Monday Morning Skate: Same Old Story in the Third
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
A late collapse against Ottawa proves that new faces and blockbuster trades can't fix a fundamental lack of closing power.
OPINION: There is a certain comfort in predictability. As a Maple Leafs fan, that comfort is usually found in the crushing realization that no matter how we rearrange the deck chairs, the ship is still sinking in the same fashion.
Saturday night’s 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators was a textbook example of the Toronto experience, as first reported by Global News Toronto. We had the lead. We had the momentum. And then, as if reading from a script written a decade ago, we folded when it mattered most.
According to reporting from Global News Toronto, the Leafs looked capable of handling the Senators for a stretch. Auston Matthews tied the game early in the second period by redirecting a point shot from Morgan Rielly. Then came the spark from Kirill Marchenko—the center of a blockbuster deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets just one day before the season started—who notched his first goal on a power play after a pass from Darren Raddysh.
For a moment, it felt like the new additions were actually going to translate into wins. But the Senators, led by new captain Thomas Chabot (who recorded a goal and an assist), refused to go away. Michael Amadio leveled the score on a 2-on-1 break with Tim Stutzle, setting the stage for the inevitable.
The breaking point arrived at 9:46 of the third period. Global News Toronto reports that Stephen Halliday swatted a loose puck in the crease to score the winner just as a high-sticking penalty to Marchenko expired. It was a sequence of pure chaos that left Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped 26 shots, staring at a loss he didn't necessarily earn.
It is the same cycle we have endured for years. We bring in the big names, we make the blockbuster trades, and we celebrate milestones—like John Tavares wearing the jersey for the 600th time in regular season history—only to watch the lead evaporate in the final frame.
Even the bench looks different, with associate coach Daniel Alfredsson facing his former team for the first time, but the result remains identical. We are now 1-2-0 to start the season after also dropping a 3-2 opener to the Montreal Canadiens.
If this is the blueprint for the new era, don't tell me the scenery has changed. We're still just waiting for the third-period collapse that defines us.