WASHINGTON — Nights like this feel all too familiar.
The Toronto Maple Leafs juggle their lineup late, cough up a lead, get torched a few times in their own zone, and speak of that sour taste and the elusive “full 60 minutes” as they trot to the backdrop after another contest ends with a smashed stick and hung heads.
“Our consistency has just been, you know, not there for the whole game,” Matthews Knies said, after a 2-0 lead for the visitors spiralled into a 4-2 home win for the Washington Capitals. “So, we’re going to focus to make this the only loss of the road trip.”
Ugh.
Maybe they should rename it Bleak Friday.
The Maple Leafs can’t stay healthy (top scorer William Nylander was a surprise scratch due to illness), can’t link victories (they haven’t posted back-to-back W’s since Nov. 5), and can’t finish off an opponent on the mat.
So superb in third periods and one-goal affairs last season, this group holds a lead about as tightly as a caring child might hold a wounded robin.
Four times already this season, Toronto has mounted a multi-goal advantage only to watch it detonate in its face.
These Leafs are about as dexterous under pressure as MacGruber.
Heck, the Leafs were even granted a huge break early at Capital One Arena when an apparent Washington strike within the first 21 seconds was waved off due to ref Kelly Sutherland’s mistakenly quick whistle on a still-loose puck.
Morgan Rielly beat Logan Thompson on Toronto’s first shot of the game, then Auston Matthews and Knies connected at the end of solid penalty kill to double the lead.
“Matty and Knies, those are big-time players,” praised Leafs assistant–turned-Capitals coach Spencer Carbery. “A top line in the league.”
In the road net, Joseph Woll was locked in. And turkey legs were evident all around him.
So, even though the deserve-to-win-o-meter screamed that the Capitals were the better squad, at the 53-minute mark it looked like the goalie was fit to steal another one for the Maple Leafs, who got outshot 34-18.
Eventually, though, Toronto’s all-too-common defensive-zone errors reared their ugly head.
Uncleared pucks. Unchecked crease lurkers. Untouched cross-seam passes.
“They’re a team that really moves the puck east to west. I mean, I’m not sure we played a team that’s moved it like that, that really likes to find seams and change the sides,” Matthews said.
“We just got caught a little bit sometimes, maybe, puck watching. And they got some high-end skill, and they made some good plays.”
“Too many turnovers, too many chances against,” agreed Rielly, guilty on Anthony Beauvillier’s tying goal. “We did an OK job hanging in there, but ultimately, I think we gave up too much — and that’s what happens.”
The Maple Leafs are giving up more than a philanthropist these days.
No team in the conference surrenders more goals.
As a result, they either lose or they scrape out narrow wins, frequently in overtime, over weak opponents.
The Maple Leafs have not won a game within 60 minutes in their past nine attempts.
“As much as we can, not get frustrated,” Woll encouraged. “Play within our system and let our game-changers take over.”
In dour tones, the floundering hockey team is preaching belief and desperately trying to spin positive talk into positive results.
“We had three breakaways. And we got to finish. We didn’t finish,” coach Craig Berube said. “If we finish better tonight, we win this game.”
Sure.
But if the Capitals finish better, they win 6-2 laughing.
“Good news is, we’re right back at it tomorrow. And we still got one, two, three more games this trip, so there’s still plenty of time to make it a good, productive trip and get some points and climb up the standings,” Matthews said.
Optimism in the face of failure, Rielly said, is essential.
“You know, I believe in our guys and the character. I don’t think that’ll be a problem. We’re going to keep pushing and keep working hard. And no one’s given up. No one’s getting negative. We’re gonna keep pushing and keep grinding,” Rielly said, before catching a charter to Pittsburgh for a Saturday showdown against the Penguins.
“It feels good to be right back at it. You don’t want too much time to stew.”
Fox’s Fast Five
• Max Domi, who holds a team-worst minus-13 rating, got healthy-scratched for the first time in his Leafs tenure. He’s on the books for $3.75 million per season through 2027-28 and holds a 13-team no-trade clause.
Why scratch Domi now?
“I gotta look at the lineup, what I think is best for tonight,” Berube said, by way of explanation. “I talked to him about getting a reset, and we’ll see about tomorrow if we get him back in.”
Working in Domi’s favour is another quiet night for Matias Maccelli, who didn’t put a puck on net and coughed up a couple dangerous pucks.
“He did some good things with the puck at times,” Berube said. “Other times, he didn’t get pucks out enough and things like that.”
• The Capitals power play — once feared league-wide — looks hideous. After an 0-for-2 performance Friday, they’ve fallen to 14.7 per cent and below the struggling Maple Leafs (15 per cent), who failed to earn a power play Friday.
• Nicolas Roy was Toronto’s most-used forward, crushing a season-high 19:20 and winning 69 per cent of his draws. Nice.
And returning from his scratch, Dakota Joshua was the Leafs’ only plus player. He tied team highs with three shots and five hits. Much better.
“Dak was engaged. He was physical,” Berube said. “He was a pretty good player tonight.”
• Injury stuff.
Anthony Stolarz (upper body) is not travelling with the Maple Leafs and hasn’t been seen on the ice since Nov. 11.
If Brandon Carlo (lower body) gets through Monday’s practice in Florida well, he’ll be “close” to game action, per Berube. The D-man’s earliest return would be Tuesday versus the Panthers.
• These new red-and-white Screaming Eagle third jerseys, which the Capitals are wearing for 15 home dates this season, are a thing of beauty…
