The Toronto Maple Leafs entered last night’s game on a three-game winning streak, one point behind the Florida Panthers for first in the Eastern Conference. The Maple Leafs once again started with Mitch Marner and William Nylander together, with Craig Berube trying to capture the late-season magic that Auston Matthews and Max Domi had last season.
The Vancouver Canucks are barely holding onto the final wild card spot in the Western Conference, with the Calgary Flames only two points back, and were looking to create some separation in the standings. Quinn Hughes did not play in last night’s game against the Maple Leafs, who has missed the last three games with an injury. His status for the 4 Nations Face-Off is now in question.
Let’s take a look at three storylines coming out of last night’s game.
Captain Morgan Scores
It seems Morgan Rielly was a little bit jealous about me showing how the Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev pairing has been phenomenal this season in a recent data dive article. Rielly’s offence has remerged in this western road trip, tallying an assist in each of the last three games heading into last night’s game.
Although the Maple Leafs were five for their last nine power play opportunities on the road, the Maple Leafs fell short in both their power plays in last night’s game. However, both power plays had sustained offensive pressure, which led to Rielly deciding that he would add a goal to this western road trip point streak shortly after the first power play ended:
This was Rielly’s sixth of the year and his 26th point on the season. Riley is on pace to finish the year with 39 points, which would be his lowest total since the 2020–21 season, the COVID-19 season. Nevertheless, the Maple Leafs’ defence has lacked offence this season, so it’s nice to see Rielly heat up.
Brick Woll is rebuilding
Joseph Woll is the reason why last night’s game was 1–0 Canucks for the first 39 minutes of the game. The Maple Leafs were not good through the first 40 minutes, barely getting any sustained offensive pressure, forcing Woll to make difficult saves.
Woll had a mediocre January, finishing with a .899 SV%. Heading into last night’s game, Woll was .919 in the first two games of February and is hoping to return back to his late fall form. The Maple Leafs were pushing in the third until a needless high-sticking penalty by Oliver Ekman-Larsson put the Canucks on the power play and they capitalized. Woll finished the night with a .920 SV%, and was perhaps the only positive out of last night’s game.
The Maple Leafs need more goal-scoring in the bottom-six
Domi has zero goals in the last 10 games. David Kampf has one goal in the last 10 games. Nicholas Robertson has one goal in his last 10 games. Pontus Holmberg has zero goals in his last 10 games. What’s the pattern?
The secondary scoring is non-existent and Brad Treliving needs to address this glaring issue by the March 7 NHL trade deadline. The Maple Leafs have always been a top-heavy team, but the secondary scoring has not been this non-existent.
Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin were both scratched for the second Toronto Marlies’ game in a row, which has been the talk in some trade rumours as we inch closer to the NHL Trade Deadline. The Maple Leafs are reportedly interested in Philadelphia Flyers’ centreman Scott Laughton which could be an interesting addition and addresses a possible third-line centre hole.
Onto the 4 Nations Face-Off
The Maple Leafs had a late third-period push, but unfortunately, they could not tie the game, losing 2–1 to the Canucks. It’s going to be a long two weeks after not closing out a good western road trip on a high note, with the Maple Leafs not playing until Feb. 22 at home against the Carolina Hurricanes.
It’s also going to be a long month until the NHL Trade Deadline with trade rumours swirling about the Maple Leafs. In the meantime, the 4 Nations Face-Off, featuring Maple Leafs Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander will perhaps serve as a nice reprieve.
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