Worldwide Sports News

Just one day before the NHL begins its three-day holiday break, the Toronto Maple Leafs have fallen to last place in the Eastern Conference. Ironically, it was former Maple Leafs prospect Mason Marchment who scored two power-play goals on Monday to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

That result highlights a glaring disparity: a single former prospect matched the entire output of the Toronto power play, which has managed only two goals on the man-advantage throughout its last 10 games in December. This persistent inefficiency recently forced the club to part ways with assistant coach Marc Savard, who had overseen the power-play unit for a season-and-a-half.

The last time the Leafs found themselves at the bottom of the conference this late in the calendar was during the 2015-16 season. That year, Toronto finished last in the league and subsequently won the NHL Draft Lottery, using the No. 1 overall pick to select current team captain and cornerstone Auston Matthews.

However, the current situation differs significantly from that total rebuild. Today, the Leafs are navigating a crisis of confidence following a winless three-game road trip through Washington, Nashville, and Dallas. Despite high preseason expectations of a Stanley Cup run, the team now finds itself searching for answers.

The silver lining for Toronto is the current parity within the Eastern Conference. With every team maintaining a points percentage of at least .500, the Leafs remain only six points out of a playoff spot. While a 15-5-5 record suggests there is plenty of time to recover, the team certainly has its work cut out for them as 2026 approaches. The Leafs return to action Tuesday afternoon, hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins with a vital opportunity to climb out of the conference basement.

Bruins have backup goalie problem that's costing them in standings originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

For the Boston Bruins to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2026 after finishing with the NHL’s fifth-worst record last season, they needed Jeremy Swayman to have a bounce-back campaign.

And Swayman has actually played quite well through the first 37 games of the season.

He has a 14-9-1 record with a .906 save percentage and a 2.78 GAA. Those stats don’t jump off the page, but context is important: The Bruins rank 30th or worse in shot attempts allowed, shots on net allowed, scoring chances allowed and high-danger chances allowed, per Natural Stat Trick.

The Bruins are defending poorly, and Swayman is bailing them out more often than not. For proof: Swayman ranks No. 4 among all goalies with 16.5 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck.

Swayman performance hasn’t been a problem, even if his December stats have regressed a bit from his stellar November numbers.

The backup goalie situation is an actual concern for the Bruins — one that has already cost them a bunch of points in a tightly contested Atlantic Division race.

Joonas Korpisalo has played poorly this season. There’s no other way to describe it. He is 6-7-0 with a .880 save percentage and a 3.63 GAA. The Finnish netminder ranks 77th out of 83 goalies with minus-4.5 goals saved above expected. He has allowed four or more goals in four of his last six starts, including Sunday night’s 6-2 defeat to the Ottawa Senators during which he gave up five goals on 17 shots in just 26:31 of ice time.

The best-case scenario for the Bruins is that Korpisalo turns it around and plays better. But his on-ice performance would suggest the chances of that scenario unfolding are not high. He has yet to put together back-to-back starts allowing two or fewer goals this season. He’s also on pace to tally a sub-.900 save percentage for the third straight year, so it’s not like his disappointing play is a new trend.

What if Korpisalo’s struggles continue?

There aren’t a ton of great options. Trading him would be difficult given his lackluster performance and his burdensome contract that doesn’t run out until after the 2027-28 season and carries a $3 million salary cap hit.

The Bruins could promote one of the two Providence Bruins goalies — Michael DiPietro and Simon Zajicek — to the backup role. DiPietro, who was the AHL’s top goalie last season, is more NHL-ready than Zajicek. He’s also having another strong season for Providence with a 10-4-0 record, a .933 save percentage and a 1.97 GAA.

DiPietro, who’s currently dealing with an injury and hasn’t played in more than a week, has earned a chance to prove himself in the NHL, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give him a couple opportunities if Korpisalo doesn’t improve.

The bottom line is the Bruins cannot expect to remain in the playoff race deep into the season if their backup goalie has a 3.63 GAA, especially when a couple losses in a row can drop you several spots in the standings.

Korpisalo’s inability to consistently give the B’s quality starts doesn’t just impact the team’s place in the standings, it also forces Swayman to take on a larger workload, which obviously isn’t ideal.

The Bruins have largely exceeded expectations so far this season. They are firmly in the mix for a playoff spot, and finishing top three in the division is certainly not out of the question.

But they need to solve this backup goalie nightmare ASAP, because it does have the potential to cost them dearly if it persists.