While the Leafs fought back to force overtime in San Jose on Thursday, it was the continuation of a troubling trend that put them in a hole to begin with. As mentioned in Thursday night’s game in 10, the Leafs have now surrendered the first goal in six of eight games, which had Auston Matthews lamenting the team’s lack of 60-minute efforts after Thursday’s loss.
The Leafs have puttered out to a 4-3-1 start to the year, which is by no means season-destroying, but a 92-point pace at the 10% pole is below the expectation level and well behind the pace-setting Boston Bruins’ 8-1 start.