Leafs-Jets takeaways: The devil is in the details with rush defence, Tavares scores 200th with Leafs

The devil are in the details for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who dropped a 5-2 decision to the Winnipeg Jets in their last game before the holiday break.

John Tavares scored both goals for the Maple Leafs, including his 200th goal with the franchise. Kyle Connor scored twice — the game’s opening goals, while Mark Scheifele completed a hat-trick with an empty-netter.

Toronto allowed three goals in transition and head coach Craig Berube said Monday’s mistakes came down to the small details.

“The details. I get the one Mitch is shooting the puck and it got blocked and we’re backchecking on that play. They played it pretty well. I’d like to see Wollsy over there on that one. The one in the third, it’s just a neutral zone thing, transition by them. Our forwards sleeping on the weak side. Fourth goal, we have to have stick details there. It’s just details.”

It’s clear that the Maple Leafs, who have fended off numerous injuries to their optimal lineup, could certainly benefit from some much-needed rest.

“I think the team overall has played some really good hockey and done a lot of good things, made a lot of strides in the right direction and we will again,” Berube said post-game. “These last two games, we’ve slipped.”

Here are four takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ 5-2 loss to the Jets 

• John Tavares scored his 200th goal with the Maple Leafs and was one of the few forwards who made a meaningful dent offensively throughout the game. Tavares was deployed on defensive zone faceoffs and generated strong results, he made life difficult for the Jets off the rush and worked well in tandem with William Nylander on the power play, while running a decent two-man game with Mitch Marner in the offensive zone. He’s a natural goal-scorer, but the Maple Leafs could benefit from implementing his simple approach to the game, which relies on strong positioning, getting to the net, and creating havoc at the net front. Toronto was looking for an optimal shot, rather than a merely good shot throughout the contest. Sometimes, it’s as simple as just getting pucks on net.
• Toronto’s rush defence was elite to start the year, but it’s an increasing concern and Winnipeg created havoc off the rush. Berube seemingly gave Marner a pass for Kyle Connor’s second goal, where Marner’s shot was blocked, Scheifele raced up the ice and Connor outskated Oliver Ekman-Larsson to the net. During Scheifele’s first goal, which gave the Jets a 3-1 lead, Gabriel Vilardi skated into the offensive zone while Ekman-Larsson and McCabe skated towards him but didn’t make a play on the puck and he floated an easy later pass towards the net, where Scheifele beat Bobby McMann to the net. The fourth goal could’ve been challenged, but the puck was loose behind Woll’s pad and Scheifele knocked it home. McCabe and Benoit didn’t communicate well on the entry, and for a Maple Leafs team that had largely built its defensive identity on limiting chances in transition and protecting the net-front, the details are simply eluding them, entering the holiday break.
• Chris Tanev was a game-time decision and Berube revealed post-game that the 35-year-old suffered the injury during Saturday’s game against the New York Islanders. Tanev has formed one of the best NHL shutdown pairings with McCabe, although their efficacy has waned through December. He’s one of the league’s premier shot blockers, so it would be unwise to expect him to play in all 82 games. There’s a natural tendency to worry, given how day-to-day designations have often lingered into weeks, but Tanev took the warmup, and we get the sense it was a true maintenance day for one of the team’s most important players. If Tanev is resting to avoid diminishing returns, it’s a clever move by the Leafs. If it’s something more serious, it’s arguably the most crushing loss the Maple Leafs have faced on the injury front, aside from Auston Matthews.
• We don’t want this space to be entirely negative, so it’s worth noting that Connor Dewar had one of his best games of the season. Dewar generated a game-high five shots, he was active getting to the net, while he combined with Pontus Holmberg throughout the contest to keep pucks alive. Dewar was sprung for a breakaway off a great pass from Holmberg, but Connor Hellebuyck shut the door, stopping Dewar’s second attempt off the rebound as well. Toronto outshot Winnipeg 6-2 when Dewar and Holmberg were on the ice. Dewar played the second-fewest minutes of any Leafs skater on Monday, but was arguably the team’s most impactful player, Tavares and Nylander notwithstanding. Now it’s incumbent upon Dewar for these results to translate into actual offence, at least occasionally.