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

Just two games for the Maple Leafs this past week, both against division rival and division leader the Boston Bruins. The Maple Leafs were a few points away from reclaiming the top spot, but unfortunately will have to win some games this upcoming week in order to surpass the reigning Stanley Cup Champions in the standings. Here is the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the past week for the Maple Leafs

The Good: Getting on the Board/ Not Seeing the Bruins Until March/James Reimer

Before this week the Maple leafs had just two goals in two games against the Bruins. After this week they put up four. While that’s not something to really boast about, at least they didn’t get shut out. They showed that they could put up points against their division opponents, now they will need to work on protection in their own end the next time they face them.

Another good thing is; they got those two games out of the way and they won’t have to face them again until the month of March where they meet them twice. They will have to chase Boston in the standings now by beating other teams and hoping that other teams can beat the Bruins.

The best news in the past week though has to be the return of James Reimer. So what he lost in his return to action against the defending Stanley Cup champions, not everybody can pull off a (sigh) Sidney Crosby.

Reimer looked strong and ready to go, and that’s only positive news for Leafs Nation. The Maple Leafs pulled together to get ten wins from Jonas Gustavsson and Ben Scrivens and keep themselves near the top of the standings. Now with their main guy back they can focus on pulling ahead of the competition.

The Bad: Neutral Zone/ Special Teams Play/ Defense Day and Night Play

Time and time again against the Bruins, the Leafs could not move the puck past the red line. The Bruins forced the Leafs to turn the puck over, blocked the passing lanes and wouldn’t let the Leafs set up anything on the power play.

This week the Leafs power play unit went 1-6 in the two games against the Bruins. When you have opportunities like that, especially when Zdeno Chara took half of those, you need to make good on those chances.

The Leafs were able to get 37 shots at Tim Thomas on Wednesday, but they couldn’t repeat that success against Tukka Rask on Saturday night and managed just 22. This is a result of not having enough chances in the offensive zone. They knew how good the Bruins were in the neutral zone and they should have been more prepared in their game plans when bringing the puck out of their own end.

Also bad was the complete 360 the defensive core did between the first and second periods of Saturday night's game. The first period saw Luke Schen breaking up two on ones, John-Micheal Liles getting back into position quickly and (when they could set up) they moved the puck across the blue line well.

In the second period on both goals, Reimer was left all alone with nobody around and the goal by Boychuck in the third period went right through to Reimer with no one trying to block, while the fourth goal, Matt Frattin was screening Reimer without a stick in his hand. The defense needs to show awareness throughout the whole game, instead of just the one period.

The Ugly: Missed Opportunity

The Maple Leafs had a chance to put some room between themselves and their division rivals. Now they are three points behind Boston, one point up one Buffalo, and three points ahead of Montreal and Ottawa.What’s interesting is that if any of these teams gets hot they can change the whole look of their division.

The Leafs had a chance to do that with back to back games against the Bruins but failed to pick up a point. You don’t get many chances like that in the year and now they will have to focus on their two division games against the Sabers later this month.

Even though there are eight playoff spots and you don’t need to win your division to be in the final eight, it does make a difference when it comes to playoff seeding. Of course there are always upsets with No. 6, No. 7, No. 8 seeds moving on sometimes, but the Leafs would rather limit their regular-season battles to trying to win a top spot in their division instead of battling 10 other teams for a bottom spot.

Looking ahead: NY Rangers, New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals

The Maple Leafs has another tough week against the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals who both currently sit in a playoff position. It will be a successful week if they can get a win against one of those teams and a win over the lowly New Jersey Devils. But the Devils game may be the toughest physically as it will be just one night after a visit to Manhattan.  

Last week, I said the Leafs could pick up at least two points with either a home win or forcing two overtime games; they got none.