The Carolina Hurricanes gained a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, extending their winning streak to three games. Sebastian Aho played a pivotal role, contributing one goal and two assists. Despite goals from Timothy Liljegren and Nicholas Robertson for the Maple Leafs, the team struggled offensively, failing to convert on the power play.
While the Maple Leafs’ goalie play had been less than up to snuff over the past few weeks, last night, Martin Jones played quite well. Still, the Hurricanes’ goalie Pyotr Kochetkov played better. His standout performance was a factor in his team’s win. He made crucial saves that left the Maple Leafs frustrated.
Toronto is now in the midst of a three-game losing streak. Last night, they struggled to make their power play work. While Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe acknowledged his team’s defensive efforts, he too had to be frustrated with his lack of scoring with the man advantage.
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In this edition of Maple Leafs News & Rumors, I’ll take a look at the game and some of the contributions of the Toronto players who played in it.
Item 1: Martin Jones Played a Pretty Solid Game
Martin Jones entered last night’s game coming off a bad stretch of play. He had allowed 12 goals over his last five outings, putting up a 2-2-0 record. Despite any of his own struggles, Jones is certainly outperforming Ilya Samsonov. The Hurricanes entered the game having scored at least four goals in four of their last five games.
However, in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes, Jones had a solid game. He faced 27 shots and allowed only two goals. The third Hurricanes goal was scored when the Maple Leafs had pulled Jones trying to tie the score late in the game.
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Jones’ performance was the best the team had seen in the net in a while. Still, he happened to choose a night when the team’s offense didn’t show up. Despite making some strong saves, Jones couldn’t pull the team to a win. He absorbed his third loss in the last five games. On the season, Jones has put up a record of 4-3-0, a 2.73 goals-against-average (GAA), and a .915 save percentage over eight games this season. Expect him to start in Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings as the team begins its three-game road trip to California.
Item 2: Timothy Liljegren Played a Solid Game
Timothy Liljegren played a pretty solid game last night. He scored a goal and added an assist, recorded two hits, and finished with a plus-2 rating. Liljegren’s score came early in the third period, and put his team on the board. He later assisted on Nick Robertson’s last-second goal.
Liljegren has put up two multiple-point games over his last five and is a point-a-game player during that short stretch. He has scored a goal and added four assists over that span. So far on the season, the 24-year-old defenseman has registered six points and an even plus-minus rating through 17 appearances. He’s come back from his injury well.
Item 3: Mark Giordano Adds an Assist in His Second Game Back
Mark Giordano marked his second game back from his finger injury by adding an assist to the team’s total. He seemed to have been on long-term injured reserve for a long time, but he hasn’t looked rusty at all in his return.
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Giordano’s assist came on Liljegren’s goal in the third period. The 40-year-old defenseman will likely keep playing in his bottom-four role as long as he remains healthy. In 22 games this season, Giordano has put up six points, blocked 51 shots, registered 24 hits, and taken 27 penalty minutes. He has an even plus-minus rating for the season.
Item 4: Nick Robertson Scores in 2 Straight Games
Nick Robertson ended his goal drought against the Columbus Blue Jackets in his last game, but he scored another last night with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game. It was the first time he’s scored in back-to-back games in his career.
Although the late goal didn’t change the game’s outcome, Robertson continues to contribute in a third-line role. In 23 games on the season, he’s put up five goals and added six assists. He also has a plus-2 rating. Even better, so far, he’s escaped injury.
What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?
The Maple Leafs will look to bounce back in their upcoming game against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night as they start their California road trip. Given an anomaly or two along the way, Jones has been relatively solid in the net this season. The fact is that the whole Toronto team is currently in a funk.
Look for David Kampf to return to the lineup on this road trip. I wonder if coach Keefe making him a healthy scratch was more of a message to the rest of the team than a finger directly pointed at Kampf. I didn’t think that his gaff in the Blue Jackets game was any more horrible than those made by at least three other of his teammates.
