Toronto Maple Leafs: Jack Campbell’s form starting to raise questions
By Paul Taylor
While taking into account the form of the players in front of Jack Campbell, doubts are starting to creep in about the performances of the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender.
Ever since being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, life had been good for Jack Campbell. It seemed like he could do no wrong.
After showing some promise in six games during the 2019-20 campaign, Campbell really started to shine last season. He set an NHL record with 11 consecutive wins to open the season and had a career-best 2.15 goals against average (GAA) in 22 games.
The 30-year-old then continued his excellent play into this season, mentioned as a Vezina Trophy contender and deservedly being selected as an All-Star for the first time. Now though, for the first time, there is some doubt.
Following Wednesday night’s 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers, Campbell has allowed five goals in three of his previous four starts. As a consequence, January is on course to be his least productive month so far in 2021-22, with a GAA average of 3.30 and a save percentage of .893.
The question is, does this represent a genuine reason to be concerned about the goaltender’s form moving forward, or is it merely a short-term blip? As you would expect, there are several factors to consider in attempting to find an answer:
The weak link on the team
The first is an ongoing issue which most people connected to the Leafs are well aware of – the blue line is quite simply not good enough. Some will point to the defence being better compared to recent seasons, but how much of this has been down to (or covered up by) the overall play of Campbell?
The simple fact is that the Leafs have given up 3-1 leads in four of their last five games. The Rangers implosion was the worst example of this, and it is no coincidence it happened without Jake Muzzin, who is out with a concussion.
Regardless of Muzzin not playing up to his usual standard this season, his absence highlighted that he is still important to the defence. The pairing of first round draft picks Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin was a disaster against the Rangers, with them often looking out of their depth.
It also didn’t help that Justin Holl is currently in COVID-19 protocol. As much as he has his critics — and there are many — he still could have provided some benefit in the games against the St. Louis Blues and Rangers.
The point is there is only so much Campbell can do, when the players in front of him are not focusing or displaying more consistency. He’s bound to start making mistakes at some point, when he is continually being asked to bail out his teammates.