It’s probably too early for the Toronto Maple Leafs to push the panic button, but there are surely hands hovering and inching closer.
With the home stretch of the 2019-20 season nearly here, the Maple Leafs sit just outside the playoff picture — two points separate Toronto from the Flyers’ hold on the second wild-card spot. One point excludes them from third in the Atlantic.
After a sterling late-December stretch that saw the club win nine of 10, they’ve endured a more tumultuous past 10 games, winning just four in that stretch.
Peaks and valleys aside, the key question as crunch time approaches is where the Maple Leafs actually stand — what is it that the club actually has in their current group, and what potential do they have to make noise down the stretch and perhaps in the post-season?
With Monday’s loss to Florida serving as the 30th game under new head coach Sheldon Keefe, let’s take a step back and see what the numbers tell us about who these Leafs are under the new regime:
3.93: The Maple Leafs’ offence ranked 13th in the league on Nov. 20 when the coaching change took place. Over these past 30 games, it’s ranked as the NHL’s best, putting up a league-leading 3.93 goals per game. Toronto’s also been among the top squads in terms of getting shots on net, their 34.1 per game ranking as the third-most league-wide over this stretch.
4: Sitting with a 9-10-4 record when Keefe took the reins, the Maple Leafs have rolled to a 19-8-3 record in the 30 games under the former AHL bench boss, good for 41 points. In terms of point percentage, that puts Toronto as the fourth-best team in the league over that span.
6: Looking a bit deeper at how the club’s offence is performing, the new-look Leafs still rank among the best in the league at the moment. They rank sixth-best in terms of the percentage of scoring chances that are swinging their way over these 30 games, accounting for 53.19 per cent of them. It’s a similar story if we zoom in and look to high-danger chances, as the Leafs also rank sixth-best in terms of the percentage of high-danger chances that have gone their way over this stretch, accounting for 53.53 per cent of them.
8: Looking to how the club’s controlled the flow of play under Keefe, the Leafs rank among the top tier in terms of Corsi For percentage under their new coach, their mark of 52.05 per cent sitting at eighth-best league-wide.
11: Taking into account the impact of the club’s goaltending on the overall picture, the Maple Leafs rank 11th in terms of the percentage of total goals going their way in games over Keefe’s stretch, their goals-for percentage sitting at 53.38 per cent.
23:Auston Matthews has been the central reason for Toronto’s offensive dominance since Keefe came aboard. Posting 14 goals over the first 23 games of the season, prior to the coaching change, Matthews has amassed 23 through the past 30 games, that sum ranking as the second-most in the league. Only timeless goal-scoring monster Alex Ovechkin has scored more, posting 25 tallies through his past 30 games. Cut out the noise and focus on even-strength goals, and the duo remain the class of the league — Ovechkin leads with 20 even-strength goals in this timeline, Matthews sits second with 18. The Maple Leafs’ star sniper has also put up the sixth-most shots in the league over that stretch
32.4: Keefe’s Leafs have also run the most potent power play in the league since he came aboard, their success rate of 32.4 per cent ranking tops in the league over the past 30 games. That percentage is partly affected by the fact that Toronto’s been on the power play less than any other team in the league over this span — their 2.64 penalties drawn per 60 minutes since Nov. 21 is the lowest in the league. That said, they’re also only taking 2.64 penalties per 60 minutes, leaving them with an even zero when it comes to net penalties per 60.
35: Overall, Matthews and Mitch Marner have driven the team’s success with team-leading 35-point sums under Keefe. In terms of scoring pace, it’s been Marner leading, as the 22-year-old has posted his 35 points in just 24 games. Those 35 points apiece leave the two young guns tied for 13th in league scoring since the late-November change. Overall, Matthews ranks 12th in the league with 62 points (and third in the league with 37 goals), while Marner ranks tied for 19th in league scoring with 53 total points.
80: Take that together, and there’s no question that Toronto’s offence is rolling to a dominant degree this season, particularly under their new coach. And in terms of getting that offence in a consistent, repeatable manner, the club also ranks second-best in five-on-five goal-scoring — they have 80 five-on-five goals to their name since Keefe’s arrival, with all other teams playing either the same or more games over that stretch.
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The Bad
11: A deeper look likely isn’t needed to understand this aspect of the Maple Leafs’ game at the moment — while their offence has rolled over the competition during the past 30 games, they’ve also been among the bottom tier of teams in terms of keeping pucks out of their own net. Their 3.10 goals-against per game under Keefe rank as the 11th-most allowed league-wide.
18: Much of the conversation is focused on the backup netminder position, and an injury to Frederik Andersen puts that issue under a brighter spotlight, but the team’s left more to be desired defensively as well — under Keefe, they rank 18th in the league in terms of limiting shots-against, allowing a decently hefty 31.5 against per game.
24: They slide even lower if we look to the overall percentage of scoring chances-against in games over this stretch that have been kept out, ranking 24th with a mark of 85.61 per cent.
26: Keefe’s Leafs slide lower still if we zoom in to assess high-danger chances, ranking 26th in the league in terms of the percentage of high-danger shots-against in these games that are saved, with a mark of 85.24 per cent.
39: Though Michael Hutchinson’s drawn the ire of the Maple Leafs faithful for earning just four wins through his 10 starts, Andersen surely hasn’t been at his best, either. The 30-year-old ranks 39th in the league since Keefe came aboard with a save percentage of .909. The explosive offence in front of him has allowed the team to still post 15 wins with him in net during this span at least, which is tied for second-most among all netminders over that span.
With 29 games remaining on their season, the Maple Leafs get their next chance to push back into the playoff picture at 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday via a tilt with the New York Rangers. Catch the action on Sportsnet or Sportsnet NOW.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
