Toronto Maple Leafs: Power play struggles and slow starts hurting team
The Toronto Maple Leafs have dropped their past two games with a familiar trend becoming a concerning development.
Over the past three games, the script has become all too familiar for the Toronto Maple Leafs and it has led to consecutive losses in frustrating fashion.
That continued Friday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets who got some revenge against the Leafs beating them 4-2 and didn’t crack when they blew the lead.
Not only has Toronto found themselves trailing 2-0 in all three games and while their power play is usually where the team can rely on getting themselves back into the game, but lately, it has also been a big issue.
In 11 games this month the Leafs power play has only scored five goals on 32 opportunities (15.6 per cent) and allowed a shorthanded goal adding insult to injury. It looks like teams are making the necessary adjustments to combat the Leafs power play.
This is something Mike Babcock will have to address considering the pressure it puts on the team to try and sort out. Obviously, having Auston Matthews or William Nylander would help in this scenario but that isn’t an option Toronto has at the moment.
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Chris Johnston of Sportsnet brought up in his postgame report that the Leafs did dominate possession but couldn’t get the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky when they needed to. It was the same story against the Carolina Hurricanes when they dominated the second period but had costly mistakes go against them in the third.
Luckily for the Leafs, they get a chance to redeem themselves against the Philadelphia Flyers who snapped their four-game losing streak on Friday but haven’t been lighting the lamp lately.
What it might take is some puck luck or just being more focused in particular areas so that they don’t find themselves looking to get out of an early deficit. A two-game losing streak isn’t the end of the world but particular areas considering the Leafs mistakes are fixable.
Next. Marc Savard comments on Nylander situation. dark
What have you thought about the Leafs latest stretch of games? Is there anything to worry about? Let us know in the comments below.