The game couldn’t have started better for the Toronto Maple Leafs last night; yet, the Colorado Avalanche came back from a 3-0 first-period deficit to win the game going away. The final score was 5-3 Avalanche.
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Despite a strong start from the Max Domi line, the Maple Leafs couldn’t sustain their momentum throughout the game. That simple failure led to the bottom falling out of Toronto’s game. Mental mistakes translated into on-ice issues, and the team simply seemed unable to build anything fruitful that could translate into a score.
Item One: A Few Reasons the Maple Leafs Lost Last Night’s Game
Simply said, the Maple Leafs lost to the Avalanche because they couldn’t maintain their early lead. The Maple Leafs struggled to handle the puck and generate offense, particularly against Colorado’s top players. Nathan MacKinnon‘s late goal off a rush sealed the win for the Avalanche.
After the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe expressed his frustrating disappointment in the team’s performance. He noted the team’s defensive lapses, penalty issues, and the inability to match the play of Colorado’s best players. Nothing he tried to do seemed to work. His radical lineup changes, basically sitting John Tavares and Tyler Bertuzzi in the third period, failed. He loaded up the team’s first line by adding William Nylander to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner’s line to counteract the high-caliber play of MacKinnon’s line. It didn’t work.
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During the game, several little issues added up to the Maple Leafs loss. Some of these problems faced by the Maple Leafs included defensive lapses that made it seem as if the Maple Leafs quit playing. Too many defensive breakdowns led to Avalanche opportunities.
The Maple Leafs struggled so badly with puck possession that it seemed as if the Avalanche controlled the puck for most of the last two periods of the game. Colorado generated offense from their cycle, which put the Maple Leafs on their heels – defending too much. And Colorado’s top players dominated play. The top Avalanche players, especially MacKinnon’s line, were too tough for the Maple Leafs to handle.
Colorado’s top players were driving the game. The Maple Leafs special team’s play could not hold the Avalanche in check. As a result, the Avalanche’s power play provided an advantage.
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