Coming off of three losses in a row while the rest of the teams in your division play their best hockey of the year is a recipe for disaster, and the Toronto Maple Leafs had about the tallest task imaginable in front of them with the league-best Colorado Avalanche waiting on deck. After what was actually a good start to the game for the Leafs, the Avalanche capitalized on Toronto’s first two mistakes of the game, and as has been the case too many times this season, the Leafs weren’t able to recover.
After a horrendous breakout pass attempt by Jake McCabe, Brock Nelson picked up the puck and took it in on Joseph Woll with all the time in the world, easily putting it past him for a 1-0 lead. Not long after, Bobby McMann failed to get the puck out of the zone and Nelson sniped it from an impossible angle for his second of the game only seven minutes into the game.
The Leafs held the Avalanche off the board until the final minutes of the second period, when, despite a potentially momentum-aiding penalty kill just prior, the Avalanche took advantage of another clean zone entry and made it 3-0 before the end of the first period. From there, all they had to do was play the bare minimum good defensive hockey and it was enough to prevent the Leafs from making any noise. It would be nice to offer Max Domi’s last minute power play goal as some sort of consolation, but it came about 59 minutes too late.
What was particularly frustrating about the Leafs’ play in this game was that their effort levels were there. Unfortunately for them, they seemed to adopt the absolute worst possible strategy on their breakouts, either firing a grenade to nobody or tossing a floater to nobody. That kind of breakout plan wouldn’t work against an AHL team, let alone a juggernaut like Colorado, and the Leafs simply had no answer for them despite the Avalanche having lost four of their last five games.
The Leafs entered Sunday’s game five points out of a playoff spot, and barring a total collapse from the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, or Buffalo Sabres, will have the steepest uphill climb imaginable ahead of them if they want to make the playoffs. This is a team that desperately needs the Olympic break, but it might have come too late into the season for them to turn their season around.
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