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The Toronto Maple Leafs will say that the games between now at the start of the playoffs are consequential, but the only importance they possess is as a tune-up for when everything matters in the middle of April. The 5-4 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday in the grand scheme of things does not mean a lot, but the fact that the Leafs blew a two-goal lead in the final three minutes of regulation is something that will send longtime fans of the Blue and White into a PTSD fit.
Toronto had the game well in hand before David Kampf’s hooking minor with 2:54 remaining, but the Leafs woeful penalty-killing fatally wounded them twice in the game. First allowing Seth Jarvis to score with the man advantage with three seconds left in the middle frame and then allowing a second Canes power-play marker by Sebastian Aho with 1:32 left and Pyotr Kochetkov pulled for an extra-attacker. Aho then deflected the puck past Ilya Samsonov to tie the game with seven seconds left in regulation and eventually losing in the shootout.
The Leafs have been one of the best teams in the NHL since the All-Star break and are playing better defensively, but their power-play is struggling in recent weeks without Mitch Marner as a puck distributor, as well as their PK without Marner and Calle Jarnkrok.
For all the individual accomplishments that Leafs players have accomplished in recent years, and in spite of their snapping their 19-year playoff drought against the Lightning last year, there are still doubts whether this core group and their supporting cast can come through in the clutch.
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The Leafs will begin a mini two-game road trip in Philadelphia against the Flyers on Tuesday. It is the second game in the City of Brotherly Love in a week (with Toronto winning 6-2 last Thursday), and will be followed by a visit to Washington on Wednesday. With games on back-to-back nights, Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll will each make a start. Mitch Marner (ankle) and Ilya Lyubushkin (illness) did not travel with the club on Monday.
Marner is expected to miss both games, but both head coach Sheldon Keefe and GM Brad Treliving indicate that it is not a serious injury. Based on the importance of Marner in all three aspects (power play, penalty killing, and even strength), it is wise for the club to make sure he is completely healthy and does not have a recurrence with just over a month until the start of the playoffs.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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