Rally falls short, Woll shaky, and more: 3 reasons why Toronto Maple Leafs lost 6-5 in SO to San Jose Sharks

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost an eventful 6-5 game in the shootout against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night at the SAP Center. The Leafs had rallied from a 5-3 deficit to score twice in the final minute to force overtime.

With overtime settling nothing, the game went to the shootout, where, for the second time this season, the Sharks beat the Leafs in the final round.

William Nylander scored twice for the Toronto Maple Leafs, with captain Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Scott Laughton adding the others for the Leafs. Meanwhile, Tyler Toffoli found the back of the net twice for the San Jose Sharks, with Collin Graf (SHG), Alex Wennberg and William Eklund also scoring for the Sharks.

So, here’s a look at the three key reasons why the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to San Jose Sharks:

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Three reasons why the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the San Jose Sharks in SO

#3 Mental lapses

The Toronto Maple Leafs fell victim to several mental lapses, leading to the Sharks leading the game right up to the final minute. In particular, Toronto surrendered a shorthanded to the Shark shortly after William Nylander had tied the game on the power play.

Here’s a look at the shorthanded marker, courtesy of Collin Graf:

The Leafs lost possession of the puck in the Sharks’ zone as the Leafs tried to push the puck through the Sharks defenders. The puck came back the other way, with Mitch Marner and Nylander getting tied up on the play.

The havoc in front of the net led to a screen, which prevented Joseph Woll from seeing the shot. Eventually, the shorthanded marker killed the momentum Toronto had gained midway through the first period.

#2 Woll shaky

Speaking on Joseph Woll, the Toronto Maple Leafs netminder was unusually shaky. He looked out of focus at times, surrendering goals he wouldn’t normally give up.

However, there was one play in particular that made Woll look shaky. Here’s a look at it:

Woll picked up a bouncing puck and tried to play it to defenseman Chris Tanev. However, Woll flipped the puck right off William Eklund’s skate, with the puck deflecting straight into the back of the net.

The goal made the game 4-2 at the time before the Leafs got one to make it 4-3 after 40 minutes. While Woll recovered down the stretch, the team gave up two goals in the shootout. Had Woll stopped at least one of Macklin Celebrini or Will Smith, the Leafs could have pulled out a miracle comeback.

#1 Rally falls short

The Leafs entered the final minute down 5-3. The Leafs pulled the goalie and proceeded to pull off a miracle comeback, scoring twice within the final minute. John Tavares scored to make it 5-4 with under a minute to go.

The Leafs then managed the equalizer are a desperate play where Matthews recovered the puck and made a brilliant pass to Marner who set up Nylander for his 42nd of the season.

Unfortunately for the Leafs, they lost in the shootout after being unable to cap off the comeback in overtime. The Leafs will be back on the ice on Saturday night when they take on the Los Angeles Kings at the Crypto.com Arena.