Line shuffle shows promise, but not enough

Nylander-Matthews pairing provides spark, but then things fall apart in third

William Nylander has been bugging Mike Babcock for a while now to let him play regularly again with Auston Matthews. And with Mitch Marner sidelined, Nylander got his wish as Babcock was forced to move around right wingers.

The move almost worked. Nylander had one of his strongest games, and he scored a third-period goal that got the Maple Leafs a brief lead.

But the Leafs found a way to blow it in a mad-cap third period, dropping a 6-3 decision to the Ottawa Senators.

“Nylander played hard,” Babcock said. “He could improve the details in his game, improve his battle level at times. He gave us an opportunity (to win). He hit the post there at the end. I thought he was solid. There’s no word on how long Marner, who injured himself on Wednesday, will be sidelined. He was the team’s leading scorer. Now there’s chance for others to thrive. The Nylander-Matthews pairing — they started the season together and play the power play together — is an obvious source for offence.

“We’ve seen each other from time to time this year,” Matthews said. “We have some chemistry. He was skating. It’s always a good sign when he’s skating because he’s making plays all over the ice.”

But there’s more to a game than one line playing well. Josh Leivo, who played with Nazem Kadri, got an assist. Connor Brown moved to Marner’s spot on the wing with Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk and was minus-3.

The Leafs have been fretting about their starts for the last couple of weeks — they are now 1-14-3 when trailing after the first period — but Saturday’s game reminded them they have to worry about their finishes.

The Leafs’ energy to start the game was OK, but they were still down 2-0 by the end of the first. Second-period goals from Rielly and Nazem Kadri erased a first-period deficit built on goals by Ottawa’s Chris Wideman and Ryan Dzingel.

When Nylander scored on a wicked wrist shot at 2:04 of the third, it looked as if the Leafs were going to chase some demons and get away with the win.

But almost as quickly as they gained the lead, they gave it back with goals by Mike Hoffman at 5:32 and Derrick Brassard at 6:26. A pair of empty netters (Mark Stone and Brassard) gave the Leafs their fourth loss in five games. Toronto plays Sunday in Carolina.

“We’ve been talking for weeks about improving our starts,” said Morgan Rielly. “They still need to improve. And we had a one-goal lead in the third, and it gets away from us. “There’s lots to be learned.” Troubling as well is that the Leafs have spun their wheels at a time when they had a chance to pass the Boston Bruins. Boston has been idle since Feb. 12. Meanwhile the Leafs have gone 1-3-0 in using up most of their games in hand, all while watching the Florida Panthers get hot behind hem.

“We’re aware of the standings and the games in hand that we had,” Rielly said. “They only matter if you win. We know what’s going on. That makes (the loss to Ottawa) that much tougher.

“We have a chance to go to Carolina and turn the page and get two points.”

Babcock said he wasn’t going to lose sleep about losing, even if it was a key divisional matchup with playoff-spot implications.

“I don’t think there’s any sense in worrying that we’ve squandered anything,” Babcock said. “The reality is, we’re all big boys. We can read the standings. We have to win hockey games.

“We’re going to Carolina. We haven’t been good back-to-back. Mentally, we haven’t dug in enough. We have to win a game. You can feel sorry for yourself if you want. You have to find a way to compete harder. You have to find a way to win.”

NOTES: Marner will also miss Sunday’s game in Carolina . . . The Leafs acquired centre Sergey Kalinin from the New Jersey Devils for minorleague defenceman Viktor Loov. Kalinin was sent to the Marlies . . . Toronto was outshot by the Senators by a 42-37 margin in all situations and by a 32-25 margin in 5-on-5 play.