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A third period collapse undid some mid-game signs of life as the Toronto Maple Leafs fall 3-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
There were bright spots. The Maple Leafs pinning the Blackhawks in the own end and Morgan Rielly putting on an offensive zone clinic and ultimately finding the back of the net looked like it could be a shift that changed the confidence level of the Leafs locker room. The Leafs even had a coach\u2019s challenge break their way which seemed like another strong sign that their luck would change. And Joseph Woll came ready to play, just like they needed him to.<\/p>\n
The Leafs also responded well after the Blackhawks game opening goal and overpowered the Hawks until Nick Robertson finally tied the game.<\/p>\n
Of course, it\u2019s the Leafs and there is a lot to talk about on the negative side of things lately and losing to another 2024-25 lottery team isn\u2019t a great look.<\/p>\n
Chicago\u2019s goal from Ryan Greene came after Max Domi\u2019s line was pinned in their own zone for over a minute and the result seemed inevitable as soon as the HNIC offensive possession time tracker popped up on the screen. While options are limited with Auston Matthews and Scott Laughton out, Domi\u2019s defensive zone play is sinking the Leafs.<\/p>\n
The Leafs also started the game going six minutes without a shot. They eventually got back into a fairly even shot differential with the Blackhawks but a slow start on a Saturday night was a noteworthy blunder for a team that is trying to get back on track.<\/p>\n
The backbreaker for the Maple Leafs was Philippe Myers getting outmuscled by Nazar who set up Teravainen on an odd man rush against Morgan Rielly. Rielly giveth but Rielly taketh away, especially when defending on an odd man rush is involved.<\/p>\n
The Leafs blowing a lead in the third period seems on brand lately, and while there was a strong stretch of the game that Leafs were the dominant team, the inability to see things through to end might be the only consistent thing about the club.<\/p>\n
There is hope on the way with Matthews and Tanev potentially being close to returning. Troy Stecher is a potential upgrade over what the Leafs have been receiving from either Dakota Mermis or Myers so there\u2019s that too, but none of this decreases the panic level which now sees the Leafs at 8-9-2 on the season and having the second worst points percentage in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Minnesota Wild\u00a0(8-7-4) is back on home ice tonight to host the\u00a0Vegas Golden Knights\u00a0(8-4-5).\u00a0\u00a0The Wild will be without forward Vladimir Tarasenko for the second straight game.<\/p>\n
Tarasenko, 33, has two goals and ten points in 18 games this year for the Wild.\u00a0He missed Saturday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks\u00a0with a lower-body injury and will not play again on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Wild head coach John Hynes said after the game that Tarasenko’s status will be day-to-day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A third period collapse undid some mid-game signs of life as the Toronto Maple Leafs fall 3-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night. There were bright spots. The Maple Leafs pinning…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t