Lower than 24 hours after testing themselves towards top-of-the-line groups within the West, the Toronto Maple Leafs had been again underneath the intense lights — this time, to tackle a powerhouse within the East. The power of Saturday’s six-goal outing at dwelling towards the Edmonton Oilers didn’t fairly make the journey south to Raleigh, nonetheless, because the Maple Leafs couldn’t muster up a lot offence in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
This weekend had been circled on the membership’s calendar for some time now, providing the staff two strong measuring sticks towards which to gauge their playoff readiness; two worthy opponents able to declaring flaws to be mounted earlier than the sphere narrows — as does the margin for error, together with it.
The Maple Leafs didn’t want to attend lengthy to study their first lesson of the night Sunday evening, their sluggish begin out of the gates following the 6 p.m. ET puck drop costing them dearly. A giveaway by Jake McCabe noticed the Hurricanes rating on their first shot of the sport, a screened Joseph Woll given no probability to put it aside. A sequence of sloppy penalties, together with an apparent high-stick from Nick Robertson, uncovered the Leafs’ troublesome penalty kill, which gave up odd-man rush after odd-man rush.
And but, the Maple Leafs remained within the recreation, due to Woll’s stellar efficiency. However regardless of a surge of power within the third interval, Toronto’s sluggish begin constructed up a hurdle too excessive to beat.
May Woll play himself into the Maple Leafs’ prime job for playoffs?
With the post-season on the horizon, each recreation brings a clue or two as to what head coach Sheldon Keefe is considering his roster, from line mixtures and particular groups configurations to the pecking order within the blue paint. And this weekend introduced a lot to consider.
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Heading into this weekend’s back-to-back, the sense was that whichever goalie began Saturday towards Edmonton would most probably be the Sport 1 starter within the playoffs. Ilya Samsonov received the nod, and whereas his efficiency proved Keefe’s religion to be well-placed, his early exit within the third interval as a consequence of an obvious harm introduced some doubt.
Although all indicators level to Samsonov dodging any critical harm — “Seems like he’s going to be effective,” Keefe stated post-game Saturday — there was a little bit further driving on Woll’s efficiency Sunday.
And the rookie definitely got here by means of.
Woll, who didn’t gown Saturday evening however relatively flew forward of the staff to Raleigh, registered a season-high 41 saves — together with one on a penalty shot by Jake Guentzel — to maintain the Maple Leafs in it till the top.
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Between his strong numbers all through this season and Sunday’s clutch efficiency behind a low-energy squad, it’ll be attention-grabbing to see how Keefe approaches his crease down the stretch, and the way that informs his technique come playoff time.
Maple Leafs should clear up messy penalty kill
The state of the Maple Leafs’ messy penalty kill has been a storyline all season lengthy, and Sunday’s exhibiting towards the league’s second-best energy play didn’t precisely yield many highlights. Toronto’s penalty kill is ranked 26th within the NHL — you gained’t discover many playoff-bound groups down there — and it’s been notably unhealthy this month, working at a 68.6 per cent kill charge. Together with Sebastian Aho’s first-period power-play marker, which gave Carolina a 2-0 lead early on Sunday, the Maple Leafs have allowed 11 power-play objectives in 11 video games in March.
Cleansing up the struggling unit is a giant ask at the perfect of occasions, not to mention while you’re lacking do-it-all star and clutch P.Ok. man Mitch Marner in addition to one other useful skater in Calle Jarnkrok.
What’s subsequent for Nick Robertson?
Sunday’s recreation towards Carolina felt like a microcosm of Nick Robertson’s profession in Toronto to this point. When he’s nice, he’s nice — however his gaffes can get the perfect of him at occasions, too.
Early within the second interval because the Leafs had been beginning to present a little bit life, Robertson took an apparent high-stick penalty when he tried to bat the puck close to a Hurricanes participant’s head. Whereas the Maple Leafs efficiently killed the penalty, it didn’t assist the staff’s momentum and introduced loads of hypothesis about how for much longer this specific call-up may final for the 22-year-old, who’s additionally spent elements of the season with the AHL Marlies. (Let’s hope he’s not scrolling on social media a lot nowadays.)
Then, within the third, his play jumped from irritating to enjoyable with a laser-beam one-timer to place the Leafs on the board and convey a jolt of life on offence.
Whereas March tends to be a time of fine-tuning and course-correcting for groups looking forward to playoff runs to come back, for gamers like Robertson it’s additionally an important audition time. Whether or not these flashes of firepower can be sufficient to stay within the lineup as soon as Marner and Jarnkrok return can be a storyline to comply with down the stretch.
