This one's (partly) on coach.
Mike Babcock conceded he was culpable after the Toronto Maple Leafs' 5-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, saying it was a mistake to start Frederik Andersen again on the second night of a back-to-back.
"Obviously I didn't make the right decision there," Babcock said after the game. "In saying that, the last time we did it we thought it was the right decision. This time it wasn't the right decision. It's amazing how winning and losing goes into those things."
Andersen was wobbly early on, and allowed two goals on the first four shots he faced, but stayed in for the full 60 minutes despite not ever looking settled. The Leafs quickly erased their two-goal deficit, which likely factored into the decision to keep Andersen in goal.
Toronto's 13th consecutive loss versus the Canadiens snapped a seven-game point streak. The club is now 12 points back of division-leading Montreal, and fell out of the Atlantic Division's top three seeds.
The Maple Leafs are 2-6-1 on the second half of a back-to-back this season.
