Jim Hiller chose caution over Gavin McKenna Thursday night, and the Maple Leafs paid for it with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Sabres.
The rookie winger played 6:36. Teddy Blueger, still looking for his first point of the season, got 14:43.
Brandon Duhaime, also held scoreless through eight games, logged 11:42. That's the depth chart of a coach more worried about a mistake than a goal.
And according to people who watched Hiller up close in Los Angeles, this isn't a one-night quirk.
“Hiller coaches like he's trying not to lose,” Jackie Redmond wrote on X. “Thats the coach he is and WAS when they hired him.”
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Redmond said his habit of sitting back to protect leads was the main reason the Kings lost to the Oilers in dramatic fashion two years ago.
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Every Maple Leafs loss this season has come by a single goal
Five losses, all by one goal, including a shootout and an overtime. Those are the nights where a coach's instincts decide the standings.
Toronto has scored 28 and allowed 28. So why is the bench acting like this team can't afford to trade chances?
Jay Rosehill, who says he has defended a lot of Hiller's decisions, drew the line at this one.
“The game was going perfectly well and you decide to staple him and play shut down,” Rosehill wrote. “That's not what this team is.”
He's right. This roster was built to outscore people, and its best players keep doing exactly that.
Auston Matthews has 12 points over his last five games. Kirill Marchenko scored three times Thursday, one on the power play.
McKenna fits that identity. All five of his points have come over his last five outings.
Playing not to lose with this group is like buying a sports car and keeping it in second gear to protect the paint. You still end up in the ditch, just slower.
Hiller was hired June 17. Four months in, his game management looks a lot like the scouting report Redmond just handed every fan in Toronto, and that's a bad sign.
The goaltending won't bail out a shell either. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 34 shots, and his season save percentage sits at .896.
The bodies are thin too. With John Tavares day-to-day and Chris Tanev on IR, Toronto can't afford to lose a skilled forward to its own bench.
The Islanders visit Saturday, a team the Leafs edged 2-1 on Sept. 30.
If it turns into another one-goal game, the ice time sheet will tell the story before the scoreboard does.
Should the Maple Leafs worry that Jim Hiller coaches not to lose?
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