A good start just isn’t enough
Hutchinson crumbles in the second as top Leafs fail to produce
Michael Hutchinson had a role on Friday night that all depth goalies hope for: the starting job.
And the reviews were mixed, at best, for Hutchinson as he gave up four goals in his first start with the Maple Leafs this season, a 5-3 loss to San Jose at the Scotiabank Arena.
Hutchinson wasn’t the sole reason for the Leafs coughing up their third loss in five games. Their offensive stars couldn’t do enough against a hot goalie for the third game in a row, even with San Jose playing its third game in four nights.
This time it was Adin Hill, who turned aside 30 shots in his 51st career start. The 25year-old from Comox, B.C., frustrated the Leafs’ big guns. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares entered the game without a goal and, though Tavares broke his goose egg when a pick deflected off him and a San Jose defender in the third period, Marner and Matthews came up empty. Hill stopped Matthews from close in with 1:18 left in the game.
Hutchinson, who didn’t look good while allowing three-second period goals, wasn’t the only Leaf under the spotlight. Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe sat first-line winger Nick Ritchie for the final six minutes of the first period, after he took a penalty, and for the final eight minutes of the second period.
Ritchie is on the top line with Matthews and Marner, replacing Zach Hyman after he left as a free agent for Edmonton, but the fit hasn’t happened yet. Keefe brought William Nylander from the second line to work with Matthews and Marner and try to give the Leafs some offensive spark. The coach put Pierre Engvall on the top line to start the third, which only left more question marks about Ritchie’s future on that line. Keefe had Ritchie on the fourth line with Jason Spezza and Wayne Simmonds to start the third period.
“There’s nothing lazy about Ritchie’s game, he’s finding his way,” Keefe said, when asked about the forward’s turnover that led to a goal in the second period. The coach got his back up Keefe as the questions continued.
“I think so,” he said, when asked if he would restore Ritchie to the top line Saturday in Pittsburgh. “The line of questioning … is piling up on Nick Ritchie. You should be asking more questions about (Marner and Matthews) than Nick Ritchie.”
Hutchinson, meanwhile, was summoned from the Marlies earlier this week following a groin injury to Petr Mrázek, who had been expected to split time with Jack Campbell. Mrázek is out for at least two weeks. Hutchinson got the start Friday in the first of back-to-back games for the Leafs. Campbell will start Saturday in Pittsburgh.
Hutchinson did his job in the first, stopping all 11 shots he faced, but he allowed a soft goal to hand San Jose a 2-1 lead in the second. Timo Meier was awarded the second goal, and while the Sharks had bodies in the shooting lane, Hutchinson had a full view of the puck and simply missed it.
Meier’s goal came 17 seconds after Toronto tied the game when Spezza spun around in the slot in front of all-star defenceman Brent Burns and whipped a low shot past Hill.
Logan Couture opened the scoring at 2:31 of the second period, getting to a puck that came across the Leafs net before anyone could check him. Hutchinson was late to the play as well, as he pushed off the goalpost to cover the other side of his net.
The first three goals came in a span of 1:13, and marked a short stretch of soft positional play by the Leafs. Ondrej Kaše, with a nice deke on a breakaway, tied the game midway through the period.
Erik Karlsson scored on a bullet shot for a 3-2 lead in the second period, while Jonathan Dahlen scored 25 seconds into the third for a 4-2 lead.
“I thought I played well but, after the first goal, I started trying too hard, and I got too tense, and as a goalie that’s something you can’t do,” Hutchinson said.
Keefe felt the early third-period goal was “inexcusable” in a team sense, especially since the Leafs had greater puck possession numbers than San Jose through two periods.
Now, the Leafs will try to sort out why they have given up the game’s first goal in four of their first five games. And they will continue to focus on getting more second-chance goals.
Another red flag: the supposedly revamped power play is now 3-for-16 through five games.
“Just not on the same page,” Keefe said of the top powerplay unit, which features all of the team’s top players. “(We’re) fighting it … not executing. A lot of the same stuff we saw last season to be honest, not nearly good enough.”