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Nobody anticipated the Maple Leafs to exit and beat up a bunch of Buffalo Sabres on Saturday evening.
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There was a rallying cry of kinds coming from the Leafs dressing room earlier within the day, a normal resolve among the many gamers that, sure, they have been going to have one another’s backs after letting Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand off the hook on Thursday.
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Two nights after the Leafs didn’t reply to Marchand’s ugly journey on Timothy Liljegren, a play that put the defenceman on longterm injured reserve, the Leafs couldn’t discover the motivation to play hockey recreation in opposition to a Sabres group that was spanked on house ice by Philadelphia on Friday.
If shiny issues catch your consideration, be at liberty to get pleasure from Auston Matthews’ third hat trick in 11 video games this season.
Total in opposition to Buffalo, the Leafs didn’t muster a heck of so much in the way in which of urgency and depth.
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A 6-4 loss was the outcome, and whereas anybody can say it’s early, there must be concern. That’s 4 losses in a row for a Leafs group that often will get inferior play out of the way in which earlier than the calendar turns to November.
A file of 5-4-2, which the Leafs will lug right into a match on Monday evening in opposition to the Tampa Bay Lightning, is the mark of a mediocre group.
“When it comes to the place our group recreation is at, to me, we’ve bought a bunch of fellows that we have to get taking part in higher,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe mentioned.
If a ahead is just not named Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares or William Nylander, the puck is just not going within the internet. The Leafs haven’t had an even-strength purpose from one other ahead since Oct. 21 in Tampa Bay, when Matthew Knies scored twice in a Leafs win. Tyler Bertuzzi is the one different ahead who has scored previously two weeks, and that got here on an influence play in Dallas.
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Knies has two objectives. Max Domi doesn’t have any. Bertuzzi has two, each on the ability play. Calle Jarnkrok has one purpose. David Kampf, Pontus Holmberg and Ryan Reaves have none.
The dearth of secondary scoring is a priority, Keefe acknowledged, correctly.
“We’ve bought guys … Knies is new to the league, he has not discovered his stride offensively, Kampfer is a man who’s going to offer you all the things he has, however that’s not his major factor,” Keefe mentioned. “Domi is a man we anticipate extra out of, some contribution offensively. Preserve going again to that Tampa recreation, he makes two game-breaking performs that get us the win, permits us to get two factors.
“That’s the type of contribution you want from him and Knies. It’s a variety of heavy lifting for our prime guys proper now, for positive.”
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That’s the purpose to a level, isn’t it? Keefe can use one recreation for instance that Knies and Domi have made a distinction on the scoresheet and that’s it.
Bertuzzi, hours after saying within the morning he had no excuses for his play, had one shot on purpose in opposition to the Sabres. Domi had one. Knies had none.
The Leafs’ lack of consideration to element within the first recreation of a five-game house stand must be sounding, on the very least, some alarm bells. The Sabres have been solely to completely happy to reap the benefits of Leafs errors. Marner’s turnover onto the tape of Tage Thompson, who had open ice earlier than beating Joseph Woll for a shorthanded purpose, was one. Jeff Skinner bought in behind defenceman Max Lajoie, taking part in in his first recreation of the season for the Leafs, for one more.
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Defensive breakdowns usually harm the Leafs, and when Alex Tuch scored into an empty internet, it marked the primary time this season that Toronto allowed six objectives in a recreation.
With Liljegren and Jake McCabe out, Lajoie was of little assist. He performed lower than 5 minutes, taking some shine off the next-man-up strategy. McCabe, Keefe mentioned, is a risk to practise on Sunday as he makes his manner again from a groin harm.
One potential return of a participant received’t resolve the Leafs’ woes.
To a person, particularly those that have been developing small on the scoresheet, the Leafs should bear down with larger focus.
“Too many careless performs, giving them too many free seems to be round our internet,” Marner mentioned in summing up the harm.
“We must be so much higher, must be far more aggressive, have to again up house ice much more. We’d like to verify we’re those driving and never being passengers.”
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tkoshan@postmedia.com
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