Leafs Defense Goes Missing

What happens when pucks are given away in the defensive zone and behind the net, defensemen pinch into the rush at inappropriate times and forwards do not backcheck? Hockey games are lost. The Toronto Maple Leafs did all of those aforementioned things in tonight’s game against their division rival Boston Bruins. No surprise, the Leafs lost this game and they looked very bad in the process.

Over the past few games since the Leafs commanding 5-1 win against the Ottawa Senators back on January 31st, they have really struggled with the defensive side of the game. Whether or not it is a coincidence that Ed Belfour has been on the shelf for all but one game since that date, in which the Leafs only gave up one goal in, is really irrelevant. The fact is that the Leafs defense has just not been getting the job done in these past few games. Guys who were more than dependable earlier in the year in their own end like Klee, Berg and Pilar have really been struggling of late and it has been becoming more noticeable each game.

Tonight’s game was the culmination of all of the bad habits, poor decisions and awful plays the Leafs have been making lately. Berg gave the puck away in his own zone twice without being under any heavy pressure. Both giveaways led to goals. Karel Pilar also lost control of the puck behind his own net allowing it to be converted into a goal very easily. Klee pinched in at the blueline and got caught way out of position allowing the Bruins to score another goal, this time on a two on one.

Trevor Kidd really had no chance on most of these goals. With the glaring errors on defense, Belfour would likely have had trouble himself. The bottom line is all the players and coaches who have been saying the team must tighten up defensively before next game have to stop saying it and start doing it in order for the Leafs to return to their dominant play of earlier in the season. There is absolutely no excuse for this type of hopeless defensive play to continue as it is something that can be improved with conscious attention to defense first. These players have the skill as we have seen before. Let’s start seeing it again.