In a high-scoring game at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, the Buffalo Sabres just kept coming back. In the end, they outpaced the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 6-4. While the game featured some incredible offensive displays, like Auston Matthews’ third hat trick of the season, Buffalo’s resilience ultimately won the game. You could call some of their goals lucky bounces, except they had to put themselves in the right position to generate that luck – and, they did.
Despite Matthews’ prolific scoring, the Maple Leafs are facing major challenges. Their losses are mounting, and these currently add up to four straight. Toronto’s top players seem to be producing, but the team is getting little in the way of offense from other candidates.
In Saturday’s game, Mitch Marner scored a goal and added three assists. William Nylander extended his franchise-record points streak. And, Joseph Woll made 35 saves. However, he also gave up five goals.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Maple Leafs’ 6-4 Loss to Sabres
In this edition of Maple Leafs News & Rumors, I’ll take a look at the players who contributed to the team’s loss to the Sabres. For readers who would like to read a takeaway post, please click the link above.
Item One: Joseph Woll Played Better than the Score Suggests
Joseph Woll stepped onto the ice on Saturday as the Maple Leafs’ top goalie. Although his record was only 3-2-0, he carried an impressive 1.89 goals-against average (GAA) and a strong .942 save percentage into the game. He had become a reliable presence in the Maple Leafs’ goal in the face of his goalie partner Ilya Samsonov’s struggles.
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Although Woll had a solid performance in Saturday’s game by making 35 saves, but ultimately gave up five goals in the Maple Leafs’ 6-4 loss. The statistics won’t show it, but Woll made some outstanding saves and (for the most part) looked solid in the net. That said, his team’s defensive play struggled and he was left exposed.
The Maple Leafs gave up shots and allowed the Sabres to create high-pressure situations for their goalie. All night long, the Maple Leafs would concede a bottom-six goal and then send out their top two lines to respond by tying the game. That plan worked until it didn’t. Doomed to fail, it finally came up a goal short. At that point, Woll was toast.
Related: Ryan Reaves Can’t Fix What’s Wrong With the Maple Leafs
Woll faced immense pressure and couldn’t stop pucks that bounced off Sabres players’ shoulders and changed direction into the netting. Now he has suffered two straight losses as part of a besieged goalie tandem. In his last two games, Woll has given up nine goals, while Samsonov has given up six. Hence, the four-game losing streak.
Item Two: Will William Nylander Ever Be Shut Out?
William Nylander continues to put up outstanding performances. Last night, he recorded an assist in the team’s 6-4 loss to the Sabres. With that assist, Nylander extended his franchise-record, season-opening point streak to 11 games. Over those 11 games, Nylander has a total of 15 points (with six goals and nine assists).
Nylander and his linemate John Tavares have been a highly effective twosome on the ice. What seems so interesting is that they are doing it without much help from a third partner. In one way of seeing it, it doesn’t seem to matter who lines up beside them on the second line. In another way of seeing it, wouldn’t it be nice to have some help?
Related: Ex-Maple Leafs Lafferty & Mikheyev: Where Are They Now?
Both players (Tavares and Nylander) have been consistently strong this season. However, the top two lines could use some help from their teammates.
Item Three: Mitch Marner Finally Has a Break-Out Game
Mitch Marner finally put together a spectacular offensive game on Saturday night against the Sabres. In the first period, he opened the scoring with a breakaway goal on a great stretch pass from first-line partner Calle Jarnkrok. Sabres’ goalie Devon Levi had no chance. In addition, Marner added assists on all three of Matthews’ goals.
This game was Marner’s first multiple-point game since October 14. That span of nine games just isn’t typical for him. Marner has now pushed his scoring streak to six games (with three goals and six assists in those games).
Although this offensive explosion from Marner and Matthews is excellent news for their team, the 6-4 loss shows that the twosome can’t do the heavy lifting alone (or even with help from Tavares and Nylander). When the team’s defense seems to be lacking and the bottom six are not producing, life can be miserable even for elite players.
Item Four: Matthews Gets His Third Hat Trick of the Season
Auston Matthews’ scoring prowess is on full display. Last night, he put up another hat trick – his third of this young season and the 10th of his career. He now has scored an NHL-high 11 goals this season. Matthews is a force for the Maple Leafs. He seems primed to win his third Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy by the end of the season.
Related: Maple Leafs’ Keefe Says No Excuses For Inconsistent Play
In writing this player-focused set of game news, I realize I’m sounding like a broken record. For as determined as Matthews (and his top-six partners) were on Saturday night, it’s tough to win games single-handedly.
What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?
The Maple Leafs meet the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night on home ice. Despite some strong play, the team’s goalies are in a tough spot. Both goalies, from my perspective, have shown the ability to thrive when the team plays well in front of them.
But as William Shakespeare’s Hamlet would say, that’s the rub. The team isn’t playing well in front of them. That makes the question of who should be the starting goalie and who should be the backup goalie the wrong question.
The real question is which goalie will the team play for? Right now, it seems the answer is neither.
