The Toronto Maple Leafs were looking to pick up a win against the Vancouver Canucks as they attempted to maintain their lead atop the Atlantic Division. In a goaltending matchup of Canucks’ Kevin Lankinen and Maple Leafs’ Dennis Hildeby, both teams were looking for offensive sparks in hopes of earning two points.
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Unfortunately for the Maple Leafs, they couldn’t find a way to solve Lankinen and were shut out, losing the game 3-0. With that loss now behind them, let’s take a look at some takeaways from that matchup on Saturday (Jan. 11).
Losing Streak Extended to Two
The Maple Leafs taking a loss extends their losing skid to two games, as they lost their previous game to the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 6-3. With a lot of hockey ahead of them and a strong campaign behind them so far, a small skid shouldn’t affect their ability to maintain the momentum they’ve already built as they try to maintain the top spot in their division for the postseason.
However, they now realize they have some things to clean up before their next matchup and they’ll have to do so if they want to pick up two points against the Dallas Stars, who have been extremely solid this season.
Knies Doesn’t Score, Notches Five Hits
Matthew Knies has been on a hot stretch as of late notching eight points in his previous eight games, and was hoping to be able to continue his impressive point streak. However, he was held off the scoresheet just like the rest of his team, but he was able to produce in a different way to try and help his team. He finished the night with the most hits on his team, finishing the night with five. He just had under half of their total, considering the team only combined for 11 hits and lacked any real physical play against the Canucks who outhit them 22-11.
Maple Leafs Looked Slower, Could Benefit From Two-Day Break
The Maple Leafs looked a bit slow in their game against the Canucks and seemed to be a bit behind in every battle. Luckily, they have a two-day break before they play the Stars and should be able to get enough rest to find their speed in the next game. Their slow start and inability to find consistent speed throughout the game put them in a tough position to fight back into the game, eventually leading to the loss. Several things went wrong in the game, but their lack of speed to start eventually led to the loss.
Hildeby Left Out to Dry
Maple Leafs’ Hildeby did not have the strongest game by any means as he allowed 3 goals on just 18 shots finishing the night with a .833 save percentage (SV%), but his tough night goes hand-in-hand with the lack of effort shown throughout the rest of their lineup. He has had a strong start to his NHL career this season, but this is a tough game for him and hopefully, he can bounce back in a big way next time he gets between the pipes.
Every team goes through a bit of a rough patch during the season, so let’s hope this is just a tough couple of games and the team can come back strong in a big way against the Stars while trying to solidify their spot atop the Atlantic Division.
The Maple Leafs are back in action on Tuesday (Jan. 14) against the Stars while the Canucks are also back in action on Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets. As the 2024-25 season moves along, be sure to continue following The Hockey Writers as your source for news from around the NHL and the hockey world.
