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Few Maple Leafs losses in 2023-24 will sting as much as what happened on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.
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And it’s not just because the Leafs blew a 3-0 lead, one that was built in the first period, against the Colorado Avalanche and wound up losing 5-3.
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That was bad enough. There was more, and it’s what was eating at coach Sheldon Keefe afterward.
The Leafs’ best players weren’t in the same class as the Avs’ best. It was a sobering night for a Toronto team that can’t quite get its game to contender level on a consistent basis.
Coupled with a lack of structure and coming up on the short end on the number of power plays, and Keefe had an idea how the night would finish.
“If you’re going to win this game and compete against that team, especially when they’re shorthanded like they are with the injuries they have, you have to be even or better on special teams, and you’ve got to be even or better against their best players,” Keefe said. “If you let their power play give them an advantage, and if their best players outplay ours, you’re in tough.”
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Keefe tried to give the Leafs some life in the third period, moving William Nylander to play with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, and dropping Matthew Knies to the second line with captain John Tavares and Tyler Bertuzzi. It didn’t work.
Avs stars Nathan MacKinnon, who scored the winner at 16:35 of the third, and Cale Makar didn’t get much resistance.
“When MacKinnon’s line gets out there with (defencemen) Makar and (Devon) Toews, the calibre of play, that’s not the NHL … that’s another league,” Keefe said. “I didn’t think we were handling that very well. I thought putting our best people together and going best on best would give us a chance to keep the puck away from those guys a little bit more.
“At the same time, tried to get more out of Willie because Willie on his line was not good. That line was not good for us at all. They didn’t have one good shift that I can remember, so I had to get Willie away from that.”
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Tavares played just three minutes 18 seconds in the third period.
Colorado had four power plays and Toronto one, something Nylander said was “a bit unfair.”
The Leafs took two penalties in the third, and were miffed when Avs defenceman Josh Manson was not penalized for cross-checking Matthews. Referees Kendrick Nicholson and Kelly Sutherland didn’t think a penalty was warranted.
“The ref told me (Matthews) didn’t get cross-checked, he fell by himself into the boards,” Keefe said. “He finished the game. I asked him if he was okay to go right after that, and he said he was, so he kept playing.”
Our takeaways:
TIGHTENING REQUIRED
MacKinnon’s deciding goal came on a shot that Martin Jones should have stopped, and it didn’t help that Jake McCabe went sliding by, giving MacKinnon an open lane.
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The Toronto lead disappeared completely at 7:35 of the third when Andrew Cogliano tied the game.
A shot by Manson was blocked before it got to the net, and Jones was out of position for Cogliano’s shot after anticipating the original attempt.
A rare gaffe by Matthews — he put the puck on defenceman Samuel Girard’s stick in the defensive zone — helped lead to the second goal in the second period by Mikko Rantanen. That came eight minutes after Jonathan Drouin scored during a Colorado power play to get the rally started.
Even as the Leafs’ lead grew, there was no sense that the outcome was secured. Certainly not against a team as sharp as the Avalanche. Sure enough, the visitors refused to pack it in.
“As much as you’re up 3-0, that’s not a comfortable lead against that team,” Keefe said. “I knew we our game had to get better and it didn’t.”
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Max Domi, Morgan Rielly and Timothy Liljegren scored for Toronto.
SMART CHOICE
After he modestly deflected a question following the morning skate about potentially playing in the NHL all-star game, Rielly scored one of his better goals. Not just of the season, but of his career with the Leafs.
Between the morning and the goal that gave Toronto a 2-0 lead, Rielly was announced as a participant in the all-star game thanks to a substantial push by Leafs Nation.
That Rielly’s first appearance in the all-star game will come in Toronto is fitting. Not only is the longest-serving current Leaf an insightful ambassador of the game, he’s deserving considering his strong season.
When the NHL released the results of fan votes on Tuesday, Rielly was in 11th among skaters with 216,416 votes. By the time voting ended at midnight on Thursday, the 29-year-old had moved up to seventh with 830,480 votes.
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Now about the goal, which came at 10:47 of the first period. Rielly gathered the puck in the Leafs end, and as he found open ice in the neutral zone, he flipped it toward Toews. When Toews tried to find the puck at his feet, Rielly poked it past him and went in alone on Alexandar Georgiev, moving to his backhand to go top corner on the netminder’s glove side.
We hope Rielly hadn’t been making any travel plans for the all-star break. He’s going to have some fun with Matthews, Nylander and Marner at the all-star festivities Feb. 1-3 at Scotiabank Arena, an accolade that was overdue.
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GOALTENDING QUESTIONS
The intrigue around the Leafs’ goaltending deepened on Saturday morning.
Regarding Jones and the home game against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, when the Leafs will hit the halfway mark of their season, Keefe was adamant: The veteran netminder won’t be in net.
“That would be overdoing it,” Keefe said. “Even though it’s a back-to-back at home, he has played a lot this week. We’re going to need another guy.”
Of course, “another guy” meant Ilya Samsonov or Dennis Hildeby. Samsonov backed up Jones on Saturday, while Hildeby was coming off a 20-save shutout for the Toronto Marlies against the Belleville Senators on Friday night.
There was no further clarity from Keefe after the game. Had the Leafs decided on a starter versus Detroit?
“Yep,” Keefe said.
And who will it be?
“Find out tomorrow,” Keefe said.
Samsonov hasn’t played since Dec. 29, when he allowed six goals against Columbus in an overtime loss. The Leafs won’t know whether Samsonov will be in a proper frame of mind until he gets in a game, but giving him the nod would be a risk considering his struggles. There has been reluctance to use Hildeby as well.
Either way, the Leafs going to have to take a chance in net against Detroit.
And either way, that puts the Leafs in a tough spot.
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