Dave Feschuk: Leafs not making the best of chances against NHL’s worst
maybe it’s easy enough to be convinced there’s not a lot to play for during these dog days of February.
Seen through that lens, it’d be easy enough to apologize for how the Maple Leafs seem to be having a difficult time getting up for games of late, most recently Saturday’sYou can certainly see how, with two of Toronto’s next three games against the second-last-place Chicago Blackhawks, beginning Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena, the coming week might be a motivational challenge for head coach Sheldon Keefe.
That’s essentially the story of the Atlantic standings. While Boston and Tampa meet NHL pretenders and lay them to waste, the Leafs lay too many eggs. Boston’s goal differential in its games against the worst eight teams in the league is a whopping plus-33. Tampa’s is plus-32. Toronto’s is plus-3. On Saturday Keefe seemed as flummoxed as he was angry by his team’s lethargic work against the NHL’s worst team.
“Had we fared better against some of the teams that didn’t make , it could have made a significant difference to where we finished,” Keefe lamented about the 2021-22 campaign. “We were in a good spot going into the playoffs, but it could have been better.” And is anybody really wringing their hands over the difference between second and third place in the Atlantic? Last season Toronto finished second, secured home advantage against the Lightning, and still managed to lose in Games 6 and 7. They lost Game 7 at home to Montreal the year before that, and a decisive Game 5 in Toronto the year before that . Maybe a change of scenery will be for the best.
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