Toronto Maple Leafs: Don’t Panic Over Tough Road Trip
The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t have a great Wesern road trip, but there were several encouraging signs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs completed their toughest road trip of the season and it wasn’t pretty but it also wasn’t enough to cause any need for panic.
Toronto went 1-3 visiting the three teams from California before wrapping up the trip against the St. Louis Blues. The only team the Maple Leafs managed to defeat was the banged up Anaheim Ducks. But given the strength and quality of the three teams they were defeated by, Toronto has nothing to be ashamed about.
The Maple Leafs have always done poorly while visiting California, just like most teams in the NHL. It’s hardly uncommon to see teams visit the Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks while escaping the state without a single victory.
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If Toronto had any other destination they’d least like to play outside of California it’d likely be in St. Louis. Over the past five seasons the Maple Leafs have now gone 1-4 on the road against the Blues while being outscored 22-13.
Clearly, Toronto was doomed from the start of this road trip. The good news is nobody got hurt and nobody has to worry about visiting these cities until next season. The Maple Leafs can put the awful trip behind them and focus on the positives from the road trip.
Toronto’s play was far from perfect but outside of the first period against the Kings and the second period against the Blues, the Maple Leafs didn’t play too poorly on the four-game trip. Obviously Toronto must learn to play a complete 60-minute road game, but when playing two teams with a combined home record of 11-1-2 it’s hard to fault the Maple Leafs.
Los Angeles jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Toronto in the first period on the second night of a back-to-back for the Maple Leafs. It’s hard to find blame when the Kings and their two-time Stanley Cup champion core take advantage of a tired team at home. It’s what they are expected to do.
It’s also hard to blame Toronto for running out of gas in the final game of the road trip in the second period against the Blues. St. Louis scored three goals in less than eight minutes in the period. It was the third game in four nights for the Maple Leafs against the best team in the Western Conference and second-best team overall in the league. It wasn’t exactly setting up Toronto for the best chance at success.
The positive notes from both losses were the Maple Leafs never packed it in or gave up. Toronto managed to cut into the lead on both occasions before ultimately coming up short in both comeback bids. The fact the Maple Leafs still showed fight when the games seemed all but over shows the character and heart this young Toronto team possesses.
The toughest road trip of the season is behind them and now the Maple Leafs can return home for three straight games at the Air Canada Centre. The 1-3 road trip might seem like a rough patch but it was always going to be a rough patch no matter where it was placed on the schedule.
Next: Maple Leafs All-Time Team
It’s better to have it over with at the start of November than the start of March.