Toronto Maple Leafs

Three Takeaways from Maple Leafs’ 4-1 Loss to Kings

Last night the Toronto Maple Leafs lost badly to the Los Angeles Kings. What were the three key takeaways from the game?

by
Old Prof
November 1, 2023

In last night’s game, the Toronto Maple Leafs failed to show up. The result was a 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings in the team’s first game home after a long road trip. It was, perhaps in my memory, the team’s absolutely worst game of the season.

The only ray of light on the game was that William Nylander did set a franchise record for gaining points in his ninth game of the season. Here below are the team’s three takeaways from the game.

Takeaway One: Given Halloween, the Maple Leafs Were a Horror Show

Last night’s game against the Kings was a Halloween horror show for the Maple Leafs. The Blue and White struggled to generate any offense throughout the game, managing only seven High-Danger Scoring Chances at five-on-five.

It was a lackluster performance from top to bottom, and the fans at the game booed loudly. During the game, the Maple Leafs failed to gain the zone during power plays and gave up goals on the penalty kill. It was a night where nothing seemed to go right.

Takeaway Two: The Team Left Goalie Joseph Woll Hung Out to Dry

Young goalie Joseph Woll, who had been stellar in previous games, didn’t receive much support from his team in this game. He also faced some bad luck. The Kings’ first goal came off a harmless-looking backhand shot that deflected off Mark Giordano’s stick, catching Woll off guard.

The second goal was a defensive breakdown. No Maple Leafs player picked up Phillip Danault, who had an easy tap-in. Woll had no chance on the third and fourth goals, as they resulted from deflections and bounces that left him exposed. If there was any luck for Woll at all in this game, it was bad. He deserved better.

Takeaway Three: The Maple Leafs Had One Small Glimmer of Hope

Despite the overall disappointing performance, there was a glimmer of hope in the third period. John Tavares finally broke through on a power play with a goal. Even better, he was assisted by Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly. Hey, wait. That was before a review that showed that William Nylander had touched the puck.

William Nylander Toronto Maple Leafs NHL

After an adjustment to the play, Nylander was awarded the secondary assist for a deflection in front of the Kings’ net. With that assist, Nylander set a new franchise record by recording a point in the first nine games of the season. In addition, he leads the Maple Leafs in scoring.

On another odd (but good) note, the Maple Leafs as a team hold the longest active streak in the NHL without being shut out. That steak extends back to November 20, 2021.

The Bottom Line

Ah, life in the NHL. The Maple Leafs have no time to stew about their loss. They now need to quickly put this game behind them and head off to face the Boston Bruins. Can they redeem themselves after the loss to the Kings?

The Bruins remain a surprise. Despite a number of retirements and offseason changes, they are off to a strong start, with just one overtime loss in nine games. For the Blue and White, who will be the goalie against the Bruins? Ilya Samsonov would seem to be the likely candidate for the start.