Pinball

 Game 2: Leafs vs. Sens

Simon B

It's literally the second game of the season and this team has already found a way to infuriate its entire fan base. The Leafs lost 3-2 to the Ottawa Senators in what was the Sens season opener last night, and they did it in a way that makes me feel like they didn't come to play.

Sure, Ottawa is playing their first game of the season and the Leafs are on the second half of a back-to-back, but it's the Senators for crying out loud! Not only that, but their best player and, in my opinion, the future captain was in the stands waving to the crowd after signing his contract extension hours earlier.

This entire game felt like the Leafs were possessed by some sort of evil dark-magic force that was preventing them from doing anything all while giving Ottawa almost every single lucky bounce in the world (except for that time they hit the post). I can tell you who that dark force is: themselves. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ worst enemy isn't the Canadiens or the Bruins, it's the Maple Leafs.

The Good Decent

There wasn't anything spectacular from the Blue and White at all last night. There were some ok performances here and there but the overall team effort was turned onto the lowest setting possible.

William Nylander scored another clutch power-play goal to bring Toronto to within a goal just before the halfway mark of the third period and that seemed to energize them a little. It's great to get a goal that generates some momentum, but when it happens with 10 minutes to goit's more difficult for that momentum to stick. At that point the Sens responded with pure defence that became  very frustrating to play against.

For the first 10 minutes of the game, the Leafs  were getting beaten in every facet of the game. A Senators’ goal was imminent. Logan Shaw took a hooking penalty with 8 minutes to go in the period and that seemed to be a bit of a wake-up call for the Leafs. Although they didn't score on the man advantage, they generated some chances and had a chance to hold on to the puck longer. And you might've never guessed it if you’re a Leafs fan, but I’ve heard thatthe puck is a great thing to have when you're playing a hockey game! 

The second power-play unit was much better than the first last night,and it got the Leafs on the board in the third period with an absolute bomb from Jason Spezza (who was incredible last night) to bring things to 3-1 This came after the Leafs just peppered Sens goalie Anton Forsberg with a bunch of close-range shots.

The last positive takeaway (kind of) is that for stretches of about three or four minutes at least once every period, the Leafs looked amazing. Complete domination of possession, generating huge scoring chances and just not allowing the Sens to do anything about it. 

And that right there is why watching this team is so frustrating: you know what they’re capable of and you know that it's a lot, but they are never consistent with that play. They'll look half asleep for the rest of the game and that will be the difference.

The Bad

It's hard to pinpoint a bad moment in this game. Let me start off by saying this: the Leafs have had some TERRIBLE goalie luck over the last year. For the first two periods, Petr Mrazek was really solid for Toronto. All the goals scored by Ottawa weren't at all his fault and they went in via deflections. He made some brilliant saves in the second period to keep the game within reach. Then he made what seems to be a routine save and laid down on the ice at the end of the period. He skated off and didn't come back for the third with an apparent groin injury. 

I don't know if this injury is bad or not but it certainly doesn't do the Leafs any favours.

Then there's "puck luck". The Leafs had none of it and Ottawa had all of it. You might think "oh they weren't bad tonight, they were just unlucky", but as a team, you can't be putting yourselves in a position to be unlucky. Pierre Engvall making a blind cross-ice pass to Tyler Ennis which lead to the first goal isn't bad luck, but the bounce off Chris Tierney's skate that ensued is. See what I mean? If Engvall just banks it off the boards or just skates it out of the zone, the game would've still been tied.

A slashing penalty isn't bad luck, it's bad  stick control. The crazy bounces that Thomas Chabot’s shot took on its way in from the point is. But the latter doesn't happen without the former

Allowing a goal with literally less than a second left in the period that took a bounce off a defenseman might be bad luck. But turning it over in your own zone with 8 seconds to go in the period…you get the point. All of Ottawa's goals were unlucky, on their way in. But they were all preventable, that's for sure.

Question

"To strike or propel forcibly with the foot". That right there is the definition of a kick. But for whatever reason, NHL officials seem to think there are exceptions to that. The first goal by Ottawa was said to have been "redirected" by Chris Tierney but it was obviously  kicked in.

If Tierney's skate didn't move and the puck bounced in off of it, then sure, that's a good goal. But he clearly moved his foot towards the net when the puck hit his skate. The goal was ruled a kick so I now ask the question to NHL refs: why?

I'll put the image of it here but you really need to go watch the highlight so just click here.

The Wrap

It's so early in the season and yet the Leafs already have a statement game coming Saturday night in the first Hockey Night in Canada of the season. They will play Ottawa again (I'm getting a bit sick of these Canadian teams though because that's all the Toronto played against last year) and I want them to mop the floor with the Sens. The game is in Toronto, on Saturday, and in front of a full house of fans. 

No excuses here Beat the Sens.

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