Same old story for the Maple Leafs

As I watched the Leafs fall behind 2-0 to Montreal last night, I turned to my out of town guest and predicted the Leafs would tie the game up in the third period and loss in overtime. He laughed and asked how I could be so sure. Because the Leafs are the most predictable team in the NHL.

Sure enough the Leafs peppered 49 shots at Halak last night but lost in overtime 3-2. In the 10 games where the Leafs have had their highest shot total, they only won once and that was against Anaheim who at the time had a record worse than the Leafs. Five games were lost in overtime or shootout. You would think that the Leafs are just running into a string of great goaltenders. But that isn't really what is happening.

In the offensive zone the Leafs are aggressive on the forecheck and winning a lot of battles for the puck. It is producing a high number of scoring opportunities but with a lack of snipers, the number of shots are pretty much meaningless. Many are harmless and with the lack of large forwards, they often take long shots without screening the goalie. Meanwhile the Leafs often have poor starts and fall behind early in the game. This forces them to take too many chances in their own end which leads to turnovers and goals. You are more often than not going to lose to Washington if you try to outgun them. They have too much firepower. Meanwhile strong defensive teams like Buffalo will sit back and wait for you to make a mistake.

Winning game starts in your own end. Something the Leafs have yet to learn.

SHOTS	OPPONENT	OUTCOME
61	Islanders	OT Loss
49	Montreal	OT Loss
46	Montreal	OT Loss
42	Buffalo	Loss
41	Tampa Bay	OT Loss
40	Washington	SO Loss
40	Calgary	Loss
39	Minnesota	Loss
39	Anaheim	Win
38	Buffalo	Loss