Toronto Maple Leafs Week in Review: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Toronto Maple Leafs had four games in the last seven nights and picked up three points out of a possible eight. And while that doesn’t sound too great for the buds, their 1-2-1 record this week sums up their recent play, or lack thereof.

Although they are still battling injuries to key players, the Leafs had a good chance to pick up more points. They got back into the game against the Phoenix Coyotes but only managed a point. They lost convincingly against the Nashville Predators. They looked dominant against the Washington Capitals, but fell behind and ultimately lost to the Carolina Hurricanes.

At least they could say the loss to the Hurricanes came on a short day's rest and a travel day, but again it was a missed two points.

Here’s a look in review of the good, the bad and the ugly of the last week for the Maple Leafs.

The Good: Special Teams and Goaltending

The power play and penalty kill units were becoming atrocious, and the Maple Leafs sat near the bottom of the league in both categories. But over the last week things have picked up. While the PK still sits at only 76%, the last four games have shown at least a little more discipline.

Although they allowed one goal to Carolina while down by a man, if was the first time that happened in the last four games. They also stopped Carolina on five other opportunities.

As for the power play, one of Phil Kessel’s goals was with a man advantage. It marked the fourth straight game in which the Leafs have scored a power play goal, and they have gone 6 for 11 in that span. Right now the Maple Leafs sit fifth in the league, scoring at a 21% efficiency rate on the PP, which is a reflection of their recent good play.

If the Maple Leafs can keep this up on the penalty kill and the power play, they should see more points add up in the standings. They just need to also find consistent success at five-on-five hockey.

You also have to tip your cap to the goaltending this past week. Young Ben Scrivens let in two early goals against the Coyotes but shut them down for the next two and a half periods and overtime to get the Leafs to the shootout.

Then Jonas Gustavsson had a “monster” game against the Capitals with some timely saves while not allowing Washington to get back in it.

Against Carolina, Scrivens again played well enough to keep the Leafs in the game and didn’t let it get too out of hand, although they did still lose.

Everyone is awaiting the return of James Reimer, but if this week proves anything, it’s that the Leafs have some good depth at the goaltender position.

The Bad: Only Getting Production from the Top Line

Another good note to the week was the play of the top line. Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel continue to dominate the scoring for the Maple Leafs.  Kessel scored the game-tying goal against the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday, added a goal and an assist against the Capitals on Saturday and almost singlehandedly put the Leafs back into the game on Sunday against Carolina.

Lupul has put up six points over the same span, including a four-point night against the Capitals.

Aside from the two of them, the majority of the scoring this week came from John Michael Liles, Dion Phaneuf and other members of the Leafs defense core.

And while that’s not a bad thing to see, what is discouraging is that the Leafs have three other lines that aren’t producing to the same level. If the other lines could start putting up a couple of points per game, we could see more games like the one against the Capitals and fewer games like the one against the Predators.

The Ugly: Mounting Injuries

The Leafs disabled list is starting to look bigger than their actual roster. I’m not blaming any one player here for being injured, I’m just pointing out that it really seemed to accumulate rapidly this week.

It’s not enough that goaltender James Reimer has yet to return, but now Leafs Nation has also witnessed: Clarke MacArthur suffering an upper-body injury, Mikhail Grabovski and Matthew Lombardi both out with lower-body injuries and Colby Armstrong nursing an ankle sprain. And Mike Komisarek, whose play was really starting to turn around for the better, will miss up to eight weeks with a broken arm.

The Maple Leafs will play their next three games on the road, with two against Western Conference opponents. With Grabovski, Lombardi and Armstrong not even coming on the trip, the Leafs will rely on their backups to get them through this tough stretch.

If they can get at least three more points by the following Wednesday (In which they play the Boston Bruins at home), they should be in good shape and start to see some of the above-mentioned players starting to return. Hopefully on the injury front, the Leafs will look better next week than this week.