<p>The Toronto Maple Leafs looked like they had a little bit of extra jam in their game as their tilt against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night opened up. They opened the scoring early on with a vintage Auston Matthews-from-Mitch Marner snipe, but that&#8217;s about all she wrote.</p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
<p>It&#8217;s hard to zero in on one single area in this game that went wrong, but frankly, nobody was good enough. It was a game reminiscent of Saturday&#8217;s loss to the Vancouver Canucks and last Thursday&#8217;s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Joseph Woll wasn&#8217;t good, and I&#8217;m positive he wishes he could have that first goal against back, but he didn&#8217;t get any help from his forwards or defencemen either. It was another night of <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/berube-says-maple-leafs-werent-connected-shutout-loss-canucks">disconnected play</a> and not enough sharpness with the puck.</p>
<p>The power play was held off of the scoresheet again, and we don&#8217;t need to beat that horse to death any more than we have already, but we can&#8217;t move on without at least addressing it. They had their chances, and it wasn&#8217;t completely lifeless compared to the other night against Vancouver, but at this point, they&#8217;ve lost the benefit of the doubt when it comes to positive signs. Yes, it&#8217;s good that they&#8217;re actually moving the puck around a little bit instead of spending 50% of it chasing the puck back into their own zone, but positive signs aren&#8217;t enough at this stage of the season. They need results.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s worth mentioning that not only did the Leafs drop their first game to the Stars since February 2020, but they also allowed two power play goals to a unit that came into this game 2 for their last 26. This just goes to show that even with the solid defensive play to this point and an otherwise strong penalty kill, they are not exempt from their unfortunate ability to fold in moments when it should be easier than ever to capitalize.</p>
<p>The Leafs will be in action again on Thursday night when they host Sheldon Keefe and his New Jersey Devils for the first time this season, a game that will certainly garner some normal reactions if it ends a certain way.</p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong></p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="324" data-promotion-id="18983" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>


The Toronto Maple Leafs looked like they had a little bit of extra jam in their game as their tilt against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night opened up. They opened the scoring early on with a vintage Auston Matthews-from-Mitch Marner snipe, but that's about all she wrote.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
It's hard to zero in on one single area in this game that went wrong, but frankly, nobody was good enough. It was a game reminiscent of Saturday's loss to the Vancouver Canucks and last Thursday's loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Joseph Woll wasn't good, and I'm positive he wishes he could have that first goal against back, but he didn't get any help from his forwards or defencemen either. It was another night of <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/berube-says-maple-leafs-werent-connected-shutout-loss-canucks">disconnected play</a> and not enough sharpness with the puck.

The power play was held off of the scoresheet again, and we don't need to beat that horse to death any more than we have already, but we can't move on without at least addressing it. They had their chances, and it wasn't completely lifeless compared to the other night against Vancouver, but at this point, they've lost the benefit of the doubt when it comes to positive signs. Yes, it's good that they're actually moving the puck around a little bit instead of spending 50% of it chasing the puck back into their own zone, but positive signs aren't enough at this stage of the season. They need results.

It's worth mentioning that not only did the Leafs drop their first game to the Stars since February 2020, but they also allowed two power play goals to a unit that came into this game 2 for their last 26. This just goes to show that even with the solid defensive play to this point and an otherwise strong penalty kill, they are not exempt from their unfortunate ability to fold in moments when it should be easier than ever to capitalize.

The Leafs will be in action again on Thursday night when they host Sheldon Keefe and his New Jersey Devils for the first time this season, a game that will certainly garner some normal reactions if it ends a certain way.

<strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="324" data-promotion-id="18983" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>

Knee Jerk Reaction: Lifeless Leafs snap 7-game unbeaten streak vs. Stars with third-straight loss

Recent articles from Alex Hobson

Breaking News