Toronto Maple Leafs

Grabo’ Rekindles Offense - Leafs Finding New Ways To Lose

Ok, so as I mentioned here, the Leafs offense was not so much DOA as MIA with Grabovski out of the line up.  The Leafs got the opportunity to fix the lines up a tad, and with Kulemin injured, a rejigging of the lines that worked Stempniak into the mix made sense.

The top two lines in the past couple of games have featured Stajan between Ponikarovsky and Stempniak, with Grabovski and Hagman reunited alongside new line mate Nik Antropov.  Ironically, this may have suddenly vaulted Grabovski into the role of top line centre.  Based on the returns from the past two evenings, Antropov has to some extent rekindled his drive, providing beautiful set ups on consecutive nights.  He still isn’t scoring but he does have 5 assists in his last 6 games, so his line is at least chipping in on most nights.  Interestingly, Hagman seems to be back on track with goals in consecutive games.

I think we may see a decline in the production of Stajan and Ponikarovsky minus Antropov.  Stempniak is far less of a force down low, and doesn’t do as good a job of setting up his line mates as Antropov.  He seems to be more of a shooter (who at this point seems to lack finish), which increases the pressure on Stajan to distribute the puck adequately.  Ponikarovsky has been going to the net with increased effectiveness, so if Stempniak can get his shots on target, they might still pot a few goals.

The Leafs have recently turned around the demoralizing trend of constant giving up the early goal.  Now they seem to have a problem holding on to leads.  The fact is, this is a relatively young team, that lacks consistency in their play.  They will struggle with these things for foreseeable future, and those of us watching games should always expect the unexpected.  It makes for more exciting games, but it also wears thin at times.

The next game is against the Carolina Hurricanes, whom the Leafs beat out on Thursday, after coughing up a 4 goal lead.  Jumping out by 4 against Carolina, and 3 against Atlanta indicates the offensive pop is still there for the team, but they need to work at maintaining intensity and not letting off the gas as the game progresses.

During the second period against Atlanta, they were outshot 16-3 at one point, and the Thrashers were badly outplaying them physically, winning every minor battle.  The Leafs didn’t escalate to match the Thrasher’s push until the third period, but by that point they were a step behind, and the Thrashers capitalized.  Eventually the Leafs lost the game.

Hopefully Ron Wilson can harness the energy the Leafs have displayed early on, and focus the team on maintaining leads with some semblance of defensive structure.  Rigorous in their own zone this team is not.