Final Score: Leafs 2, Devils 5
Jack Hughes is now up to six goals on the young season after finishing off a hat trick with an empty-netter Tuesday night in Toronto.
A healthy scratch for the game, Easton Cowan had the night off. The Leafs also finished the game with five defensemen as Chris Tanev was forced to sit with an injury after only 5:57 of ice time.
The second period saw the Devils go from being down 1-0 to up 4-2. Perhaps the most frustrating goal was Brendan Dillon’s at 4:54 of the frame. The would end up being the game-winner as the Devils took a 3-2 lead and never looked back.
Notching his first goal as a Leaf, Matias Maccelli cut into the lead after Dillon found the back of the net.
Dillon’s goal was especially frustrating as it came off a stick not on the ice to score, primarily. Through his career since 2012-13 (he played one NHL game in 2011-12), Dillon has played 980 games and now sits at 40 NHL goals.
With 175 career assists (215 total), Dillon has never been on ice ice primarily to produce points. So him scoring a goal - let alone the game-winner - is especially indicative of the Leafs’ early season issues.
For a forward who is on the ice primarily to score goals, Jack Hughes, the night couldn’t have gone any better. It looked like he was skating circles around even his own teammates. I’d forgotten how dizzying his speed can be. He finished off a tidy hat-trick with an empty-net goal with 30 seconds left.
This was another night where the Leafs’ power play had some promising moments but ultimately came away empty-handed. But, it’s still very early and there is room for improvement. The steps are there. This may be a case of the early-season Rangers where they’re doing everything right and just not getting the result - pucks in nets.
The Leafs are getting good looks but sometimes end up getting shots blocked on the power play. Giving up short-handed chances on the other end of the ice not only drains time but it also zaps momentum.
A team that successfully kills off a penalty gets enough of a momentum boost from that alone that it’s tougher to have a successful unit when you give up short-handed chances. As well, giving up four goals in one period is never a good idea when you’re trying to win a hockey game.
It isn’t all bad, though. As mentioned before, it’s still early.
William Nylander added two more assists to his season tally - now up to 11 on the season. Along with his two goals, he sits at 13 points - tied for the league lead with Vegas’ Mark Stone - through seven games. Both sit just behind Stone’s teammates Jack Eichel who has 16 points.
Anthony Stolarz showed enough last season for me to still be confident his numbers will get better. Seven games in, there are a number of issues repeatedly popping up but goalie play is not one of them. There has to be help in front of him, which he called out after Saturday’s OT loss to Seattle.
Toronto will look to correct their course with a win Friday night in Buffalo against the Sabres. 7pm EST puck drop.
