafs team. We've seen what they're capable of and it's much more than what they've shown us over that past week or so. Hopefully, they can recharge the batteries and get back to their winning ways Friday night against the Flames on home ice.

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