Leafs off to an identical start as last season, a record-setting year; the sky is not falling.. yet..
Following back-to-back losses in Vegas and San Jose, the Leafs were expected to come out fast and heavy against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday in hopes of snapping their 2-game losing skid and moving to 5-3-1 on the season. Well, we now know that didn't happen.
Yes, the Leafs have lost 3 in a row and two of their losses have been against the lowly San Jose Sharks and the even more lowly Arizona Coyotes. With that being said, everyone in Leaf Nation should recognize that it's far too early to panic. We need to bring the temperature down a little bit. They're not going to make a coaching or GM change and unless they move some money out, there are no players coming in to be dubbed "saviours".
The Leafs started 4-4-1 last season, which is the same record they currently own this season. Following a 4-4-1 start last season, the Leafs went on an absolute tear. They won 9 of their next 11 and had two steaks of 4 wins or more. So while the pressure is mounting, the panic button should not be hit just yet. The Leafs will be getting Timothy Liljegren back next week and possibly veteran Jordie Benn as well. Those two, particularly Liljegren, could help the defense with clean breakout passes.
The Leafs do need to end the road trip with a win in Anaheim against a last-place Ducks team to turn the heat down. If they can't do that, we may see some more drastic lineup juggling when the team gets back to Toronto - possibly even spreading out the "Core 4" across 3 lines, much like they did at points last season.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 30 | 197 ANSWERS Leafs off to an identical start as last season, a record-setting year; the sky is not falling.. yet.. How many games should the Leafs get to turn their season around before someone is traded or fired? | ||
| 5 more games | 106 | 53.8 % |
| 6-10 more games | 44 | 22.3 % |
| 11-15 more games | 28 | 14.2 % |
| 16-20 more games | 19 | 9.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
