Toronto Maple Leafs Manage To Be Both Surprising And Frustrating So Far

The Toronto Maple Leafs dropped another game to the Hurricanes on Tuesday, but not before turning a blowout into an exciting game and forcing overtime. The Leafs managed to escape with a point in a matchup that looked out of reach pretty early on. Though they have become known for erasing two goal defecits, the Leafs upped the ante in this game by fighting their way back from three goals down.

The Leafs went down 4-1 after some horrible defensive breakdowns, and some less-than-stellar goaltending from Vesa Toskala. Though mediocre goaltending is to be expected from his 41 year old backup, Toskala's performance early on in this game was disappointing. Maple Leafs fans know he is capable of standing on his head, and on his good nights he is easily one of the top goalies in the league. Tuesday however, was not one of his good nights. In fact, it was a rather bad one, and I hope he is able to get his focus back and show the form we know he can. The 4 goals scored against the Toronto Maple Leafs though were not entirely his fault. The Leafs defence seems to be developing a disturbing habit of not covering the points in their own end. This is giving opposing teams an easy chance to set up their plays, as well as providing them with shooting lanes. For a team that was solid defensively in the first month of the season, they seem to be losing their discipline in their own zone.

Another bad trend I see the Leafs slipping into is penalty trouble. They are spotting the opposition too many power plays by taking rather pointless penalties, and those chances are beginning to result in goals against. It seems that Ron Wilson's message of strict defensive play, and staying out of the box has been forgotten by the players in their last few games. Coach Wilson is going to have to find a way to drill it back into their heads, even if it means benching more players. Perhaps it is time to shake things up on the blue line in order to get them back to the form they showed earlier on. I would personally like to see Jonas Frogren back in the lineup more often. When he was a mainstay on the Maple Leafs blue line, they werent allowing many goals. Now that he has been scratched, the Leafs have been allowing 4-5 goals in the past few games. I dont think this is a coincidence. No, Frogren isn't the greatest passer or shooter, but he is a solid defensive presence. The guy hits like a Mac truck, and the Leafs could use that to get their defence back on track. Not to mention he is one of the best on the team at blocking shots. There is no better help a goalie can get then to make sure the puck never gets to his crease in the first place. Jonas Frogren provides that for the Maple Leafs, and if they need to scratch someone to make room for him they should do it.

Despite all those issues however, the Toronto Maple Leafs have somehow managed to find their offense. This has been the reason they have remained competitive. Nobody thought heading into this season that the Leafs would be a team capable of scoring four, five, or six goals a game. Surprise! The Leafs second line has finally begun to score, after many games of coming painfully close. Niklas Hagman is now tied for most points on the team, with 4 goals and 6 assists. Mikhail Grabovski has hit his stride as well, and now leads the Toronto Maple Leafs in goals with 5. Nikolai Kulemin has 5 assists, as he has helped set up many of those goals. As a result of their play, I have named Mikhail Grabovski as my latest "player of the week" but this whole line is worthy of recognition. They have been nothing short of outstanding-if only the Leafs defence and goaltending would give them a bit of help.

The Maple Leafs need to figure out how to get their offence and defence working at the same time. It seems that when one is on its game, the other is off. Although I suppose this is all part of the roller coaster ride that is this season. Whether it ends up in the basement or the playoffs, nobody knows. That's what has made this team both exciting and frustrating. I suppose I should be happy with the surprise showing so far, but watching the Toronto Maple Leafs almost makes me think they are capable of more, if only they can find that balance between offensive and defensive play.