Try as they might, the Maple Leafs couldn’t outscore their many flaws on display in a 5-4 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night.
uncertain
Leafs → try → night
Gavin McKenna, John Tavares, Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic scored in a game in which the Leafs were sliced and diced defensively, goalie Anthony Stolarz was left to his own devices and the warts of last season’s disastrous results — which still haunt this team — were exposed.
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which → score → team
There were positives: two power-play goals, a perfect penalty kill and a team that refused to quit.
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that → be → ?
Third-period goals by Tavares and McKenna made for an entertaining finish.
But the loss did nothing to convince anyone that the Leafs have truly turned a corner.
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Leafs → make → corner
They’ll return to Toronto, with the Buffalo Sabres coming to town Thursday, having earned three points in three games against very tough Western Conference opponents.
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Sabres → return → opponents
The Leafs defence was truly left wanting.
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defence → leave → ?
Some of it had to do with the absence of Chris Tanev, who missed his first game on injured reserve with an undisclosed upper-body injury.
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who → have → injury
That left Darren Raddysh playing top defensive minutes with Jake McCabe, while Morgan Rielly (minus-two) struggled with Troy Stecher (minus-one).
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Rielly → leave → Stecher
Last season, a big win in Colorado was followed by an embarrassing loss in Utah.
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win → follow → Utah
The Leafs season unravelled from there with eight losses in nine games.
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season → unravel → games
This season is way too early to call.
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season → call → ?
Hiller went with 11 forwards and seven defencemen, meaning Marshall Rifai — called up after Tanev’s injury — played the fourth NHL game of his six-year professional career and Nick Blankenburg got his second game in a row.
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Blankenburg → go → row
It also meant double shifts for Toronto’s biggest names and inconsistent forward lines.
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It → mean → names
The Leafs started strong enough, carried the play and outshot Utah 8-6 over a fast-paced first period.
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Leafs → start → period
But Utah rookie Daniil But, a six-foot-five Russian, scored the only goal.
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But → score → goal
He carried the puck through the neutral zone, deked Rielly and beat Stolarz with a short-side wrist shot.
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He → carry → shot
It wasn’t the smartest version of the Leafs in the second period, when a lack of situational play and execution were big reasons why they trailed 5-2 after 40 minutes.
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they → trail → minutes
Kirill Marchenko’s blue-line giveaway led to a two-on-one and Vincent Trocheck gave Utah a 2-0 lead.
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Trocheck → lead → lead
McKenna took a delayed hooking penalty during a Leafs power play that turned into a short-handed goal by Mikhail Sergachev, when the visitors failed to gain control of the puck to force a whistle.
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visitors → take → whistle
The goal meant the Leafs power play continued, however, and Matthews got the Leafs into it.
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Matthews → mean → it
It didn’t seem to matter what name was on the back of the jersey.
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name → seem → jersey
Passes weren’t completed, giveaways were ample, the forwards felt disconnected.
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forwards → complete → ?
And Utah is a fast team that can force a puck carrier into bad decisions and quick turnovers.
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that → force → decisions
The Leafs would outnumber Utah players and still surrender a scoring chance.
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Leafs → outnumber → chance
It didn’t help that Stolarz gave up a couple of goals he really should have had; Utah’s fourth and fifth squeezed by him.
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fourth → help → him
Dylan Guenther’s shot from 45 feet went off Stolarz’s blocker.
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shot → go → blocker
And after Roslovic got the Leafs back within two, MacKenzie Weegar’s shot from 31 feet went between Stolarz’s blocker and body.
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shot → get → blocker
Leafs notes
- Matthews scored his 111th power-play goal, tying Brian Leetch for 15th on the NHL’s career list among American-born players.
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Matthews → score → players
- McKenna extended his point streak to four games, tying Jim Benning (1981-82), Jack Hamilton (twice in 1943-44) and Busher Jackson (1929-30) for the third-longest by a Leaf age 18 or younger.
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McKenna → extend → Leaf
That list is topped by Russ Courtnall (seven games in 1983-84) followed by Ted Kennedy (five games in 1943-44).
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list → top → 1943
The Aporia
