{"id":456,"date":"2022-10-30T15:56:40","date_gmt":"2022-10-30T15:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/?p=456"},"modified":"2022-10-30T15:57:55","modified_gmt":"2022-10-30T15:57:55","slug":"the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-in-maple-leafs-4-2-loss-to-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2022\/10\/30\/the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-in-maple-leafs-4-2-loss-to-kings\/","title":{"rendered":"The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly in Maple Leafs\u2019 4-2 loss to Kings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Stan Smith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost 4-2 to the Los Angeles Kings. What were the good, bad, and ugly parts of the game?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bad<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sheldon Keefe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Did Sheldon Keefe shoot himself in the foot on this road trip?\u00a0Are there times when maybe he shouldn\u2019t be so honest and should keep some things to himself?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the post-game scrum following the loss to San Jose, Keefe made a point of the problem his defence is having moving the puck in their own zone. That was the central theme of his postgame comments.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Maple Leafs Head Coach Sheldon Keefe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It was kind of like the coach saying to other teams, \u201cIf you want to beat us, just pressure our defence.\u201d\u00a0 That was a key part of the Kings’ success in the game. They were relentless in their forecheck, giving the Maple Leafs fits in their own end.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: MAPLE LEAFS HEAD INTO KINGS\u2019 GAME A FRUSTRATED TEAM<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Penalties and Penalty Killing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For the second game in a row, key penalties and a failure to kill them played a crucial role in the outcome of the game.\u00a0In San Jose, it was the two penalties taken simultaneously that led to two power-play goals early in the second period.\u00a0In Los Angeles, back-to-back calls against Justin Holl led to two power-play goals early in the second period.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Justin Holl, Maple Leafs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t help when, on the second penalty, three Maple Leafs\u2019 players, led by defenseman Morgan Rielly decided to attempt a three-man breakout on the penalty kill leaving Filip Kral as the only man back. That decision resulted in a Kings\u2019 goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confidence or the Lack of it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So much of this game is confidence.\u00a0You can tell just by watching the players, how they play, and their body language. It’s easy to tell when a team is confident and when it is not.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Maple Leafs are not showing confidence in any areas of the game right now.\u00a0They struggle to make the simplest of plays. They appear to be overthinking everything they do, with or without the puck, in all three zones on the ice.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Good<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even in a game like this, there are still some good things to take away from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Giordano<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mark Giordano continues to be one of, if not the best defenseman on the roster.\u00a0In this game when he was on the ice at five-on-five, the Maple Leafs had 80% of the Scoring Chances, 75% of the High-Danger Chances, and 77% of the Expected Goals.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the ninth game in a row, the opposition has failed to score a five-on-five goal while Giordano is on the ice. We realize he’s 39 years old and the Maple Leafs want to manage his minutes. However, maybe it’s time to give him more than the 17-plus minutes of ice time he has averaged this season.\u00a0Even if it is just for a game or two.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: 3 Takeaways from Maple Leafs\u2019 4-2 Loss to Kings<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filip Kral<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Filip Kral only played 11:48 in this game; and, with Giordano being his main partner his statistics were highly influenced by Giordano\u2019s. Still, at five-on-five when Kral was on the ice, the Maple Leafs had 67% of the Scoring\u00a0 Chances, 75% of the High-Danger Chances, and 70% of the Expected Goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u010cesk\u00fd \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddff obr\u00e1nce Filip Kr\u00e1l nastoup\u00ed dnes ve\u010der proti LA Kings ke sv\u00e9mu debutu v NHL v dresu Maple Leafs \ud83c\udf41\ud83d\udc99\ud83e\udd0d pic.twitter.com\/zBOfob8Xv0<\/a><\/p>— Mapleleafs.cz (@mapleleafscz) October 29, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>