After opening the month of November with three straight victories, the Toronto Maple Leafs have lost three in a row and are at .500 (8-8-1) five weeks into the regular season. The second loss to the Boston Bruins in four days, also by the score of 5-3, is especially concerning since the Leafs knew what was coming from their longtime rival and did not do much to prevent it.
The Bruins will always attempt to make a physical statement against a team that never initiates contact and only retaliates. That is the book on Toronto, and their penchant for taking careless penalties cost them the game, as Boston’s power play proved to be the difference, scoring three times.
The most concerning aspect of the loss were injuries to team captain Auston Matthews left the game in the second period after a hit from Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov, and to starter Anthony Stolarz, who was pulled for the second game in a row and replaced by backup Dennis Hildeby.
Zadorov, who was responsible for injuring center Scott Laughton with a high hit on Saturday, hit Matthews from behind near the boards, and although his skating did not appear labored after the hit, he left the Toronto bench and did not return due to a lower-body injury.
Stolarz gave up three goals on 11 shots and was replaced by Dennis Hildeby after reportedly suffering what head coach Craig Berube indicated was a non-serious upper-body injury, but in all honesty, he should have been pulled after allowing a soft goal to former Leaf Alex Steeves late in the first.
David Pastrnak greeted Hildeby with a goal 49 seconds into the second. The Leafs did manage to climb back into the game, narrowing the lead to 4-3 early in the third after goals from Bobby McMann and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but Boston pulled away with another power play goal by Pastrnak.
After the game, Berube indicated that an update on Matthews status would not be available until Wednesday at the earliest, and with Stolarz possibly out short-term, it is likely that Joseph Woll will be back with the big club after making his second conditioning start with the AHL Marlies (making 25 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss in Grand Rapids on Wednesday afternoon) for their next game against Los Angeles on Thursday.
The Leafs are playing like a small team with big guys; they have not shown any kind of consistent pushback and are not getting the performances out of some players that they expected. Injuries to Chris Tanev and Laughton have Simon Benoit playing higher in the lineup (where he does not belong), has Philippe Myers playing regularly on the bottom pairing (which he is not capable of doing effectively), and has necessitated Max Domi playing up the middle (which he cannot do, even on the fourth line).
Most importantly, after 99 regular-season games, it appears that the Leafs have either tuned out their head coach or are not capable of playing the game he wants them to play. If their aimless existence lasts a few more weeks, GM Brad Treliving may have to explore other options behind the bench.
