After several Maple Leafs jerseys were tossed onto the ice -- including one while play was still ongoing -- in the third period of tonight’s game, Toronto did something truly unique: It scored a goal.
Granted, the Leafs still lost 4-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes, which entered the night with the third worst record in the NHL, but hey, at least the Toronto Maple Leafs’ near nonexistent offense hasn’t fallen to the depths of the 1975-76 Kansas City Scouts. The Scouts, which are now the New Jersey Devils, were shutout four times in the span of five contests from Oct. 25 to Nov. 2, per Sportsnet.
The Maple Leafs nearly matched that feat, but in the end they have two goals in five contests instead of one. So there’s that.
At one time, Toronto looked like a serious contender for a playoff spot courtesy of its 19-9-3 start and the Leafs were still 21-14-3 on New Year’s Day. Through that point, Toronto’s offense was actually its strong suit, but since the start of January, the squad has scored six goals in eight of nine contests. The exception was its 5-2 win against Columbus on Jan. 9, which is beginning to look like an anomaly.
The All-Star break is fast approaching and that will give Toronto a chance to regroup. With a 22-22-3 record, the Maple Leafs have dug themselves into a considerable hole, but despite their recent shortcomings, a playoff berth is not an impossible goal.
Speaking of goals though, first they’ll need more of this:
#Leafs goal drought went for 162 minutes, 14 seconds.
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) January 20, 2015
Security gave the guy that threw the jersey on the ice during play a very rough ride out of the building.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) January 20, 2015