Maple Leafs’ loss highlights concerning offensive gap between stars, support
One of the grand ambitions when Craig Berube was hired to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs was to close the gap between the superstars and the worker bees. Theoretically, it’s a fine idea. In reality, however, the gulf remains.
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PITTSBURGH — One of the grand ambitions when Craig Berube was hired to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs was to close the gap between the superstars and the worker bees.
No more Team A and Team B, no more haves and have-nots.
Theoretically, it’s a fine idea: To roll four lines. To have everyone, regardless of paycheque, feel they are valued contributors with an equal stake in the outcome. Harmony.
In reality, however, the gulf remains. Particularly when it comes to putting the puck in the net, which the Maple Leafs — as a whole — aren’t doing nearly as frequently as they have in seasons past.
And while the supporting cast deserves full marks for its defensive buy-in, for sharpening the penalty kill and blocking shots and making life easier on a much-improved goaltending tandem, this is still very much a roster driven by and dependent upon its all-stars.
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Look no further than Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the scuffling Pittsburgh Penguins, which was preceded 24 hours earlier by a 3-1 defeat to the Washington Capitals.
The goal scorers in those regulation defeats (John Tavares, Mitch Marner, William Nylander) all make eight figures. Auston Matthews, a difference-maker even at something less than 100 per cent, chipped in a pair of assists Saturday. He’s the highest-salaried player in the league.
In a hectic, four-game week, the Leafs got a total of one goal from a bottom-six forward (rookie Fraser Minten).
Berube leaned on Marner for a game-high 25:23 at PPG Paints Arena. Matthews skated 22:43, and Matthew Knies 20:50. (No Penguins forward skated 20 minutes Saturday.)
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Three Leafs forwards logged less than 10 minutes. Four more saw less than 15.
We could chicken-or-egg this till the cows come home: Are the Leafs’ secondary forwards not trusted because they’re not scoring? Or are they not scoring because they’re not trusted?
“We need some guys to contribute down in the bottom six, for sure,” Berube said. “Got to find a way to manufacture some goals from those guys, for sure. I agree.”
For Marner, multi-point efforts have become as routine as a game-day nap. He has factored in 47.5 per cent of Toronto’s goals this season. Only Hart Trophy frontrunner Kirill Kaprizov has more fingerprints on his club’s offence.
Aside from Knies, a top-six fixture, no one outside of Toronto’ “Core Four” forwards, has more than seven points. We’re 26 games deep.
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To be fair, injuries have played a role, no doubt. And, more importantly, the lack of a second scoring wave hasn’t mattered much in the big picture — yet.
This is the first time the Leafs have lost consecutive games in regulation since Oct. 24, and they’re still first place in the Atlantic.
“We’re missing still a lot of guys. It’s a tough league,” Marner reminded.
“I thought these young guys have done a great job of moving their feet, getting up the ice, creating offence. But, like I’ve spoken about before, it’s tough to score. They’re doing their best, and it will come. So, you know, my thing to them is, just stay patient with it. Don’t force anything. Let it come.”
No one in the visitors’ quarters seemed overly bothered that they couldn’t put three goals past Tristan Jarry and the NHL’s most porous defence (the Penguins rank 32nd in goals allowed at 3.79).
Nylander: “We played good today, so we got to be happy with that.”
Joseph Woll: “I thought we played a really good game and maybe deserved a little bit more.”
Berube: “We had good O-zone time and opportunities, and so I was happy with a lot of the game. You know, there’s things we can always clean up, right? But I like the effort to compete. It was really good. Guys are skating and working, so a lot of good things. But we’ve got to clean up a few things and be better.”
If Toronto is content to roll with this recipe of concentrated firepower and elite defence, it can ill afford to put the opposition on the power-play five times, which is what happened in Pittsburgh.
“Penalties, clearly. Gotta be better. Gotta be smarter,” Marner said was the difference on this night. “It’s a big talk right now, so gotta try to do it.”
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That’s because these aren’t the Leafs of old. They can’t score their way out of penalty trouble or rally from deep deficits as easily as the past.
“The biggest difference is their commitment to play defence. You know, their defensive metrics right now are better than their offensive ones,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan noted.
“It’s no secret why they’re first place in their division. When you defend hard, you give yourself a chance every night. And I think through some of the injuries that they’ve had, they’ve defended really hard — and I give them a lot of credit for that.”
Absolutely.
And yet, the continued reliance on four or five guys to carry the mail offensively should be, at the very least, a warning flag for meaningful games down the road.
That’s when opposing coaches and shutdown lines drill down on stopping the most dangerous threats, confident that what lies beyond heavy artillery is just pop guns and slingshots.
“Those guys are still the best offensive weapons in the world. So, I think when you go out there with them, you want to try and create a little bit time and space for them,” said Max Pacioretty.
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“Not to say that you want to give up opportunities yourself. But when I’m going out with them — and it’s a little bit different than earlier in my career — I’m trying to dig out some pucks, create some lanes for them.
“And, you know what? As long as we’re scoring enough goals, I’m not really sure it matters who’s putting it in.”
Fox’s Fast Five
• Pacioretty was raring to get back into the lineup but had to wait 10 games because he had been placed on long-term injured reserve with an apparent hamstring injury.
Deployed on Matthews and Marner’s top line, the veteran came out hot, throwing the body and taking back-to-back roughing penalties against Kris Letang.
He said he felt good postgame and acknowledged he needed to be more disciplined.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy missing that much time. I was trying to focus on my effort and think I faded a little bit there in the middle of the second (period) and tried to regain control of it and make a few plays,” Pacioretty said.
“That’s how the first one goes sometimes, and I was looking to play with emotion. I thought our team did play with emotion. Maybe got to harness a little bit better at times. But, all in all, you like to see the boys playing that hard.”
• Nick Robertson got healthy scratched after playing a season-low 9:35 in Friday’s loss and only two shifts in Period 3.
“I didn’t think he had much going on,” Berube said of Robertson’s most recent game.
A shot across the bow when the coach passes you over in favour of callups like Alex Nylander and Fraser Minten.
“He’s just got to play better. That’s it,” Berube explained. “We all know that. I talked to Nick today about it. We’ll figure it out. It’s my job to help him.
“And it’s his job to find a way to play better hockey. He’s capable of it. He’s got ability, speed. He’s got a good shot. And we’ve got to find a way to get him going.”
• The Toronto Marlies anointed a new all-time points leader Saturday.
His name is Alex Steeves, and his 169th point leapfrogged him over the farm club’s previous scoring king, Alex Newbury.
Steeves has racked up 80 goals and 89 assists over 200 games in four AHL seasons.
• How does Simon Benoit manage his body playing all these back-to-backs?
“In my type of game, I can’t really manage my body. Like, I’m going hard every single shift. So, just playing with the tiredness, I guess.
“No morning skates. We just rest until tonight. And when you get out there, you just leave everything on the table, right?”
• Sidney Crosby tied Gordie Howe for fifth all-time in most assists with one franchise (1,023).
