Slow start dooms Leafs against Hawks
Wonder if Kyle Dubas was checking his phone on Sunday night to see if he had Kasimir Kaskisuo in his contacts. The Toronto Maple Leafs general manager couldn’t have been faulted for doing so, not after watching backup goaltender Michael Hutchinson get beaten early and often in the first period against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.
The Hawks scored three times on their first six shots and added another in the opening 20 minutes, giving themselves enough breathing space to skate to a 5- 4 victory against the Leafs.
Though Hutchinson could have benefited from some determination on the part of his teammates, a stop or two would have looked mighty fine as well. Admittedly, Hutchinson has been stuck with starts in the second game of back- to- back sets, but now has gone 0- 41 in those starts, failing to provide the Leafs with anything approaching a lot of confidence in the position.
Kaskisuo has been sharp for the Toronto Marlies, posting a 6-1-1 record with a .928 save percentage in eight games. His annual average value in the NHL would be US$675,000; Hutchinson’s is $700,000. That’s a wash, even for the cash-strapped Leafs.
That kind of goalie switch could be seen as desperate or as something that might have to be done at this point.
One way or another, the Leafs have to get better goaltending from their backup, no matter who it is. As coach Mike Babcock said before the game during his availability with reporters, it’s a tight league. Every point lost can be costly when the final sums are added up at the end of the regular season.
Though Hutchinson, who entered the game with an .885 save percentage, was better as the game wore on, the fact remains he helped put the Leafs in a large hole.
Toronto had a season-high 57 shots on goal and are to be commended for fighting back, but it wasn’t enough against Blackhawks netminder Robin Lehner.
Brandon Saad scored with 3 ½ minutes to play in the third period, a goal that proved to be the winner after Andreas Johnsson scored in the final minute on a Toronto power play.
For the third time this season, the Leafs gave up four goals in one period, the most painful dagger coming when Kirby Dach and Patrick Kane scored 10 seconds apart 12 minutes into the game to give the home side a 3- 0 lead. Babcock called a timeout and though William Nylander scored the next goal, the Hawks got it back 59 seconds later when Jonathan Toews scored on a power play.
During the game, the Leafs announced that forward Mitch Marner had undergone an MRI on his injured ankle and was expected to be out of the lineup for a minimum of four weeks, at which point he would be reassessed by the team’s medical staff.
GAME ON
Captain John Tavares got the Leafs to within one goal when he scored on a power play with just over seven minutes remaining … With Marner out, Jason Spezza drew back in and started on the third line with centre Alex Kerfoot and Ilya Mikheyev. That didn’t last long, as Babcock went into blender mode in the second period with the Leafs trailing by three. The lone trio that stayed intact for the Leafs was Auston Matthews between Andreas Johnsson and Nylander, as it easily was the best Toronto line … Matthews assisted on all four Leafs goals … Cody Ceci has had, at best, an uneven start to his tenure with the Leafs, and that continued early in the first period. Before a crowd of 21,598, Kane opened the scoring at 5:18 when his shot — or attempted pass — hit the stick of Ceci and eluded Hutchinson, going in between the netminder’s legs. As it was, Ceci was out of position on the play … Moments later, Dominik Kubalik fired a one- timer off the post behind Hutchinson … Trevor Moore was slow to contain Dach on Chicago’s second goal, while Kane had more than enough time to beat Hutchinson with a backhand for the third goal … Some shenanigans to report in the opening minute of the game, when Jake Muzzin slammed Saad to the ice. Toews took exception, earning an extra two minutes for roughing. The Leafs did nothing on the power play … Before Nylander slipped the puck between Lehner’s legs to cut the Chicago lead to 3-1, Mikheyev and Matthews had good looks on previous shifts. Matthews beat Toews on a faceoff, leading to Nylander’s sixth goal of the season. Nylander also had the Leafs’ second goal, also assisted by Matthews, early in the third period … It’s 19 games and counting for Leafs defenceman Tyson Barrie without his first goal for Toronto. It nearly happened in the second period when Lehner made a fine pad save on Barrie after stopping Matthews … The Leafs have lost two in a row after going 4-1-1 in six games and fell to 3-4- 0 on the road … Regarding that backup spot: The Leafs felt they had no choice but to move on from Garret Sparks, and there he is now, leading the American Hockey League with a .953 save percentage and a 1.60 goals-against average for Chicago, the Vegas Golden Knights’ affiliate. Ouch.