How can the Leafs improve?

Watching the Leafs on Saturday night (January 12th) in San Jose, you just had a feeling that their 2-0 lead wasn’t going to last. And of course, the Sharks rallied for three in the third period. Patrick Marleau and Craig Rivet scored PP goals to tie the game, and then Joe Pavelski scored the winner with 9:39 left.

For those who root for Toronto, this is getting old. Why can’t this team protect leads? I’ve never seen a team blow so many of them in one season. Many of their losses in 2007-08 have come in excruciating fashion.

To wit:
The very first game of the year on October 3rd set the tone on. On opening night, Ottawa shocked the Leafs at the ACC. Dany Heatley tied it late in the third period (with just over 5 minutes left) and beat goalie Andrew Raycroft with a wrist shot at 2:57 of OT, rallying the Senators past Toronto 4-3. The Leafs, who went 0-for-7 on the power play, wasted Nik Antropov’s two goals and their 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.

Then the next night, Toronto fell behind the Senators 2-0 before tying it with a pair of quick goals late in the second. With the score 2-2 late in the third (with 4:59 left), Daniel Alfredsson scored his second of the night for Ottawa with the Leafs playing one man short. Toronto, 0-for-8 on the PP, lost, 3-2. Special teams was a factor in this one, as the Sens scored two of their goals with the man advantage. But clearly, two straight setbacks allowing late goals was a concern, and a trend that would haunt the Leafs throughout the season.

The Leafs would get embarrassed 7-1 at home by Carolina the following week, but followed that up with an 8-1 triumph in their next game against the Islanders.

Following the big 8-1 win, the Leafs and Penguins hooked up on Hockey Night in Canada on October 13th, and again, Toronto just couldn’t play a full 60 minutes - in particular the final minutes of a game. The Leafs also couldn’t play defense or get their PP clicking. Darcy Tucker, Nik Antropov, and Mats Sundin gave Toronto a 3-1 lead by the first minute of the second period, but the roof then fell in. The Penguins ran off with three straight of their own for a 4-3 lead in the second. However, the Leafs bounced right back when Jason Blake tallied just 27 seconds after Pittsburgh took the lead. Thus, it was 4-4 after 40 minutes. The Leafs just didn’t have it in the third, getting outshot 16-6. Sidney Crosby scored the game-winner, his second of the night, a power-play marker, with only 5:22 left, giving the Penguins the lead they would not relinquish. Pittsburgh added an empty-netter with the Leafs pulled Vesa Toskala, who faced 51 shots. Again, the power play failed the Leafs, as they went 0-for-6, including a late man-advantage opportunity late in the game.

And then the unthinkable two nights later. With a 2-0 lead after two in Buffalo, the Leafs looked to pick up a victory. However, the Sabres scored two goals in 37 seconds midway through the third to break Raycroft’s shutout. Toronto then took 3-2 and 4-3 leads, only to see the Sabres’ Jochen Hecht tie it with 3:33 left in the third. Ales Kotalik then settled things with the game-winning PPG - as Leafs defenseman Bryan McCabe knocked the puck into his own net after Raycroft stopped it - with just 3.7 ticks left in OT. Toronto was outshot 19-5 in the final stanza.

The Leafs seemed to turn the corner in their next outing, rallying from a 2-0 deficit against Florida and then seeing Nik Antropov put in a rebound for the game-winner with 28 seconds left in the game.

However, that optimism was short-lived, as the Leafs blew a 3-1, third-period lead in the very next game, at home against the Blackhawks. Chicago beat Raycroft five times in the third period as Toronto blew yet another two-goal lead after 40 minutes. The Leafs fell, 6-4.

So, five of their first six losses were in heart-breaking fashion, while the other was a blow-out loss.

And all that happened in October. Imagine having all these blown leads in just the first month of the season? Surely things would even out as the season went on, right?

Wrong.

On November 2nd, the Leafs lost in New Jersey, 3-2, when John Madden scored shorthanded with 4:12 left and Zach Parise added another goal with 2:35 left to break a tie, offsetting Mat Sundin’s goal with 30 seconds left.

Later in the month, the Leafs outshot Montreal 40-25 at the ACC, only to cough up a 3-2 lead with 6:02 left, and Mike Komisarek beat Raycroft on a breakaway (thanks to Bryan McCabe’s giveaway) 35 seconds into OT. 4-3 Montreal.

Then there was that 4-2 loss in Toronto, when Tuukka Rask - who was traded by the Leafs to Boston for Raycroft on June 24, 2006 - got the win in his first NHL start, making 30 saves. The Bruins scored the winner with 3:31 left in the game, and added an empty-netter with 27 seconds left, capping off a three-goal third period. Again, Toronto - who took a one-goal lead into the final period - blew a 2-0 lead. In fact, the Leafs would have had a two-goal lead going into the third if not for Antropov’s penalty, which led to Boston’s first goal at 19:12.

The Leafs then won four straight and six of seven, giving Leafs fans some hope. Then disaster struck with back-to-back losses in Carolina and Tampa Bay in December. The Leafs had a 2-0 lead late in the third period against the Hurricanes, only to see Cory Stillman and Ray Whitney score in the last 1:25 to force OT, and Scott Walker tally the OT-winner with 33 ticks left.

In Tampa, the Leafs scored first, but still lost. Jason Ward tied things late in the second. The Lightning’s Vincent Lecavalier scored with 42 seconds left in the third, and the Leafs fell 2-1. Toronto outshot the Lightning 12-4 in the third period, but couldn’t beat rookie Karri Ramo, who had 31 saves in his first career start.

The Leafs closed out the 2007 calendar year with six losses in seven games.

January didn’t change much. At ACC, the Flyers took a 2-0 lead, including controversial Steve Downie’s first NHL goal in his second game of the year. The Leafs tied it in the third period, only to see Mike Richards beat Raycroft with a PP goal with 2:51 left. The Leafs outshot Philadelphia 56-32, including 20-10 in the second and 20-11 in the third, but Antero Niittymaki was clearly better than his counterpart in goal.

Yesterday’s loss in San Jose was just another typical Leafs game this year. How many more blown third-period leads can this team pull off the rest of the way? Or will those losses teach them how to win? After all, this is a highly-paid veteran team, not one with rookies and youngsters. Hard to fathom that they’ve had this much trouble winning this year.

And now there’s this Mats Sundin saga. Will be or won’t he be traded?

Either way, this season’s a lost cause. After 45 games, the team is five games under .500 (16-21-8), seven points out of the playoffs and No. 14 in the East out of a 15-team conference. And most fans I’ve talked to don’t GM John Ferguson Jr. or coach Paul Maurice back next season.

How can the Leafs improve? Discuss.