Did the Toronto Maple Leafs Lose Their Latest Game?

The first period was a total horror show that made me wonder if the team forgot they actually had to play a game. Getting outshot 16 to 5 is a bold strategy but Joseph Woll somehow kept it from becoming a complete embarrassment with 30 saves while the rest of the roster looked like they were skating through luggage. Jake McCabe provided the only real spark by getting into a fight and a roughing minor with Brendan Gallagher because if you cannot score goals you might as well punch someone. Losing to a guy named Oliver Kapanen is exactly the kind of poetic cruelty that follows this franchise around like a bad smell.

A brief moment of hope arrived when William Nylander found the back of the net off a pass from Easton Cowan but it was just a setup for the inevitable letdown. The third period was a special brand of pathetic where the team managed only two shots on goal while trailing. It takes a certain level of commitment to go 0 for 4 on the power play and have John Tavares finish as a minus three. Matthew Knies and Oliver Ekman-Larsson took turns in the penalty box to ensure no comeback would happen and Jake Evans finished us off while we wandered around looking lost. It was another classic performance that reminds us all why we should never expect anything different.