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Little passion on defence and poor goaltending knocked the stuffing out of the Maple Leafs on Friday afternoon.
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The Leafs started their U.S. Thanksgiving weekend trip with a 4-3 overtime loss against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center, Toronto’s first game following a pair of wins in Sweden.
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Hawks defenceman Kevin Korchinski scored the winner at 4:30 of the extra period, beating Ilya Samsonov from the edge of the crease after a Connor Bedard shot bounced off the end glass and then off the top of the net.
Not only did the loss end the Leafs’ four-game winning streak, William Nylander did not record a point. The 17-game point streak to start a season that Nylander was riding tied him for the longest among active players with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, who had a similar start two years ago.
Nylander had the best Leafs chance in overtime when he got a breakaway and deked to his backhand. Nylander could only skate away in disbelief after his shot hit the post, the crossbar and the other post behind Hawks goalie Arvid Soderblom.
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The Leafs will end their two-game trip in Pittsburgh against Penguins on Saturday, their first match versus former general manager Kyle Dubas.
Never mind that the Leafs hadn’t played since returning from Stockholm. They had enough time to find themselves and were coming off two good practices. Yet they took it upon themselves to lose to the 31st-best team in the National Hockey League. It’s inexcusable.
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Among the takeaways:
♦ The Leafs failed to sustain an upbeat start, when they dominated the first period and spent most of the five-on-five time in the offensive zone.
Chicago had lost five in a row and didn’t have Taylor Hall or Corey Perry, but that didn’t matter. The Leafs were soft in the defensive zone and Samsonov, who has been fighting the puck this season, was not good.
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If the Leafs were trying to convince general manager Brad Treliving that he doesn’t need to make improvements on the blue line, they failed.
It’s a defence group that doesn’t punish opponents and Friday was no different.
The tying goal by Jason Dickinson at 15 seconds of the third period, his third of the afternoon, resulted after Jake McCabe and Auston Matthews combined to turn the puck over deep in the defensive zone.
Dickinson’s first goal was scored after Morgan Rielly and Mitch Marner couldn’t clear the puck. That erased a 1-0 lead provided by Nick Robertson.
And Dickinson’s second goal, unassisted like his third one, came midway through the second period when Conor Timmins, making his season debut, and William Lagesson couldn’t fend off former Leaf Joey Anderson behind the Toronto net.
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♦ Now sporting a save percentage of .878, Samsonov clearly needs more time to get his game in order. We’re assuming that’s possible.
Joseph Woll will start in Pittsburgh, and should start again when the Leafs play host to Florida on Tuesday to start a three-game home stand.
Two of Dickinson’s goals were on the short side, and both are stopped by good NHL goalies. The Leafs can’t continue to make mistakes if Samsonov can’t bail them out.
“It’s among the (fewest) scoring chances we have given up on the season,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters in Chicago. “But they scored three goals basically where we have the puck on our sticks in our end and then it’s in our net.”
Said Samsonov: “I need to stop the puck.”
♦ The Max Domi line was the Leafs’ best, supplying goals by Robertson and Calle Jarnkrok before fourth-liner Ryan Reaves gave the Leafs a boost with his first of the season. That put the Leafs up 3-1 at 3:31 of the second.
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The Matthews line was on the ice for two goals against and had no impact on offence.
“Wasn’t their night,” Keefe said. “Didn’t have it.”
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LOOSE LEAFS
The Leafs took their seventh bench minor, most in the NHL. They had eight bench minors all of last season. “I’ve lost patience,” Keefe said. “I’ve already addressed it.” … Keefe on defenceman John Klingberg, who was placed on long-term injured reserve on Thursday: “I think he is dealing with it well. The decision has been made to give him more time to sort through everything. I don’t think we will see any sort of clarity on exactly his timeline in the near future. I know he wants to play and he is a competitor. He tried to play through it earlier and the decision was made that he was going to require more (time).” It’s believed Keefe was referring to a hip issue for Klingberg, a hindrance that the 31-year-old has been dealing with for much of his NHL career. While there is some thought that Klingberg’s season — and his Leafs tenure, in all probability — is over, that has not been determined. If Klingberg decides to have surgery, he would be done for 2023-24 … Considering that Fraser Minten was heading to a weak Kamloops Blazers team when the Leafs returned him to major junior, there was the thinking that Minten eventually would be traded. That happened on Friday, as Minten, who played in four games with Toronto after a fine pre-season, was traded to the Saskatoon Blades. Minten, who was named captain in Kamloops and had 10 points in seven games, goes to a Blades team that was second in the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference. The Blazers were last in the WHL West.
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November 25, 2023 at 08:52AM
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Soft defensive play, mediocre goaltending end Maple Leafs' winning streak - Toronto Sun
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