Maple Leafs come up with another sloppy effort in loss to lowly Senators
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Author of the article:
Terry Koshan
Publishing date:
Mar 14, 2021 • 56 minutes ago • 4 minute read • 
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Senators’ Austin Watson fights Maple Leafs’ Zach Bogosian (left) on Sunday, March 14, 2021 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Photo by MATT ZAMBONIN /GETTY IMAGES Article content
Another couple of big strides backward on the part of the Maple Leafs came on a day everyone else was springing forward.
The Leafs on Sunday didn’t have much change in their effort from what they put forth 24 hours earlier against Winnipeg, losing 4-3 in Ottawa to a Senators team that has last place in the North Division nailed shut.
Instead of giving themselves something to feel good about in a week that now has four days between games, the Leafs lost for the fifth time in six games, continuing to play some sickly hockey as they wore their green Toronto St. Pats uniforms at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The Leafs’ lead in the North Division has shrunk to four points over the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets. Both teams play three games before the Leafs get the Calgary Flames on Friday in Toronto.
Michael Hutchinson started after Frederik Andersen wasn’t good on Saturday, and Hutchinson didn’t have to break a sweat. He was gone before the game was 6 1/2 minutes old, relegated to bench duty after allowing two Senators goals in a span of seven seconds.
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Andersen, with no mental prep time, managed to stop all 11 shots he saw in the first and finished with 26 saves.
In the Ottawa net, Joey Daccord started after Matt Murray didn’t make it through warmup. Daccord made 33 saves for his first win in the National Hockey League.
Zach Hyman, with his second of the game, scored with five minutes remaining and Andersen on the bench.
And then William Nylander scored at 17:48, again with Andersen on the bench.
The Leafs thought they scored midway through the third period when Ilya Mikheyev put a Rielly pass behind Daccord. The goalie couldn’t get across his crease to make a save because Pierre Engvall was in the way, and a challenge by Sens coach D.J. Smith was a success.
During his pre-game availability, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe acknowledged the compact schedule was having an impact on his club.
Keefe wasn’t using that as an excuse, however.
“We’re probably like everybody else in the league,” Keefe said. “You’re feeling the schedule and it’s having an effect, but I think it’s all relative.
“Everybody is going through it.
“No reason for us to not be all in on this game and just the response needed from (Saturday) night’s game on its own is enough for us. We do have a little bit of a time to decompress after this, so we have to be all in on this one.”
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Well, that didn’t happen, and the stench of this one will linger through the week, as the Leafs try to collect their wits before the Flames arrive at Scotiabank Arena for a two-game set.
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Keefe didn’t make any lineup changes among his skaters from the 5-2 loss to the Jets, saying “the salary cap and things like that greatly impact our ability to make lineup changes.”
Mistakes have been winding up in the Leafs’ net recently, and that trend continued in the nation’s capital. It’s not just that, though.
Ottawa Senators’ Nick Paul (left) battles for position against Maple Leafs’ Jake Muzzin on Sunday, March 14, 2021 in Ottawa. MATT ZAMBONIN/GETTY IMAGES
The Leafs initially didn’t throw much at Daccord, who was making just his fifth start in the NHL.
What has to be disconcerting about the past two losses is that the Leafs’ heads weren’t in either game. They’re better than these performances show, but that doesn’t mean the losses should be glossed over.
For a variety of reasons — playing back to back, clocks going forward one hour, not having to travel overly far — the Leafs made the trip to Ottawa on Sunday morning. The unique travel plan was a case of the Leafs overthinking the situation, and it had to have had an impact on their brutal start, from which they never recovered.
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The Sens scored at 6:06 when Brady Tkachuk took advantage of a Travis Boyd turnover in the Leafs’ end, got past Jake Muzzin and beat Hutchinson with a shot that should have been stopped, as the puck squeezed past the netminder.
Seven seconds later, Ryan Dzingel scored along the ice on another shot that Hutchinson is paid turn aside with relative ease.
Hutchinson, who faced three shots and did his job on one of them, was great in five previous games this season, putting up a .934 save percentage.
Fact is, though, he’s a third-stringer for a reason, and if they weren’t before, most in Leafs Nation are now keeping their fingers crossed that Jack Campbell finally returns at the end of the week from a lower-body injury that has kept him out since Feb. 27.
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The Leafs’ lone goal as the Senators built a 4-1 lead through two periods was supplied by Hyman, who poked the puck past Daccord during some net-front chaos on the part of Auston Matthews.
Ottawa added two more goals in the second period, both by Drake Batherson.
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Gang of four’s impact on Maple Leafs measured in confidence: Keefe Batherson scored at five minutes off a terrific pass from rookie Tim Stutzle, who threaded a backhand feed for a Batherson one-timer.
Fifty-three seconds later, Batherson scored again. The Sens kept the puck in the offensive zone thanks to a weak clearing attempt by Morgan Rielly, and Batherson popped a shot over Andersen’s glove.
tkoshan@postmedia.com
twitter.com/koshtorontosun
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