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5 Takeaways: TOR 4-COL 5 (OT)

BY ERIK LAGERWEIJ

Colorado Avalanche (Twitter.com)

    It was 4-1...
    Another infamous choke by the Toronto Maple Leafs was capped off on Saturday tonight, as two NHL heavyweights went toe-to-toe in a thrilling game. 
    Here are my 5 takeaways from the disheartening loss in the Mile High City.

Non-Playoff Hockey

    The Leafs have often been chastised for playing non-playoff hockey. There's a reason they've had so much regular season success, yet fallen short in the playoffs so often. 
    At the end of the day, the playoffs are in place to win the Stanley Cup. To win the Stanley Cup, you must win 16 games. So before all the Leafs fans come pouring in, crying about how Keefe needs to adapt non-playoff hockey, let me just say that the main point of playoff hockey is to win. Winning games will earn you the chance to hoist the chalice and the Leafs can clearly win games. We should not overreact yet.
    Keefe had this Leafs team up 3-0 early against the Avs. As much as the run-and-gun style of the Leafs is criticized for not being suited to the playoffs, outscoring your opponents is all you really need to do in the postseason to make a long run. This is on the Leafs, as a team, for once again letting go of a game in which they were beating one of the best teams in the NHL quite handily. 
    The funny thing is that the overwhelming thought in Leafs Nation tonight was "Not again." Strangely, this is the first time it has happened all year. The Leafs were previously 17-0-0 when leading after the first two periods in 2021-22.
    But, it did undoubtedly happen tonight. All we can hope for is that they can take this gut punch of a loss, keep their hopes up, and work on getting this out of their systems. At the end of the day, they still picked up a point against a Colorado team that has scored 61 goals in their last 11 games at home. 
    Let's hope that we don't have to see "It was 4-1" for a long time to come.

Jake Muzzin and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Game

    Okay, it wasn't as bad as my adjective choice made it out to be. He had a secondary assist and blocked 4 shots. Still, a concerning pattern appears to be emerging. 
    Jake Muzzin, the bearded wonder, a picture of consistency and veteran experience during his Leafs tenure, is objectively having a bad season. This game just encapsulated that. A 38.7% expected goals percentage, a Corsi of 34.9% and an expected goal differential of -0.49. All these are just nerdy ways to say that he struggled tonight. 
    He had a few defensive miscues that led to either high danger chances or goals. Also, he played as part of a defense that conceded 50 shots on goal. Not something to write home about.
    It's been Muzzin's worst season in years, and if he or his defense partner, Justin Holl, can't figure it out, the Leafs are going to need something drastic to give them their best chance to win the Cup.

Alex Kerfoot Torments his Former Team

    Something happened to Alex Kerfoot in the New Year. The former Avalanche player has been playing incredibly well recently. 
    He now has 8 points over his last 8 full periods of hockey. He's doing something right and with Marner out, Kerfoot's been carrying the load. He develops chemistry with everybody he plays with, and although Nazem Kadri just made my top-50 NHL players list and set up the game-winning goal in overtime, it's hard to disagree with the fact that Kerfoot is making a big difference on this Leafs roster.
    For the first time in years, the concern with the Leafs isn't depth scoring. Like Ilya Mikheyev, Ondrej Kase and Michael Bunting, Kerfoot has proven this year that he is capable of providing a nice little spark when his team needs it most. 
    Let us not forget that Kerfoot was the Leafs' second leading scorer in the series loss to Montreal last year. He might have a little clutch gene in him.

#HELPSOUPY

    I already know that Jack Campbell is going to say that if he played a bit better, the Leafs would have won that game. I know that because he's the nicest player in the league. 
    But as anybody with eyes would tell you, this could not be further from the truth. (Also, why am I pre-arguing with Jack? I haven't even heard him say this. He probably will, though. Anyways...)
    His "Souperman" stop was the talk of the town and the Leafs would not have been able to pick up a point if not for his heroics. He still made 45 saves against an offensive juggernaut. He is the least at fault of any player on the Leafs. 
    His defense, by contrast. Yeah, you could point the finger at them.
    Campbell was absolutely swarmed. Not only did he have to make a lot of saves, but they were point-blank with clean rebounding opportunities. The Leafs' blueline did Campbell absolutely no favours tonight. Sure, it's nice when you have a top-5 goalie in the league (at least in my mind), but it's a much bigger advantage when he only needs to make simple stops, because of a good defensive effort. 
    It wasn't just Holl and Muzzin tonight. Improvement is needed all over. Let's see how the D-corps looks on Tuesday in Vegas.

My Dream Stanley Cup Final Matchup

    Of any combination of teams I could possibly create to watch in the Stanley Cup Final, the Leafs versus the Avalanche would be the pick of the bunch. 
    As evidenced by overtime, there is such tremendous skill on display on these two rosters.
    For Colorado, they have Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen, Devon Toews, Gabriel Landeskog, and Nazem Kadri. All these players made my top 50 in the NHL. 
    The Leafs would be able to offer up Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, Jack Campbell, Morgan Rielly, and William Nylander. 
    The talent in that group is unbelievable. Together, this group of players makes up almost 25% of my top-50 players list. Do I need to mention that it is two teams? 
    The Avs are clearly getting their mojo back after a rocky start and are blowing out teams left and right. They are, to me, the best team in all of hockey today, and they will probably continue to be for a long while. 
    The Leafs, despite the loss, are still 20-4-2 in their last 26 games. I continue to have a foolish belief that despite 5 consecutive playoff series losses, it may be sixth time the charm for Kyle Dubas' youthful team. 
    I can always dream...




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