The Good, Bad & Ugly in the Maple Leafs’ 5-2 Loss to the Capitals

The Toronto Maple Leafs fell 5-2 at the hands of the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. What were the good, bad, and ugly aspects of the game?

The Bad (Maple Leafs Matt Murray)

I stated the difference in the Detroit game was the superior goaltending the Maple Leafs got from Joseph Woll compared to the play of Cam Talbot for the Red Wings. Once again, it was goaltending that made the difference, but this time Logan Thompson was the better goalie. Similar to the last game, the overall play was fairly even. It came down to Thompson making the saves and Matt Murray not making them.

The first goal was not a good one for Murray. He was in position to make the save on Andrew Mangiapane and got a piece of it, but the puck trickled through him into the net. An egregious turnover by Connor Dewar in the neutral zone created the scoring chance.

While Murray was partially to blame for the second Capitals goal, Nic Dowd provided the perfect screen for Jakob Chychrun on the play. As the puck moved from Murray’s right to his left, you could see Murray having to look around Dowd. The second it took for Murray to see around Dowd was enough time for Chychrun to get the shot away. In those situations, the goalie needs his defence to either box out the opposing players in front of the net or block the shot. Morgan Rielly, the defenseman on that side of the ice, had somehow worked his way over to Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s side and was not in a position to do either.

While I don’t feel Murray was at fault for either the third or fourth goals, Thompson made saves on what looked like sure goals, and Murray didn’t. That was the difference in the game.

The Good (Tavares, McMann, and Domi)

John Tavares, or at least a part of his body, got the Maple Leafs on the board first when a point shot by Simon Benoit glanced off him and past Thompson into the net. It was Tavares’ 18th goal of the season and 37th point in his 36th game played. The goal extended Tavares’ point streak to seven games. Tavares is on pace to score 40 goals for just the second time in his 16-year career.

Bobby McMann scored his 10th goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2 midway through the second period. McMann has scored points in seven of his last eight games and is on pace to score 25 goals this season. He is great value for his $1.35 million cap hit.

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Max Domi set McMann up on the goal as the two of them went end to end on a 2-on-1. It was Domi’s seventh point in his last seven games. Mitch Marner picked up the secondary assist when he made a nice defensive play and got the puck to Domi to start the play. That stretched Marner’s point streak to eight games and put him in a tie for second in the league for assists with Jack Eichel and Nikita Kucherov at 37 assists.

Toronto had the edge in shots, attempted shots, scoring chances, and high-danger chances in the game. They just failed to capitalize on those chances.

The Ugly (Holmberg at Center)

Once again, Pontus Holmberg being forced to play center on the second line was ugly to watch. The line fared much better in this game than it did against Detroit, but William Nylander was carrying it. Holmberg did put himself in a position to get a couple of scoring chances. Still, his abilities—or lack thereof—with the puck are apparent when playing alongside Nylander and Matthew Knies.

I like Holmberg and think he is an excellent fourth-line player who checks well and plays a strong game without the puck. He can hold his own on the third line if needed, but he just can’t keep up with players like Nylander and Knies.

What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?

The Maple Leafs are 6-6 over their last twelve games. In five of the six losses, they have given up four or more goals. They are missing Anthony Stolarz, and with the tough schedule ahead, they can’t just depend on Joseph Woll. If they use Murray or Dennis Hildeby, the skaters in front of them will have to be better at supporting them and keeping dangerous scoring chances to a minimum.

The Maple Leafs get two days to prepare for a New Year’s Eve game at home versus the New York Islanders. That is the first of three games in four nights that see them travel to New York for the second game of a home-and-home series with the Islanders on Thursday night, followed by back-to-back games at home versus the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins on Saturday and Sunday.

Related: The Good, Bad, & Ugly in Maple Leafs’ 5-2 Win Over Red Wings