First, let’s start with the optimistic side here. The Toronto Maple Leafs have earned five of a possible six points with a 6-3 victory over Pittsburgh before the Christmas break, a 7-5 win over Ottawa on Saturday, and a 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday in Detroit. This is obviously a positive step towards getting back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, as the Leafs are just two points out of the second wildcard spot.
The club has actually begun to score on the man advantage after the dismissal of Marc Savard last week – which is likely coincedential, since the club indicated when new assistant Steve Sullivan was added that he would be eased into the job – but again, with the Leafs current status in a hodge-podge of 10 or more teams, getting the power play to work is a necessity.
Another positive sign was the return of defenseman Chris Tanev, who was out for all of November and most of this month. You can tell how much the veteran was missed, as it took Leafs head coach Craig Berube just one game before he started leaning on the veteran for 20+ minutes. With Brandon Carlo skating and likely returning early in the New Year, Toronto could conceivably have their entire defense corps intact with half a season remaining.
Now for the pessimistic side. The Leafs continue to be a flawed defensive club that cannot hold a lead. Against the struggling Penguins, they held a 3-1 lead, but Pittsburgh tied the game early in the third before Max Domi did his best Gilbert Perreault imitation on the game-winning goal. Against Ottawa, Toronto led 2-0….blew that lead…..scored three times in the second to build a 5-2 lead…..nearly blew that lead, as the Sens narrowed the deficit to one goal twice in the third period before John Tavares empty netter.
On Sunday, the Leafs played a fairly disciplined road game and took a 2-1 lead on a Nick Robertson blast early in the third. Still, as they seem to do with regularity, Toronto gets lazy and comfortable right after a goal. It allows the opposition a golden opportunity, which Mason Appleton cashed in on to tie the game 23 seconds later. The Leafs were fortunate to get to overtime, as Detroit dominated the last 10 minutes of regulation and made Dennis Hildeby make some acrobatic stops, but Hildeby’s failed attempt to clear the puck from the Toronto zone in overtime resulted in a turnover that Simon Edvinsson seized on for the game-winner.
What is becoming increasingly apparent is that Berube’s judgment in terms of utilizing his roster is flawed and that it has really begun to hurt the Leafs.
Example #1 – Max Domi
The game-winning hero against the Penguins had three assists against Ottawa, two of which occurred during the Leafs three-goal outburst, but if you look at the stat line, he was an even plus/minus, because he was on the ice for the two Senators goals in the third period. Domi is a weak defender, and you can live with that if it is someone like William Nylander, who scores 40 goals, but he has four.
Without Nylander, Domi was in the forward mix during overtime, which is just a disaster waiting to happen, but the point here is that Berube continues to use Domi in high-leverage situations, even when everyone with eyes can see he is terrible defensively whether he is playing center or the wing.
Example #2 – Matias Maccelli
After sitting him for nearly a month, Berube put the winger back in the lineup on the pre-Christmas road trip against Nashville. If the Leafs are showcasing Maccelli for a trade, they are lowering his value, because he is the Webster’s dictionary definition of a double-edged sword. Against the Sens, the Finn had a pair of assists, but he was also on the ice for three Ottawa goals. On Sunday, without Nylander available, he took his spot with Matthews in overtime, overhandled the puck, and passed up on opportunities to shoot before Detroit went the other way. After Hildeby tried to clear the puck to Matthews, Edvinsson walked around Maccelli like a practice pylon and scored the game-winner.
Example #3: Proper utilization
In the second of back-to-back games, you would think that Berube would use his fourth line more to lessen the burden on his top nine, but Steven Lorentz and Scott Laughton’s ice time was around 11 minutes, and Easton Cowan’s was under 10. In retrospect, putting the rookie out in overtime instead of Maccelli or Domi is something that should have been considered. If Berube is not going to use Cowan and play him regularly, he should be sent down to the AHL to get experience and plenty of ice time.
But this is indicative of a larger issue with Berube. His tendency, going back to Philadelphia, is to lean heavily on his goalies. He did it with Steve Mason with the Flyers, he did it in St. Louis with Jordan Binnington, and with the Leafs, he did it with Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll, in spite of it being known by everyone under the sun that both are injury-prone and cannot play long stretches. Stolarz played 13 of the first 16 games; Hildeby or Cayden Primeau were not used more.
Stolarz gets injured and could be out for the season. Woll comes back, they play him eight of the next nine games, do not use Hildeby more, and Woll gets hurt.
One would hope that Berube and the Leafs have learned their lesson, but their stubbornness with other players (like playing Philippe Myers) would indicate otherwise.
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