The Toronto Maple Leafs have received lots of well-deserved credit for their approach to team defence this season. The trade-off appears to be that losses are about ten times as boring.
The Leafs, streaky as a team can be in January, lost their third-straight game after winning their previous three, this time in the form of a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild. They’ve been outscored 9-3 in those three games, and the offence has been about as lifeless as you can get. It’s one thing to have an off-night and struggle to click with your teammates, but this is no longer the effect of an off-night. It’s become a trend over the past three games and one the team needs to solve sooner rather than later.
Missing John Tavares and Matthew Knies from the lineup certainly isn’t helping their cause, but they add to what’s already been a massive issue for the team in 2024-25. Max Domi hasn’t scored a goal in his last 19 games, Pontus Holmberg has yet to score a goal this season, and Nick Robertson has been held to only two goals in 2025 so far. Domi and Robertson specifically are two players who were expected to be contributing members of their secondary offence, and while the onus isn’t entirely on them to get the team’s offence going as a whole, not having that threat beyond the top two lines has hurt the team.
Getting Knies back on Saturday against the Oilers will help things, but they’re more than just one player away from fixing the root cause of their issues. There were far too many forced passes, look-offs, and fumbles of the puck to justify seeping into your game on a regular basis, and when you’re facing a team like the Wild that excels when it comes to playing shutdown hockey with a lead, you’re essentially making life impossible for yourself by failing to get out of your own way.
The Leafs will visit the Oilers on Saturday and look to re-claim first in the division, with the Panthers jumping them by one point following a 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
