EMPTY HANDED
Maple Leafs suffer first loss of season as defensive breakdowns cost them against speedy young Devils,
It’s only one loss, the first one of the season after three wins, and it did not rest lightly on the shoulders of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It was downcast eyes and sombre tones in the Maple Leafs dressing room, the modest winning streak over thanks to a 6-3 loss at the hands of the New Jersey Devils.
“We made a lot of mental mistakes,” said defenceman Morgan Rielly. “I don’t think we played our best. We got away from our game plan.”
It was an unlikely battle of unbeaten teams. The Leafs came in off three straight wins, perhaps not that surprising to folks who follow them closely. But the Devils? They were among the cellar dwellers last year, rewarded with the first-overall pick in the NHL lottery draft.
“I didn’t think we worked,” said coach Mike Babcock. “The score was 2-2 after one (period), but that flattered us, big time. We didn’t have any time engaged. Hockey is fair, you get what you deserve. That’s what we deserved.
“I can’t remember the last time we played with that kind of effort. They’re goalie was great, and I’m not taking anything away from all those things, but we didn’t have any snap, we didn’t have any juice, we didn’t win any battles.”
What seemed to pain Babcock the most is that he saw the game coming. New Jersey — and the emphasis is on the word “new” — appears to be using the Maple Leafs’ template, loading up with young, speedy, fast players and surprising teams who might not have thought an opponent that finished last in its division one year could be a good team the next.
But they are good, and on the rise, and they showed it against the Leafs, who are as guilty as the Devils’ previous foes of not taking New Jersey seriously enough.
“The other team was good,” Babcock said. “They skated us in the ground. They won all the stick battles. We talked quite a bit about this game, about how it was going to be. And that was what happened, but I expected us to compete and that didn’t happen.”
Auston Matthews, James van Riemsdyk and Dominic Moore scored for the Leafs, who drop to 3-1-0 for the young season.
The Leafs had the better of the chances, and peppered New Jersey goalie Cory Schneider with 50 shots. Schneider is 7-1-3 all time against Toronto.
The Leafs were 2-for-8 on the power play, aided by two elongated 5on-3s. Matthews scored on one in the third, but it was too late.
The Devils, oddly enough, scored on the other, a game breaker by Brian Gibbons who was gifted the puck from Jake Gardiner who got caught on a pinch. The Devils went up 4-2.
“That could be a big momentum swing if we score on that one,” said van Riemsdyk, who has scored in two straight games. “Unfortunately it was a weird sort of play.”
The Leafs had a number of defensive breakdowns. Calle Rosen handed the puck, quite literally, over to Miles Wood for a breakaway, one of two goals for Wood in the first period.
And Frederik Andersen didn’t work any of the magic he’s become known for in net allowing six goals on 31 shots. Meanwhile Schneider committed larceny after larceny at the other end.
“Their power play was better than ours,” Schneider said. “They just played the right way, and got pucks deep and we were turning things over a lot.”
These are definitely not the same old Devils. They are young, and fast, and they do not — stop the presses — play the neutral zone trap.
“I like them, I think they’re fast,” Babcock said. “They play with much more speed, they’re on top of you — I think they really work.”
The message did not get through to his players.
“Didn’t expect them to come that hard, but even if they do, we have to be better,” said Andersen.
NOTES: Auston Matthews has points in all four games this season . . . Nikita Zaitsev and Ron Hainsey have assists in three consecutive games . . . Connor Carrick, Eric Fehr and Josh Leivo were healthy scratches for the Leafs . . . Toronto’s next game is Saturday in Montreal. The Canadiens have beaten the Maple Leafs 14 straight games.