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NHL Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs’ Bottom Six Forwards Show Positive Signs vs. Colorado Avalanche

By

Panik

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Maple Leafs flew back home thanking the hockey gods they won’t have to visit the Colorado Avalanche again until next season despite their role players stealing the club a point on the road.

From the moment the Maple Leafs touched down in Denver things just seemed to go from bad to worse for Toronto. Carter Ashton was suspended for 20 games, Morgan Rielly was unfairly scratched, the team got off to another bad start and were scored on 30 seconds into the game, Daniel Winnik was stretched off the ice 14 seconds after the opening goal and Jake Gardiner left the game with a knee injury in the first period after blocking a shot and playing less than three minutes.

With two players out of the lineup, the Maple Leafs needed to step up as a unit and saw three role players rise to the occasion. Peter Holland, Leo Komarov and Richard Panik all set their season high for ice time in the loss with all three being a factor in earning a point for their team in a 4-3 shootout loss.

Holland has stepped up his game since recently moving from center to the wing and continued his strong performance with aggressive play in the offensive zone despite not finding the score sheet. He appears to be more comfortable playing the wing and is getting rewarded for his strong play. He’s played over 15 minutes for three straight games after struggling to hit the six-minute mark at the start of the season.

Komarov was all over the ice the entire game and was one of the spark plugs responsible for Toronto shaking off their brutal start. The gritty forward has shown he was badly missed last season, and with a bigger role in his second stint with the Maple Leafs, he’s on pace to shatter his previous total of nine points in 42 games given his seven points in 13 games this season.

Meanwhile, Panik easily played the best game of his Maple Leaf career, scoring the game-tying goal that forced overtime, along with recording his first assist of the year and finishing the contest with a plus-two rating. Panik has struggled to find consistent playing time and reached double digits in minutes for only the second time this season against the Avalanche. It’s unlikely the big performance will have a significant impact on his playing time moving forward, but considering the team was playing shorthanded and needed a hero, Panik rose to the occasion and took full advantage of the opportunity.

Given all the criticism the Maple Leafs endure for not having any depth behind their top line of Phil Kessel, Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk, Toronto’s role players were directly responsible for stealing a point against the Avalanche. If Holland can continue to improve and Komarov continues to provide necessary energy, while fourth-liners like Panik find a way to chip-in regularly, the contributions from the bottom six forwards will receive more recognition and eventually steal the club two points instead of just one.

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