Blues stifle Leafs, sending them to second-straight loss
The Maple Leafs entered Saturday night’s game against the St. Louis Blues without a goal in almost four periods. That ended at the 4:22 mark of the third period on Morgan Rielly’s fourth of the season, all they would get in a 4-1 loss at Scotiabank Arena. The Blues took charge early with solid checking and handed the Leafs their second straight loss. The Blues got a goal from Robert Bortuzzo in the first period, then Zach Sanford and Ryan O’Reilly in the second — the first of the season for each. Ivan Barbashev scored into an empty net to finish it off.
Offensive star: Rielly’s marker did end the Leafs’ drought of 116 minutes, 37 seconds — since the third period of Monday’s win over the Los Angeles Kings. While they still led the league with 33 goals heading into the game, they managed just eight shots on goal through two periods. In the end, the Leafs were outshot 25-21 and blanked on four power-play opportunities.
Defensive stars: Not a big night for the Leafs here, either. Patrick Marleau had a terrific back check in the first period to thwart a chance by Blues left winger Pat Maroon … The Leafs’ fourth line of Frederik Gauthier between Josh Leivo and Andreas Johnsson, pinning the Blues in their own end for almost two minutes in the first period.
Turning point: Sanford’s goal at 13:05 of the second period deflated the Leafs. The Blues were rolling with their checking and cycling and it paid off. Leafs defenceman Travis Dermott broke his stick, losing a corner battle with David Perron, and the puck was passed into the slot, where Sanford had ample time to tee up his shot. In fact, Toronto was beaten to the puck twice on that goal.
Talking point: Where are Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Mitch Marner? Matthews had six shot attempts through two periods, leading all skaters, but the Blues were on him quickly, leaving little room to operate. The Leafs woke up to start the third and were reward- ed with Rielly’s goal, but the stars have to do a better job of fighting through tight checking against teams like the Blues.
Takeaways: There’s more than one way to beat the Leafs. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan, as a rule, likes to have his team log 10 shots on goal through the first 10 minutes. Pittsburgh had 15 in that span three nights ago, putting the Leafs on their heels. Two different teams, two effective game plans against the Leafs.
Number of note: The Leafs’ multimedia people assembled a wonderful video tribute to Bozak, who spent nine seasons in Toronto and wore No. 42. The video lasted 42 seconds — a nice touch.
Who’s next? The Leafs catch a break before taking on the Jets in Winnipeg on Wednesday.