“They score. They score a lot.”
Sheldon Keefe’s pregame assessment of the Seattle Kraken was more extensive than that, of course, but it was hard not to call back to that small snippet from Thursday morning’s media availability considering the events that played out on the ice hours later.
Because in the second period of Thursday’s matchup in Toronto between the Maple Leafs and Kraken, Seattle scored.
They scored a lot.
And in doing so, they only exacerbated the Maple Leafs’ recent defensive errors and goaltending struggles in Toronto’s first regulation loss at home in 12 games.
Coming off a sloppy loss to the St. Louis Blues, a back-and-forth affair that saw many a defensive breakdown and required a shootout to solve, the Maple Leafs were preaching a more disciplined gameplan in hopes of righting Tuesday’s wrongs and sparking a bit of momentum ahead of an important stretch.
With more than half of their next 13 games before the all-star break – nine of which are to be played at home – coming against opponents not currently in the playoff picture, the Maple Leafs have an opportunity to pad their position in the standings and resolve to build some healthy habits to start the new year (and, of course, the path to the post-season).
Thursday’s performance, while it came against a worthy opponent, wasn’t exactly a promising start. Any ideas of momentum were squashed just 14 seconds after John Tavares tied the game 1-1 in the second period, with Vince Dunn quieting the Toronto crowd’s celebration before Jared McCann extended the lead less than three minutes later.
The eventual 5-1 defeat, their largest deficit of the season, brings a familiar topic – goaltending – to the forefront once again.
That’s where we’ll start in Thursday’s takeaways.
Murray’s struggles thrust goaltending further into spotlight
Matt Murray, excellent in his last start of 2022 (a 26-save win in Colorado) struggled in his first of 2023, letting in five goals on 26 shots including four in a 10-minute span in the second frame. That this performance came just two nights after Ilya Samsonov let in five against St. Louis amid a skid of his own only increases the anxieties around Toronto’s blue paint.
Both halves of the Maple Leafs’ tandem are currently seeing significant dips in their numbers, with Samsonov failing to register a save percentage above .882 in his last four starts and Murray only thrice exceeding .900 since the beginning of December.
The Maple Leafs’ goaltending rollercoaster ride rolls on – a familiar sight in these parts, and as our focus shifts to the second half of the season and hopes for some playoff success, this is a spotlight that’s only going to get brighter.
Seattle’s depth on full display
Of course, not many goalies have had great days against the Kraken. After struggling offensively throughout their inaugural season, Seattle is scoring in waves in 2022-23, proving to be one of the most productive clubs this year despite not having a single 20-goal scorer on the roster.
What they do have, however, is 16 players with 10-plus points, which is the most in the league. The scoring-by-committee approach, which plenty of input from the blue line, is exactly what the Maple Leafs saw Thursday night – with some familiar faces leading the way.
Jared McCann, noted Maple Leafs legend and the Kraken’s leading goal-scorer, added to his team-high tally Thursday night with his 18th of the season. Matt Beniers, the NHL’s rookie leader in goals who’s just one point shy of leading the Kraken in points, also scored Thursday. McCann, who in all seriousness was of course plucked out of Toronto via the expansion draft before ever donning the blue and white, had two points in the win, Vince Dunn registered three as he drove the offence from the back end, and a total of 10 Kraken players wrote their names on the scoresheet – including newcomer Eeli Tolvanen, who’s off to a hot start since being claimed off Nashville’s waivers.
Add in another solid performance by Martin Jones, and the Maple Leafs got the full Kraken experience.
Mitch Marner, 2023 All-Star, closing in on No. 500
On Tuesday night, in his 445th career NHL game, Auston Matthews registered the 500th point of his career and in doing so became the fastest player in Maple Leafs history to hit that milestone. On Thursday, Mitch Marner came within one point of joining his teammate – and at 466 games played, he’s not far off his peer’s pace.
With his assist on captain John Tavares’ power-play goal in the second period, the Maple Leafs’ lone score of the game, Marner hit point No. 499 of his career. (Fittingly, Matthews also assisted on the goal.) Marner’s helper also extended his home point streak to 16 straight games, which has him tied with Mats Sundin for the second-longest such streak in team history. Darryl Sittler’s 18-game point streak at home in 1977-78 is the record.
In 16 consecutive home games, Marner has now tallied five goals and 18 assists.
Thursday night also saw Marner named as Toronto’s representative at the upcoming 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend. Kraken rookie Matty Beniers was named as Seattle’s representative.
These two clubs meet again on Feb. 26 when the Maple Leafs head to Seattle for their second and final showdown of the season.
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