Anybody familiar with this era of Leafs hockey — and the checkered history with trap games against bottom-feeders — could be forgiven for feeling a little uneasy heading into yesterday afternoon’s game against the lowly Chicago Blackhawks. Despite a dominant effort in the first half of the game, they let the Blackhawks hang around and ultimately fell 4-3 in overtime because of a couple of turnovers in the defensive zone that ended up in their net.
The inability to manage the game fell below the standard mature teams with Stanley Cup aspirations should be held to, and the most disappointing part was that it was the Leafs‘ top line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner that was on for two goals against while generating very little offensively.