Toronto Maple Leafs Must Learn To Maintain Defensive Focus

Wednesday’s loss to the New Jersey Devils proves the Toronto Maple Leafs still have some work to do to improve defensively.

Despite the team’s 3-1 record, if the Toronto Maple Leafs hope to reach their full potential the team will need to avoid its early-season trend of awful defensive lapses. In four games this season the Maple Leafs have shown they are loaded with talent by scoring a combined total of 22 goals.

However, the team’s first loss of the season, a 6-3 defeat at home to the New Jersey Devils, highlighted Toronto’s struggles with playing quality defense for a complete 60-minute game. In the second period against New Jersey, the Maple Leafs were down a goal with a glorious opportunity to tie the contest on the powerplay.

Unfortunately for Toronto, the powerplay unit was sloppy and unorganized. This directly led to a five-on-three shorthanded goal by the Devils, which was the game-winning goal as well.

Bad luck strikes all teams. If this was just a case of a team losing its focus once or twice, it would be easy to dismiss it as a simple mistake. However, Maple Leafs have shown they know how to let their minds wander, as the team can’t seem to maintain its defensive focus for all three periods.

Toronto was sluggish on home-ice to start their game against the Chicago Blackhawks. They found themselves down 2-0 before the half-way point of the first period. The Maple Leafs’ offense dug themselves out of the hole for a 4-3 comeback victory, but it’s an inexcusable start at home for a franchise with Stanley Cup aspirations.

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Another mental breakdown saw Toronto take a 5-1 first-period lead at home against the New York Rangers, only to take their foot off the gas and allow their opponent to tie the game before the end of the second period. Once again, the Maple Leafs were able to come out victorious but blowing a four-goal lead on home ice is another example of inexcusable play.

Even in Toronto’s 7-2 blowout of the Winnipeg Jets on opening night, the Maple Leafs allowed the Jets to score both their goals in less than two minutes apart. Although those goals came late in the game with Toronto up by five goals, it is still a small example of how the Maple Leafs can quickly lose their focus. They also relied heavily on Frederik Andersen early in the game.

There’s no doubt Toronto is loaded with offensive talent, given the team had five 60-point players last season. Just like there is no doubt a young team like the Maple Leafs still has a lot to learn. However, in order for Toronto to maximize their success given their talent, the team will need to learn to maintain their defensive focus for the entirety of games.

Next: Is The Bar Too High For The Maple Leafs?

Teams with high-scoring offenses go through slumps during the season. This forces them to grind out games defensively in order to win. They are likely to see a nasty losing streak during the season once the offense hits a cold streak. Or worse, that slump might come during the postseason.