Leafs' offensive struggles can be pinned on Babcock, not Matthews' absence

Mike Babcock is one of the most decorated coaches in the history of the NHL, but for the first time in his stint as the Maple Leafs' bench boss, he's over-coaching.

Toronto's once unstoppable offense has come to a screeching halt in the month of December, with the last four games evidently the low point. During this four-game stretch - all of which have been without the injured Auston Matthews - the Leafs are 1-3 and have scored just four times.

While it's reasonable to expect any team to struggle without their best player - especially when the player is one of the league's best - Matthews' absence isn't the main reason the offense has gone ice cold - Babcock is.

Babcock, like many great coaches, is a former defenseman and has always wanted his teams to prioritize goal prevention first and foremost. But, with a youthful group filled with speed and skill up front and some holes in the back end, the Leafs haven't always played to his liking - even when they've had success.

Over the last four games, Babcock has seemingly pulled out all the stops to get the Leafs to play as defensively as possible, and it's not working. That's not their identity.

For example, the Leafs held a 2-1 lead over the Flyers heading into the third period Tuesday night. Instead of trying to keep the pressure and build on their lead, Babcock had the Leafs sit back, clog the neutral zone, and simply try to "hang on" for 20 minutes. It did not work, as they wound up losing 4-2 and were outplayed in the final frame.

Sure, hindsight is 20/20, but the Leafs have more than enough speed and skill up front to apply pressure with the lead and hem an opponent in their own end for the bulk of a period.

Over the last four games, the team's ability to generate scoring chances has drastically tailed off:

SCF = Scoring Chances For
HDSCF = High-Danger Scoring Chances For

As you can see, they're generating 6.41 less scoring chances for per game, and 3.42 less of the high-danger variety.

SCA = Scoring Chances Against
HDSCA = High-Danger Scoring Chances Against

Even with the defensive mindset, the Buds are still allowing practically the same amount of scoring chances per game.

To make matters worse, Babcock's effort to prioritize defense has gone hand-in-hand with some questionable ice-time distribution. Here's a look at the ice time from their top-nine forwards in the last four games:

Leo Komarov is an effective bottom-six checker and a good penalty killer, but he has just one goal and two assists (both secondary) at five-on-five this year. With an even amount of penalties taken and penalties drawn by the team during this stretch, Komarov leading the forwards in ice time is inexcusable.

Meanwhile, phenoms Mitch Marner and William Nylander have played significantly less than Komarov. This doesn't even include Nylander's 8:39-minute night against Pittsburgh, which occurred one game before this sample of data.

It's also worth questioning why van Riemsdyk - the team's leader in goals with 15 - is playing the least amount of minutes among their top-nine forwards.

In order to get the Leafs back on track and keep the team afloat for however long Matthews is out, Babcock needs to give his skilled players more opportunity and freedom to create offense. Sometimes less is more. Less X's and O's, and more "letting the players play" would go a long way in helping the Leafs bust out of this mini-funk they've gotten themselves into.

(Advanced stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick)

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)