Leafs caught in neutral-zone trap
Life without Matthews will be tougher if club can’t deal with pressure
Call it the neutral-zone trap, clogging, blanketing or checking. It’s the Leafs’ biggest concern at the moment.
And if they don’t get the message — that they need to work harder in their own zone and beat that neutral-zone approach by opposing teams — then it will only complicate the loss of Auston Matthews.
Toronto lost its first game without Matthews (shoulder injury) on Monday night against the Calgary Flames, but it was the third setback against a team whose game plan was to clog up the middle and pressure the Leafs into turnovers.
When that happens, Toronto gives up too many shots, too many high-quality scoring chances, and forces goalie Frederik Andersen into an almost impossible task of winning the game by himself.
The solutions? More leadership and minutes from John Tavares and Nazem Kadri.
Fewer turnovers by the defence.
And overall, a challenge to work harder on game details, especially slow starts, and what has so far been a drop-off in intensity on home ice compared to the road, where the Leafs are a perfect 5-0-0.
Monday saw the Leafs commit a season-high 26 giveaways. Sixteen of those came from defencemen.
Part of the problem appears to be not enough communication about incoming checkers; as a result, the breakout is taking a shade too long to develop, which leads to giveaways and opposition transition. In short, the defence has to move the puck better and more quickly.
Another detail is poor starts against teams which are pesky in the neutral zone. Calgary outshot Toronto15-4 in the first period, and kept the Leafs off the scoresheet. In seven home games this season, Toronto has managed a league-low three goals in the first period.
“Their gaps were great — right on top of our guys coming through the neutral zone - just seemed like a pain in the (behind) every time,” Kadri said, referring to the Flames who sent two forecheckers in to pressure Toronto in its zone, allowing Calgary’s defence to move up into the neutral zone to force turnovers. “They made it tough on us and certainly congested the neutral-zone area. That was the difference.”
The Leafs believe they can manage that kind of pressure, and they’ve done it against oth- er teams this season. The final detail will come down to doing it consistently. And that comes down to working harder to get the puck moving a step ahead of the checking.
As Leafs coach Mike Babcock warned, “the game is frustrating when the other team works harder than you do.”
And then there’s Mitch Marner and how best to use him — especially in Matthews’ absence. Monday night, Babcock adjusted his lines, reuniting Marner with Kadri and Patrick Marleau. That was an explosive combination last spring, which saw Kadri’s points take off and Marner finish with a 90-plus points pace over the final 37 games of the season.
Twitter: @markzwol