Toronto Maple Leafs

Three Takeaways from Maple Leafs’ 4-2 Loss to Red Wings

Last night the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Detroit Red Wings. What were the three key takeaways from the game?

by
Old Prof
October 7, 2022

In this edition of Toronto Maple Leafs Takeaways, I’ll look at the team’s 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings to suggest the three key takeaways from the game. As far as the game went, it was a young Maple Leafs’ lineup against a more-experienced Red Wings lineup.

For the most part, the young Maple Leafs held their own. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but then the Red Wings kept chipping away – even though they were outplayed throughout two periods. In the third, the Red Wings went up 3-2 and then added an empty netter for the final margin of victory.

Takeaway One: Rasmus Sandin Looks Good, Gets Tired

Rasmus Sandin made his preseason debut last night against the Red Wings. He was solid and scored a seeing-eye goal from the point through a lot of traffic. He seemed gassed at the end, but what do you expect? His conditioning needs some work.

As it turned out, it was probably the kind of game Sandin needed to begin catching up to his teammates. He played a lot and looked good while doing it. He was dropped into the middle of the action and held his own. He looks bigger than last season.

Takeaway Two: Robertson, Malgin & Holmberg Didn’t Hurt Their Chances of Making the Team

The truth is that the young Maple Leafs might have been in over their collective heads, but they didn’t look it. It was a competitive game, and the young Maple Leafs’ players were much quicker than their opponents in red. This blue and white team is fast.

The young line of Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, and Denis Malgin held their own against the Red Wings’ top line of Dylan Larkin. As well, they played against the best of the Red Wings’ defense of Ben Chiarot and Moritz Seider.

As Maple Leafs’ head coach Sheldon Keefe noted after the game, the Holmberg line “did a really good job throughout. There were no easy matchups tonight for any of our lines or any of our defense pairs. We have 88 games of NHL experience on the backend tonight, and they’re all coming from Rasmus. And he was playing his first game of the preseason.”

Keefe knew what he was doing when he threw his line into some tough spots because he wanted to see what they would do under the pressure. Specifically, he added that “It was a tall order for the crew, but I thought all the way through the lineup, the guys did a good job.”

Specifically, Keefed lauded the Holmberg line, saying that they “had the greatest challenge, and of course, they are the guys we are really looking at.”

Takeaway Three: Ilya Samsonov Doesn’t Look Like a Reject

Ilya Samsonov looked especially good in the game last night. Perhaps as the goalie, he had the toughest task of all, and he stood up to it. Because the young Maple Leafs’ defense had a hard time moving the puck into their offensive zone, Samsonov was under pressure all night long.

He made solid save after solid save. The Red Wings registered a lot of chances but he was strong. He looked calm and stopped several shots that probably would have been difficult, but Samsonov made them look easy – routine, even. The word was that the players on the bench were seeing and gaining confidence with each Samsonov save.

After storming out to an early lead, the Leafs couldn't hold on against a more experienced Detroit team that overcame the excellent play of Ilya Samsonov to win 4-2. Rasmus Sandin & Nick Abruzzese tallied the goals for the #LeafsForever.

Game analysis 👇https://t.co/AVcJLbCzMx
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) October 8, 2022

There’s no doubt that he gave his team the sense that he was going to hold them in the game. Thus far, I’ve not seen anything in his game that makes him look like a castoff. Quite the opposite. He looks like he can carry the team.

As coach Keefe noted about Samsonov’s overall training camp, “I think he has had a great camp right from the time he has come through our doors in our facility even before camp began. The work he has put in to get himself ready for the season has shown. I think it is all we could really ask for. We are really happy with what we have gotten out of him.”