Another Interesting Wrinkle in Maple Leafs' Season as Embarrassing Stat Revealed
Not much has gone right for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season, but one interesting statistic shared by Sportsnet shines a light on one particularly embarrassing struggle.
Heading into a 5-game road trip with a concerning 9-10-3 record, the Maple Leafs showed up in Columbus on a clear mission: Get back into the win column.
That's exactly what happened, as the Leafs dispatched of the Blue Jackets, taking a 2-1 decision, but not without first getting burned by yet another NHL defenseman, Zach Werenski.
The Leafs have given way too many points up to defensemen this season
Prior to last night's game in Columbus, Sportsnet had revealed a pretty alarming stat, being that the Maple Leafs have allowed an NHL-worst 66 points against defensemen this season. Werenski's goal in the 3rd period brought that total up to 67 points.
In addition to Werenski's 3rd period tally, he also had another goal disallowed, which would have seen the Leafs surrender 68 points to defensemen this season.
It's no secret that a booming shot from the point, especially on the power play, is one of the most effective weapons in the NHL. A shot fired from up high through traffic has a good chance of hitting something, changing the puck's direction, which can be the bane of a goaltender's existence.
With the Leafs having experienced a lot of goaltending issues early on this season, that probably exacerbated the issue, but now, with Joseph Woll back and playing very well, the hope is that things will begin to stabilize.
Leafs' production from defenseman pretty decent in their own right
As far as the Leafs' blueline, they have been decently productive in their own right, combining for 51 points this season, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Morgan Rielly leading the way with 17 points apiece.
Now at 10-10-3 through 23 games this season, the Leafs' next stop is in Washington on Friday for a date with the capitals. Unfortunately for the Leafs, the Capitals have a couple of very productive defensemen at their disposal in Jakob Chychrun and John Carlson.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 27 | 879 ANSWERS Another Interesting Wrinkle in Maple Leafs' Season as Embarrassing Stat Revealed Are you surprised to learn that the Leafs have allowed more points to defensemen than any other NHL team this season? | ||
| Yes | 266 | 30.3 % |
| No | 426 | 48.5 % |
| I mean, come on.. it's the Leafs.. | 187 | 21.3 % |
| List of polls | ||