The Maple Leafs took Casual Friday a bit too literally and paid for it in a 3-1 home loss to the Washington Capitals, ending a three-game win streak.
Our takeaways:
HIGHER WEIGHT CLASS
After their most recent two wins came against teams not currently in the playoff picture, the Caps (18-6-2 atop the Metropolitan Division) were the real deal, even without injured Alex Ovechkin.
“They’re a very large team,” noted goalie Anthony Stolarz, himself 6-foot-7. “They were nasty on the forecheck, put pressure on us in our zone and it seemed they just wanted it more. They work extremely hard to put bodies and pucks to the net. You can see why their record is what it is.”
That hemming in of the Leafs contributed to 21 giveaways, one of the sloppiest nights of the year. Few could dispute the stat sheet about how much the Leafs coughed up pucks.
“It looked pretty loose out there,” said defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. “We have to do a better job of winning battles and not turning it over.”
The Leafs, who lost a measuring stick game to Cup champion Florida on Nov. 27, do get back to more struggling teams on the menu, starting in Pittsburgh on Saturday, but also have improved New Jersey and heavy Dallas coming up before Christmas.
ZEBRA CROSSING
Tempted as they might have been to pop off about the officiating Friday, the Leafs held their tongues, especially where referee Corey Syvret’s role in the winning goal was concerned.
Auston Matthews tried to throw it around the boards only to have it deflect off Syvret’s skate right in front to Connor McMichael.
The Leafs had to settle for glaring at Syvret the rest of the night, though coach Craig Berube wondered why the Leafs tried to break out like they did on the fateful play.
“Bottom line, instead of just going the other way with the puck, we brought it back. We did that too much tonight, it started in the first period and went on the whole game.”
Stolarz was caught by surprise when the puck suddenly landed in his crease. His first instinct was to swat it away, but he did so right to McMichael.
“The refs aren’t trying to do that on purpose,” Stolarz said. “It’s like a puck that hits a stanchion and kicks out to the middle. Just an unfortunate bounce.”
There was still half a period to play he reminded.
“With our team we know we can pump one or two in during the last eight or nine minutes.”
The Leafs did take two stick penalties late in the second and early in the third periods that also disrupted their flow.
Berube said the Leafs were directionally challanged after being on the same page the past few games.
“We didn’t play a north game, we didn’t play fast enough. They were more competitive than us, played a harder game than us, skated better than us. They were the better team and deserved to win.”
UNBALANCED SCORING
In the past six games, the Core Four have produced almost all the goals by forwards, Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and Mitch Marner. A goal each from Fraser Minten and Nick Robertson are the exceptions, but even Robertson has dropped off again, nothing in his past three after breaking a 12-game famine in Tampa Bay.
He must know healthy bodies on the way back in coming days to retain their jobs. Robertson played less than 10 minutes, limited further by Berube in the third period. He took one of the penalties and stepped offside on a potentially dangerous 2-1 with Tavares.
“I just went with three lines, I didn’t think he had much going tonight,” Berube said of holding Robertson back.
CATCHING CLARK
It seems Tavares moves past someone on the NHL career scoring ladder every time he gets a point, but Friday saw the 34-year-old go by a player he grew up watching in Toronto.
His goal was Leaf point No. 442, one more than another former captain, Wendel Clark, to move into the top 20 of franchise scoring where Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Morgan Rielly already reside.
“Wendel is an all-time great Leaf and I know how beloved he is here,” Tavares said. “That (442) doesn’t come without significance.”
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