<p>The Maple Leafs have been playing some inspired hockey of late, riding the return of star goaltender Anthony Stolarz to seven wins in eight games and five wins in a row out of the 4 Nations break heading into Monday night&#8217;s tilt against the Sharks. And then they reminded their fanbase why it&#8217;s always important to stay humble.</p>
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<p>The Leafs headed into the third period against the San Jose Sharks with a 2-0 lead, and until this game, had yet to lose thanks to a blown lead. But, as it never tends to be when this franchise improves an area they&#8217;ve previously struggled in, the problem wasn&#8217;t fully resolved. To the Leafs&#8217; credit, they&#8217;ve seemed to cut down on the habit of playing down to their opponents, especially the bad ones, this season. But, regardless of how you look at it, only leaving with one point against the worst team in the league when you had a two goal lead going into the third period is a tough look and one that&#8217;s going to leave all parties feeling salty.</p>
<p>Anthony Stolarz let in a weak goal to make it 2-2 after he seemed to get stuck hugging the post, leaving a wide open Tyler Toffoli out in front with about as much net as you can ask for. Still, his effort for the rest of the game proved exactly why he should be <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/4-takeaways-leafs-rangers-stolarz-steals-game-marner-leads-first-line-depth-scoring-dries-up">their Game 1 guy</a> when the playoffs start. While you&#8217;d probably want a save there, the onus is on the rest of the team to score more than two goals on a team with the worst goal differential in the NHL by 22 goals.</p>
<p>As much as the loss will sting, it&#8217;s one you simply have to flush down the toilet and move on from. The Sharks, as bad as they are on paper, are still an NHL team and still possess talented enough players to catch some momentum in a bottle and pull off a surprise upset. Heck, this same Sharks team beat the Tampa Bat Lightning in January. If the Leafs going to take anything away from the game, hit the net! The game easily could have been a multi-goal victory if not for a plethora of pucks either flying by the cage and rattling around the boards or hitting bodies in front.</p>
<p>The Leafs will play one more game before the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/why-matthew-knies-untouchable-toronto-maple-leafs-trade-talks-nhl-trade-deadline">NHL Trade Deadline</a> on Wednesday when they visit the Vegas Golden Knights.</p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong></p>
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The Maple Leafs have been playing some inspired hockey of late, riding the return of star goaltender Anthony Stolarz to seven wins in eight games and five wins in a row out of the 4 Nations break heading into Monday night's tilt against the Sharks. And then they reminded their fanbase why it's always important to stay humble.
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The Leafs headed into the third period against the San Jose Sharks with a 2-0 lead, and until this game, had yet to lose thanks to a blown lead. But, as it never tends to be when this franchise improves an area they've previously struggled in, the problem wasn't fully resolved. To the Leafs' credit, they've seemed to cut down on the habit of playing down to their opponents, especially the bad ones, this season. But, regardless of how you look at it, only leaving with one point against the worst team in the league when you had a two goal lead going into the third period is a tough look and one that's going to leave all parties feeling salty.

Anthony Stolarz let in a weak goal to make it 2-2 after he seemed to get stuck hugging the post, leaving a wide open Tyler Toffoli out in front with about as much net as you can ask for. Still, his effort for the rest of the game proved exactly why he should be <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/4-takeaways-leafs-rangers-stolarz-steals-game-marner-leads-first-line-depth-scoring-dries-up">their Game 1 guy</a> when the playoffs start. While you'd probably want a save there, the onus is on the rest of the team to score more than two goals on a team with the worst goal differential in the NHL by 22 goals.

As much as the loss will sting, it's one you simply have to flush down the toilet and move on from. The Sharks, as bad as they are on paper, are still an NHL team and still possess talented enough players to catch some momentum in a bottle and pull off a surprise upset. Heck, this same Sharks team beat the Tampa Bat Lightning in January. If the Leafs going to take anything away from the game, hit the net! The game easily could have been a multi-goal victory if not for a plethora of pucks either flying by the cage and rattling around the boards or hitting bodies in front.

The Leafs will play one more game before the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/why-matthew-knies-untouchable-toronto-maple-leafs-trade-talks-nhl-trade-deadline">NHL Trade Deadline</a> on Wednesday when they visit the Vegas Golden Knights.

<strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong>
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