Photo credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
William Nylander’s feeling pretty perplexed right now, and explained after Sunday’s loss to Dallas this is new territory for him, as unease in Toronto keeps growing.
In what many would consider a do-or-die game for both the Toronto Maple Leafs and head coach Craig Berube, the team wasn’t able to come away with the victory yet again, falling to the Stars by a 5-1 score.
It was a game that had the Maple Leafs only one goal away from tying things up late, but Dallas got one back quickly and by then it was too little, too late. At least Scott Laughton showed up and got himself another goal.
The team is at a loss right now, and there are so many questions that need to be answered, but no one there to give any solutions. It’s a situation that’s very foreign to a lot of players on the team, as they’ve never had to deal with this type of adversity.
William Nylander at a loss during tumultuous time in Toronto
Closing in on the basement of the Atlantic Division, things are rough and for guys like William Nylander; they are unheard of.
Speaking to reporters after Sunday’s defeat to the Stars, Nylander was stunned at the team’s performance as of late (of which he is responsible for too) and admitted this is new territory for him:
I don’t know if I’ve felt like this before.
Granted, Nylander has a point. He’s never missed the playoffs and you can’t really count his debut season where he only skated in 22 games during the 2015-16 season.
But since then he’s always seen postseason action, and not only that but has finished no lower than 3rd in the Atlantic; this is genuinely new territory for the star forward.
Toronto actually showed life, but it might not matter
We can’t fault Toronto for trying on Sunday night though. Sure, they didn’t win but they at least had some more life to them than they have in previous weeks.
They actually outshot the Stars 28-22, outhit them 24-11, won face-offs 28-18, and were only out blocked by three shots (12-9 in favor of Dallas). Jake Oettinger stood on his head all night and Toronto could not capitalize even though they had several good chances in high-danger areas.
Scott Laughton showed life tonight, Matias Maccelli is quietly starting to earn his spot in the lineup, and the pressure was high all night.
But moral victories do little beyond frustrate fans more, because regardless of the positives you can take away; this team has played so bad it completely overshadows it.
So while it’s not set in stone, this could be the end of Craig Berube and the Auston Matthews era, and we should be inclined to agree with Nylander too.
We should all be feeling pretty low about this hockey team, and while there’s still hope if they’re proactive enough…it’s probably too little, too late.
Previously on Hockey Patrol