Maple Leaf's burglary A result of defensive inconsistencies – the hockey authors – Toronto Maple Leafs

They have seven games without a win in the regulation and while the Toronto Maple Leafs do not seem to be ready to panic, the fan base is already on the edge of their seats, since this feeling seems too familiar. The argument is that it is only March. But for a team that was only a week ago in the conversation of a division title and was now one of those in the Wildcard discussion, you can certainly say that it was a few hard weeks for Craig Berube's team.

The frustration has surrounded the lack of consistent criminal offense of the team throughout the year. They didn't see enough production from the blue line at one point. Another point of the season had no depth for the blue and white. Now the concern with Captain Auston Matthews and his inability to get the things in the Tor -Verwert department -with just three goals in his last 10 games.

Apart from the insult, the losses of this team do not come in the offensive zone. In fact, the Maple Leafs is an average of 3.14 goals per game in the course of this seven-game run, which should be more than enough to win consistently in the NHL. Instead, your problem comes on the defensive side of the puck. In the same time of seven games, they give an average of 4.29 goals per game-one number that does not lead to many wins.

After this is said, where do the Maple Leafs context and why?

Maple Leafs lose important battles on the ice

Finally, the Maple Leafs lost an important game of the Atlantic Division against the Ottawa senators, who gave up four goals, whereby Anthony's stun between the pipes looks average. However, what was more meaningful was her lack of ability to change the game from your own end and move the game on ice.

“In their three goals it was about losing battles within the blue line,” said Berube, after the senators were lost to the goal of the empties against the senators. “We didn't win enough battles there in this area. It is urgency for me and details in the first two periods that were not there … it is a attitude that we have to have from the beginning of the game. “

This loss came after a 10-game run, in which the team achieved an average of 9.9 giveaways within their defensive end. In total, they had 99 giveaways in the end of this period. On the contrary, the Maple Leafs only had five snack bars in their game against the senators and have a few more than four snack stalls in the last seven games. It goes back to what Berube has not won the winning of the necessary battles.

Overall, however, the Maple Leafs in the NHL are in percent of the giveaways in defense zone 26, which is meaningful compared to what we have seen in the last 10 games. Another team OB is injured to piling up or changing with the closure of the trade, which was not the same team that was a shoe for the playoffs only three weeks ago.

Ahorn leaves leave holes on the defensive cover

For the season, the Maple Leafs with 1,165 in blocked shots are nine. At some point Chris Tannev led the league in this department and while an injury spread it for a handful of games, he dropped to fifth place in the league-29 blocks of the league leader Jacob Troubba.

Relatives: Maple Leafs lacks clarity about goalkeeper No. 1 despite strong tandem

In the last 20 games, the Maple Leafs fell into eleventh place in blocked shots in the league. Part of it could be the loss of Tanev in the line -up, but other players have to fill this gap there. Whatever they did at the beginning of the year worked for the team and its netminders.

Now, with Brandon Carlo in the team, it adds another large body that can eat next to Tannev Pucks. Carlo (128) is currently 24 in the league in Blöcken, 54 Back from Troubba. But the team has to reduce the chances again because it used to be in the season.

From the length of the season, the Maple Leafs gave up the electrical opportunities with a high Danger at 249. In the last 20 games, this has increased to fourth place in the league. 85 have given up the third most common behind the Buffalo Sabres and the Columbus Blue Jacken in the last 10 games.

It is clear that the Maple Leafs had a number of defensive breakdown. And that doesn't just fall on the defenders' shoulders. In fact, the way they collapsed sometimes pushed three defenders behind the net to open the opposing players with the stolance or Joseph Woll – whoever could play on a certain night.

Even the strikers who broke into the outbreaks and transitions in the middle of the ice cream, which the team has injured overall.

Maple Leafs don't get any stops online

In addition, the Maple Leafs have recently had defensive violations to block recordings, recently questionable goalkeepers. For wool, it is the most games he played in a single season. This was a question mark that dealt with this tandem in the season. Stoltz is about to be in the same boat, to sit in 26 games played and never to have exceeded the 28-game brand in one season at the NHL level.

Now we see some tiredness of both goalkeepers who could come from both the workload and from the defensive game of the team before them.

In his last five games, the stolance has scored 15 goals at 121 shots with a saving percentage of 0.876. Wool wasn't much better. He also gave up 15 goals at 126 shots for a saving share of 0.881. In view of their numbers in the season, this is the time of the year when the Maple Leafs could play a stolen game from one of their goalkeepers.

However, it seems that everything is crumbling together for Berube and the Maple Leafs at the same time. Matthews' injury becomes clearer with every game he plays. The goalkeepers have stalled. And defensively, the team simply cannot find the groove they had at the beginning of the season.

However, their offensive problems do not predominate the importance of the defense structure and the team's goalkeeper during their fights. The Maple Leafs have lost some important games in this route, including the Florida Panthers, who can shift the divisional leadership and their latest defeat against the senators, which Ottawa only leave four points behind in the division rating.

Matthews said it: “We have to get it through our heads that all of these games, especially some of the teams we play, will be playoff-like games.”

If you cannot win this kind of games now, it is unlikely that you can do it if – and if – you can make the playoffs of the Eastern Conference.