Maple Leafs vs. Panthers observations: The search for secondary ...

No Aaron Ekblad, no Brandon Montour, no Sam Bennett, no problem for the Florida Panthers.

“You got Florida” chants mocked the Leafs after the Panthers took a 2-0 first-period lead on Thursday, and while they came close, Toronto’s stars couldn’t tie the game up with the net empty and lost 3-1 in Sunrise, Fla. A low-event game was a nice change of pace for a team struggling defensively, but Toronto’s lack of offence was surprising against Florida’s depleted blue line.

The Leafs surrendered the first goal of the game again, and an Oliver Ekman-Larsson point shot doubled the Panthers’ lead seconds before the first intermission. Sheldon Keefe’s group looked more inspired in the second, but just like in last year’s playoffs, the Leafs struggled to beat Sergei Bobrovsky. The Leafs need to find a way to score the odd goal when their big four forwards are off the ice.

Three stars

It was tough to find three stars tonight!

1. Timothy Liljegren

Toronto desperately needed improved defence from their second pair, and Liljegren delivered. Playing top-four minutes against a team with Aleksander Barkov on one line and Matthew Tkachuk on another is no easy task. Liljegren was paired with a partner who had been struggling in Jake McCabe, and apart from a third-period blunder against Montreal, his minutes have been quite steady thus far. Liljegren may not be as talented as John Klingberg offensively, but he’s still talented enough to be the primary puck-mover on his pair. The Leafs owned 81 percent of the game’s five-on-five expected goals when he was on the ice. Keefe will surely go back to him in the top four on Saturday night.

2. Ilya Samsonov 

Samsonov looked a bit shaky against Montreal and Minnesota, but started off well with a huge pad save against Tkachuk in the opening minutes. Kevin Stenlund opened the scoring with a beautiful shot and it looked like Samsonov didn’t see Ekman-Larsson’s shot that beat him a few minutes later. The game could have gotten out of reach in the second, but Samsonov stood tall while Florida had not one, not two, not three, but four power-play opportunities. Neither goal was egregious, and he more than made up for the goals against with some key saves.

3. David Kämpf

Kämpf was quietly effective in the first, and earned a promotion into the top nine to start the second. He won a defensive-zone faceoff on one end, then had a deflection chance shortly after. The Leafs were perfect on the penalty kill, and his team owned 89 percent of the five-on-five expected goals during his minutes. He needed a strong game after a slow start, and he delivered.

The search for secondary scoring continues

Noah Gregor scored Toronto’s first goal of the season, but other than that, there’s been little-to-no offence from the bottom six. The fourth line was caved in during each of the first three games, and for a player who was brought in for his offensive skill, Max Domi has been awfully quiet. Both Gregor and Ryan Reaves put the Leafs shorthanded in the second, and Domi looked like he was trying to set the world record for icings.

Keefe shuffled his lines to start the second, moving Tyler Bertuzzi on a line with Kämpf and Domi, but the right combination just doesn’t seem to exist right now. Fraser Minten was pretty much invisible, and Kämpf isn’t much of an offensive threat even when he plays well. The lineup could change in a hurry if Minten heads back to junior, but it’s tough to have much optimism about Toronto’s bottom six at this point.

Keefe’s new defensive pairs work well

Entering play, no team had given up more five-on-five goals per minute than the Maple Leafs. The McCabe-Klingberg pair surrendered chance after chance, leading Keefe to promote Liljegren into the top four. The Panthers are a matchup nightmare, with Barkov and Sam Reinhart on one line, and Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe on another, but the McCabe-Liljegren duo looked sharp.

Klingberg impressed offensively again, but it’s awfully tough to trust him. He pinched at a bad time in the first, and forced Samsonov to make a tough save off a rush chance. He was on for the first goal against, when he passed the puck to the wing and no Leaf was there. The puck then bounced on him on the power play, leading to a short-handed breakaway the other way. On the bright side, he made a nice play to keep the puck in ahead of Mitch Marner’s power-play goal, and continues to zip the puck around in the offensive zone. Keeping him in more of a sheltered role seems like a good idea. Morgan Rielly and TJ Brodie weren’t on for a goal against, and they continue to look excellent defensively to start the campaign.

Surprisingly boring five-on-five minutes

The Leafs prioritized offence this offseason, and looked rough defensively against a couple of terrible teams. The Panthers are also one of the most offensively-focused teams in the league, yet this game lacked high-danger chances at even strength. Most of Auston Matthews’ best plays were on the defensive end, and Marner did his damage on the power play. Improved defensive play is a great sign for the Leafs, but it’s odd that the Leafs couldn’t take advantage of Florida’s injury-depleted back end. Paul Maurice iced six left-shot defenceman, yet Bobrovsky wasn’t tested all that much. The bottom-six has been a concern early on this season, but the top-six wasn’t much more exciting in this case.

Game score

Final grade: C

Keefe will be happy with Toronto’s improved defensive play, but he ought to be disappointed with his team’s lifeless start. How do you not come out of the gates roaring after losing to the Panthers in the playoffs? How do you not have some extra jump in your step after losing the previous game to Chicago? For a team that prioritized offence at every opportunity this offseason, they sure didn’t look all that dangerous offensively.

What’s next for the Leafs?

They’re staying in Florida to play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday at 7 p.m. on Hockey Night in Canada.

(Photo of Timothy Liljegren: Megan Briggs / Getty Images)