New York. William Nylander had a goal and an assist last night, thus producing points in thirteen straight games.
But since the Toronto Maple Leafs were no longer able to defend, that didn’t help. They suffered a tough 6-3 loss to Ottawa at home at Scotiabank Arena.
– We have lost control of the number of pucks that end up in our box, angry coach Sheldon Keefe.
There are individual players who are excelling for Toronto this season and William Nylander is certainly one of them.
On an early power play against Ottawa last night, he scored his seventh goal and shortly afterwards also assisted on a Tyler Bertuzzi bucket – so the club’s impressive record for early-season scoring streak now stands at thirteen games.
But collectively, it is more difficult for blue and white maple leaves. Above all, the defense works really poorly – which is why they suffered another tough loss, 6-3, in this round of the ‘Battle of Ontario’.
In all, the favorites from Canada’s largest city have conceded 48 goals – third-worst in the league behind Minnesota and a desperate San Jose.
– Yes, we talk a lot about the number of goals some players score, but we don’t talk enough about the number of goals we concede, says coach Sheldon Keefe when he meets the media afterwards.
– This is the reality. We have to prioritize trying to keep the puck out of our cage, we have no control over that now.
However, Just Nylander believes these early problems could help the team in the long run.
– Yes, it is useful to have to deal with adversity at this stage. He says it can help us grow and develop personality.
Calle Järnkrok was also noted for helping.
1/2Photograph: Chris Young/AP
Oliver Ekman Larsson continues to convince as the Florida Cat.
He scored his third goal of the season when the Panthers visited Washington last night – and also, just like compatriot Gustav Forsling, had an assist on a goal scored by Ivan Rodriguez.
The match ended 3-3, then extra time lasted no more than fifteen seconds before Sam Reinhart decided in favor of the visitors.