Finally, someone on the Toronto Maple Leafs called it like it is. Head coach Sheldon Keefe and star center Auston Matthews were not pleased with the Leafs most recent lackadaisical home performance at Scotiabank Arena.
After an uninspiring effort in a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils, both Keefe and Matthews used the word “immature” to describe the play of their team.
The game itself was a microcosm of the Leafs season. There were flashes of brilliance, blown leads, and mental miscues. Sixty minutes of consistent hockey was not evident.
The Leafs have struggled with much of the same issues throughout the season and for much of the Keefe and “Core 4” era.
Keefe has had moments of frustration throughout the Leafs season, but his exasperation seems to have reached a peak.
The first period against the Devils brought to mind previous iterations of the Leafs. They dominated the underlying statistics such as puck possession and shot attempts, yet trailed 2-1 after the buzzer.
The shot clock read 25-10 in the Leafs favor, but glaring miscues led to the first-period deficit.
Joseph Woll let in the first shot he faced just moments after Tyler Bertuzzi had given the Leafs the lead. Keefe was not happy at that turn of events. He expressed his disappointment in Woll for letting in the first shot of the game, for two consecutive games.
The Leafs then gave up a late-period 2-on-1 that resulted in the Devils’ second goal with just over two minutes left in the first.
The start of the second period saw the Leafs flash their brilliance. First, came a nice regroup outside the Devils’ blue line that resulted in William Nylander getting his 40th goal of the season. Next, a long pass from the defensive end from Ilya Lyubushkin to Matthews that he buried to give the Leafs a 3-2 lead.
The brilliance didn’t last long. The ugly hiccups returned.
Timo Meier was left unchecked in the slot to deposit the tying goal before the Leafs were slow to react to a harmless-looking point shot that was collected and put in the net by Max Willman. The Leafs were now chasing the game, trailing 4-3.
The Devils used the third period to demonstrate how to protect a one-goal lead. Hopefully, the Leafs were taking note.
One last error came late in the third period with the Leafs trying to tie the game. Max Domi made a glaring turnover at the Devils’ blue line that turned into a Jack Hughes breakaway. He scored and iced the game for New Jersey.
Thus ended another game where the Leafs structure disappeared at inopportune times and a loss, instead of victory, was the result.
The postgame reactions of Keefe, Matthews, and Nylander were refreshing. Too often in the past, games like the one against the Devils would be met with a collective shrug of the shoulders and cliche answers.
Keefe has called out his team’s performance multiple times this season. He realizes it is time for his team to grow up. Even better, the message from his best player was the same.
The trick now is for the Leafs to respond to the words of their coach and their premier player.
The end of the regular season is fast approaching and the Toronto Maple Leafs will soon be facing a formidable postseason opponent. It is a dangerous game to count on flicking a switch and finding your groove for the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Leafs key players have taken an important first step in not glossing over the problem. The best accountability comes from within.
Actions and results will prove how many players within the Leafs dressing room were listening.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.