Leafs coach throws his defenders under the bus after rocky start
After starting the season with a pair of wins and scoring 12 goals in those wins, the Leafs have scored just two goals in their last two games. In the first two games, their offensive firepower covered up their defensive miscues, but the last two have not seen the same offensive outbursts.
Ilya Samsonov has not had the best start to his season, allowing 9 goals across his first two starts and 11 goals over his last three, with a few softies among them. Samsonov has declared, himself, already that he is not playing his best hockey right now, but he has vowed to do what it takes to figure it out and become more dialed in.
In his post-game media availability last night, Sheldon Keefe was not convinced that goaltending is an issue right now. He was asked about the subpar starts by Samsonov following last night's loss. Keefe was very quick to defend his goaltender.
"We can't truly assess the goalies until we start playing better defensively... [Samsonov] made some saves on the PK for us that were really good. The two goals came from distance. I would like to see him find a way to get one of those for us, especially when the guy at the other end is not giving you much. But I thought it was a good game and progress for Sammy in terms of finding his groove."
There's no question that the defense has been abysmal in Toronto so far this season. The Leafs are not doing a great job of taking care of the puck - especially in their own end - and they're coughing up a lot of pucks in the neutral zone, which had led to opposing rush chances in transition.
Only one pairing seems to be set at the moment, and that's the Morgan Rielly/T.J. Brodie pairing. Through 4 games, we have seen Jake McCabe and John Klingberg play together, while Mark Giordano and Timothy Liljegren anchor that 3rd pairing. We have also seen Liljegren elevated to the 2nd pair, playing alongside McCabe, with Klingberg sliding down to play with Giordano.
The defense group is still very much a work in progress, but as they begin to settle in and become accustomed to their new assignments, hopefully things will calm down a bit and allow the D to find their groove. If/when that happens, we'll have a better sense of where the goaltending is at - at least in Keefe's mind.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 20 | 196 ANSWERS Leafs coach throws his defenders under the bus after rocky start What do you think the Leafs' biggest problem is so far? | ||
| Goaltending | 21 | 10.7 % |
| Defense | 82 | 41.8 % |
| Keefe | 33 | 16.8 % |
| All of the above | 60 | 30.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
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