Hockey teams lose games.
Check the National Hockey League standings — it happens to every team in the league.
It’s the way in which the Maple Leafs lost against the New York Islanders on Tuesday night that must have had the players in an ugly mood as they departed afterward for their hotel.
The Leafs were pumped for seven goals by an Islanders team that won’t be confused with the offensive juggernauts in the NHL, falling 7-2 at UBS Arena.
And keep in mind the Leafs had a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period. Not anything insurmountable for any opponent, obviously, but at that point, there weren’t indications that Toronto was on its way to allowing seven goals in a game for the first time in 2022-23.
True, it’s just one game. The Leafs were 8-3-1 in their previous 12. They will have forgotten it, for the most part, before continuing their four-game trip in Florida on Thursday against the Panthers.
However, none of that diminishes what was an unsightly evening on Long Island.
What happened on a night when the Leafs could have moved five points ahead of Tampa Bay, which lost in Montreal, with a victory? Our takeaways from a night full of Leafs turnovers:
SOROKIN SAVES
We’ll get this out of the way first — Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin, among the league leaders in save percentage, was excellent when it was required.
Though Sorokin had to make just 23 saves, there was one that should make the end-of-season, best-of lists and it helped turn the course of the game.
With the Leafs up 1-0 on Sam Lafferty’s first goal with Toronto since he was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks, defenceman Erik Gustafsson had an open lane and an open net after taking a pass from Mitch Marner.
Instead of scoring what would have been his first goal as a Leaf, Gustafsson was as stunned as everyone else in the building when Sorokin lunged across the crease and stopped the shot with the paddle of his stick.
Zach Parise tied the game early in the second. With the game 1-1, Sorokin stopped David Kampf on a breakaway.
The saves on Gustafsson and Kampf would factor in the outcome.
TURNOVER TROUBLE
There’s no secret about the Islanders and their tenacity on the forecheck. It’s their way, it has been for a while, and if they make the playoffs, it’s going to give their first-round opponent fits (though we don’t see the Isles advancing, especially if they draw Boston).
The Leafs knew what they were in for, but a few days to prepare following a shootout win in Ottawa apparently were not enough.
Parise’s goal came at four-on-four and the Leafs, namely Jake McCabe and John Tavares, got mixed up in coverage.
Defenceman Timothy Liljegren, who had some tough moments in nearly 20 minutes of work, hesitated despite having some time to move the puck and put it on the stick of Hudson Fasching, who fired it past Ilya Samsonov. That put the home side up 2-1.
Less than four minutes later, Kampf, usually reliable, felt the heat of the forecheck from Casey Cizikas and couldn’t get the puck out of trouble. Quickly, Cal Clutterbuck re-directed a Ryan Pulock shot past Samsonov.
So three Islanders goals against a Leafs team that couldn’t handle the pressure. Not good, not this close to the playoffs.
It continued to a degree in the third period, after Marner was fed by Auston Matthews to cut the Isles lead to 3-2.
The Leafs, lacking in concentration, gave another goal to New York. This time it was Marner, who carried the puck through the neutral zone and tried to get it to Morgan Rielly as the Isles stood up at the blue line. Clutterbuck intercepted, raced down the ice and beat Samsonov on a breakaway. New York scored three more goals, none of which were required.
Of the Leafs’ 19 turnovers, Liljegren had a team-high four.
“They have big bodies coming with a lot of speed,” Liljegren said of the Islanders’ forecheck. “We knew coming in that breakouts were going to be a big piece for us.”
As for the Leafs’ insistence on moving defencemen in and out of the lineup, it would be a good idea to settle on a top-six fairly soon. With 12 games remaining before the playoffs, there’s not a ton of time left to get the pairs in the right order and comfortable. TJ Brodie, who sat after blocking a shot in Ottawa, is likely going to return in Florida, which will help.
FORWARD FAILINGS
The players who are supposed to lead the way through obstacles thrown up by the opposition — Marner, Matthews, Tavares, William Nylander — didn’t.
Keefe tried to get some traction to start the third period when he went back to what we’ve come to expect in the top six. Matthews was between Marner and Jarnkrok, and Tavares had Michael Bunting and William Nylander on his wings.
Matthews and Marner hooked up for a goal, but that was it.
Called out a day before by Keefe for his lack of engagement and pace, Nylander and two shots on goal and seven attempts, but did not get on the scoresheet. That’s four games in a row without a point by Nylander, marking his longest slump of the season.
As a whole, the Leafs were unable to get inside and create havoc in front of Sorokin.
The Leafs’ Big Four collectively have been productive for much of this season and have carried the ball. On Tuesday, they didn’t do their part.
THEY SAID IT
“The issue through two periods, and really the whole game, is you don’t get enough offence. You give up six (and one into an empty net), it’s the offensive piece I’m more concerned with. We didn’t generate enough. Consistently, we didn’t challenge enough to the inside. Playing against this team, if you don’t do that, you’re going to have a night like this. We had the puck a lot in the offensive zone, that was not an issue. I thought at times we were over-passing and trying to create the perfect shot, which is not how you score on this guy. We needed to get more action. Offensively, we left a lot on the table.”
— Keefe on the shortcomings in the offensive zone
“I think today was better for my offensive pace. Previous games, I haven’t been skating and playing like myself. Today was a step in the right direction. I haven’t been happy about my game. I have been pissed off about it. You have to dig yourself out of it.”
— Nylander on his play
“I want to forget about this game, it’s history right now. I have more important things at home right now than thinking about this game.”
— Samsonov, who will return to Toronto on Wednesday to be with his wife, who is due to give birth to the couple’s first child. Joseph Woll will be recalled and back up Matt Murray in Florida
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