5 tips from Leafs-Capitals: Woll deserves better support, Matthews urgently needs to gain his minutes

Morgan Rielly opened the scoring with the first shot of the game for the Leafs. Matthew Knies added an insurance goal after Auston Matthews dangled Alexander Ovechkin off his skates early in the second period. Knies’ goal might as well have been a turning point, as from that moment on the Capitals took complete control of the match. Connor McMichael cut the lead to 2-1, foreshadowing yet another Maple Leafs collapse in the third period.

Ovechkin took revenge and set up Anthony Beauvillier to equalize. Oliver Ekman-Larsson lost a puck battle, John Tavares helped on the wrong side and Woll was left to fend for himself. Jakob Chychrun gave the Capitals the lead, while the Maple Leafs stood passively in the defensive zone. Tom Wilson added a decorative empty-netter and the Maple Leafs are now 10-11-3.

Here are five takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ 4-2 loss to the Capitals:

Joseph Woll deserves better from his teammates after another great start

Woll made his sixth straight start and will almost certainly get some rest on Saturday, with Dennis Hildeby expected to take over in goal. He was the Leafs’ best player by a wide margin for the second straight game. Woll made six dangerous saves and after the Maple Leafs took a 2-0 lead, he was essentially left to fight alone. And even the opponents notice!

“I thought Joseph Woll kept them in,” Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson said in his postgame interview to TSN’s Mark Masters.

Troy Stecher told reporters this week that Woll has been the team’s best player since joining the Leafs. That’s more than a fair assessment. Woll stole Wednesday’s win, almost single-handedly coming up with two more points as the Maple Leafs couldn’t hold onto a multi-goal lead. Woll is unlikely to call out his teammates, but the forum is open!

Maple Leafs desperately need more from Auston Matthews

If Auston Matthews is in the lineup, the Maple Leafs simply need more from their captain. Matthews started the year as one of the NHL’s best shot makers, but his strong work through the first three weeks might as well have been three years ago. It wasn’t all bad, as Matthews set up Knies for the second goal of the game, but the Maple Leafs have been consistently losing his minutes in the two games since he returned.

Matthews’ line didn’t register a single shot in the first period, and the Maple Leafs have been outscored 28-11 over the past two games with their captain on the ice. There’s no place to hide in the stats either, as the Maple Leafs owned a 31 percent share of expected goals at 5-on-5 when Matthews was on the ice. That’s unsustainable for a player of Matthews’ caliber, and it would be excused in this context if it was a one-off.

No one wants to see Matthews play hurt, but when he is in the lineup he is considered fully healthy and his performance is decent. Matthews needs to return to a reasonable facsimile of what he produced in 2023-2024, and it’s not too early to start demanding much more from the Leafs captain with a renewed sense of urgency, because Christmas will be here in no time!

Dakota Joshua reacts mediocre after a healthy scratch

Joshua did a good job early, working with Nick Robertson to establish the attacking zone on Rielly’s goal. He took effective routes to the puck, but his effectiveness waned after the first period, which was a reflection of his team overall.

With the Capitals retaining possession in the final two periods, Joshua failed to make an impact in the match. It wasn’t a bad enough match to leave out of the squad tomorrow as there are other culprits in the losing effort, but Joshua will need to play a more consistent match to stay in the line-up.

Maple Leafs continue to get picked apart by east-west attacks

Despite all the focused attention paid to the Maple Leafs, they have been unable to defend east-west attacks all season. When the cross-seam pass is sent across the ice into the defensive zone, there is a tendency to panic, and the Capitals continued this all game.

Alex Ovechkin made a great cross-seam pass to Anthony Beauvillier for the equalizer, but the Leafs’ defensive effort was abysmal. Morgan Rielly doesn’t close the back door, a mistake Berube pointed out after the game, Tavares goes too far with the puck handler, Easton Cowan plays too high and it’s generally a disaster of mistakes.

Connor McMichael and Ryan Leonard are given all the space in the world to make horizontal passes to each other, while the Leafs offer no resistance whatsoever. Leonard makes a direct pass to Chychrun, who fires a one-timer past Woll for the 3-2 lead. No one bothers to shut down Chychrun, or Leonard, who has made the most of the extra time and space. We’re past the quarter point of the season and the Maple Leafs have been unable to defend this aspect of the game.

Max Domi’s healthy scratch was the right decision

“I don’t know if it’s the defensive side of things,” Berube said of Domi on Thursday. “Positionally, he’s been solid. I know his plus/minus doesn’t say that, but I wouldn’t say positioning does much of that. It’s just getting more involved in the play. He needs to get dirty low in the offensive zone, get involved that way and get to the inside of the ice more. When he skates and moves, he’s an effective player, but it’s too inconsistent.”

Domi is considered one of the worst players in the NHL this season. Toronto has a goal differential of -12 when on the ice 5-on-5, with a 46.5 percent share of expected goals. Domi’s 4.69 goals against per 60 at 5-on-5 is the sixth-worst total in the NHL among the 639 skaters who have played more than 100 minutes this year via Natural Stat Trick. This is absolutely disastrous territory. Domi has never been known for his defensive acumen, so let’s take a look at the attacking side.

Domi ranks 474th in goals per 60, and while he’s better suited to the wing at this stage of his career, the Leafs can’t afford to play him in the middle. It will be interesting to see how Berube adjusts the lineup on short notice, but he made the right decision for Friday’s game.