LGD – Leafs Look to Extend Losing Streak to Nine Games vs. Flyers

There are a lot of questions being asked in the photo above. David Clarkson is asking the referee “Why are you giving me a penalty? Why can’t I sit on this guy?, while Matt Read is asking anyone who will listen “Why is this guy sitting on me? Why are the Leafs so, so bad?”

All of these are fair questions, but perhaps the last one is the easiest to answer. The Leafs have lost eight games in a row, which is just about a tenth of the entire season. A large reason as to why they’ve been so bad is that, in that span, they’ve scored only seven goals and allowed twenty five. 

Toronto is sliding down the standings at an actually impressive rate, and could find themselves 24th in the league if they drop another game tonight and the lowly Ottawa Senators beat the even lowlier Arizona Coyotes this afternoon.

That’s great news for Tank Nation, which might be the new name of this blog if things keep moving in the same direction.

At least this forward group has at least some semblance of NHL talent now that Joffrey Lupul and Peter Holland are back in the lineup – it was looking hilariously thin without them. Scroll down a little more though and, yeah, ouch… That defence. Say what you will about Dion Phaneuf, but love him or hate him, he made this group a lot better.

This lineup doesn’t look all that much better, to be completely honest. Philadelphia is a flawed team, at best. That being said, that Claude Giroux-Jakub Voracek duo up front is just plain filthy and can pile on the points at any given moment. Voracek leads the entire league with 58 points, while Giroux is in fourth with 52. Have fun defending that, Korbinian.