SAN JOSE — The Toronto Maple Leafs saw this trap coming and still couldn’t stop themselves from stepping in it.
Their last shootout loss to the NHL’s worst team was supposed to be a lesson, a wakeup call.
So, in the hours that preceded Thursday’s 6-5, single-point-salvaging defeat to the 32nd-place San Jose Sharks, coach Craig Berube issued a lengthy warning, lest they leave more unclaimed points against a lottery squad.
“We got to be solid defensively and manage the hockey puck,” Berube said after morning skate at SAP Center. “You tend to get a little loose sometimes coming in here, or other buildings where the teams aren’t in the playoffs and where they’re at in the standings. You try to do too much with the puck, and you end up turning it over in bad areas and not playing to your identity.”
And after some sluggish starts, spurts of concerning defensive play and subpar efforts against beatable opponents, Berube knew the Maple Leafs could be susceptible waking up after a cross-continental flight and playing at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Who cares if the Sharks find themselves stuck at the bottom of the pool? They still know how to smell blood.
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“This team is not going to give up,” Berube had said of the team in teal. “They play with a lot of juice. They’re excited, this team — even though where they’re at in the standings. They got good young players coming. They got a new identity. They’re feeling good, and they’re going to play as hard tonight.
“It’s about us tonight. About us putting our foot on the gas here from the get-go. Playing our game.”
A wonderful concept.
By the time the puck dropped, however, the Maple Leafs slammed the pedal as well as a toddler perched in a Cadillac.
The Sharks swarmed early and often and were full value in earning leads of 1-0, 3-1, 4-2, and 5-3.
“They came out with a lot of jump and were firing pucks from everywhere. Seemed to be a big part of their game plan,” John Tavares said.
Heck, the game wasn’t 22 minutes old before the refreshingly rowdy locals chanting, “We! Want! Tacos!” had their appetite sated. (The local Taco Bell has made a pact with Sharks fans: Three in the net, three tacos you get.)
Not one of Toronto’s forward lines outshot San Jose’s, and the Maple Leafs hung around on the strength of its scorching-hot power-play and the Sharks’ lack of discipline.
“I didn’t love our game tonight. I thought we just seemed slow. Didn’t really seem to take care of the puck much. Just kind of messing around with it too much,” captain Auston Matthews said. “And they’re a young, skilled team. They’re a hungry team. Despite where they’re at in the standings, they’re playing hard every night.”
Added William Nylander: “They’re coming hard. I mean, they obviously want to beat us. They’re young and talented and fast, so just got to know that they’re comin’.”
Yes, the Maple Leafs heavily used star players did manage to steal a standings point by striking twice at 6-on-5 in the final 59 seconds of regulation. But silky-mitted rookies Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini took turns dekeing Woll in the shootout to seal the deal.
Matthews and Mitch Marner each skated more than 25 minutes.
Is it an accomplishment to dig yourself out of a hole? Or a problem when you dig that hole in the first place?
“We didn’t play very well in the first period. They were all over us. Out-skated us in the first. Just looked quicker than us,” Berube said. “Maybe the travel yesterday and everything. You know, we just weren’t on our toes. We got better as the game went along.”
No one wants to hear an Eastern Conference team complain about the trajectory of their private jet, though.
“I don’t think that’s really something we can or should use as an excuse,” Matthews said.
Not when the second-worst offence in the league caves you in early and often, building its lead on extended pressure, a shorthanded end-to-end rush goal, a 2-on-1 snipe, and this hideous giveaway by Woll to William Eklund:
“We all got to be better, goalie included. You know, it’s not good enough,” Berube said.
“We’ll talk to (Woll). The goalie coach, obviously, he’ll talk to him. And like I said, he’s part of it all, and we got to be better than that.”
Woll had a nice stretch of three wins last week, but he has now given up nine goals to the two weakest offences in the league in his last two starts. (Despite a request, the Leafs did not make Woll available to reporters postgame.)
Divvy the blame any way you wish, the Maple Leafs can ill afford to waste point-gathering opportunities when the Atlantic’s No. 1 seed is within grasp.
“We’ve been thinking about that all year,” Matthews said. “Ourselves, the two Florida teams, and it’s a tight race. It’s up for grabs. So, obviously, you want to win that for sure.”
The Maple Leafs practice Friday in L.A. and play the Kings Saturday.
Fox’s Fast Five
• A fist-pump of sweet relief.
It took 10 games, but Oakville, Ont., native Scott Laughton scored his first goal (and registered his first point) as a Maple Leaf. A beautiful one-timed blast from the (very) high slot that he helped set up with a give-and-go.
“It was nice probably for my own confidence, and nice to get one for sure. But it would’ve been a lot nicer to get a win and not score. I know my role on this team, and obviously contributing is nice, but I know what to bring on a daily basis, and I’m starting to feel more comfortable, starting to play a little bit better. So, it’s good for myself, but you want to get those two points.”
• Chris Tanev has nothing but positive things to say about John Tortorella on the day the coach was fired from the Flyers.
“I love Torts. He made me a better player,” says Tanev, who skated for Tortorella as a Canuck in 2013-14. “He can be hard, but he pushed my game to be better. He was a really good person to me. Definitely can’t thank him enough. I enjoyed my time with him.”
How did Tortorella improve Tanev’s game?
“Creating offence. It wasn’t always defence with him, as many people might think,” Tanev explains. “If I didn’t jump in on the rush when he thought there was an opportunity to, I’d get back to the bench and I’d hear about it.”
The stay-at-home defenceman scored six goals that one season under Torts. He hasn’t surpassed that total since.
• Nylander set a new career high in goals twice Thursday, scoring his 41st and 42nd.
The only player not named Leon Draisaitl to score 40 in each of the past three seasons, Nylander got stuck at 40 in both 2022-23 and 2023-24.
• The next divisional test the Leafs face arrives Wednesday, when the Panthers roll into town.
Expect deadline surprise Brad Marchand in the lineup by then.
“He’s dying to get into the game,” coach Paul Maurice told reporters Thursday.
Florida’s coach suggests he’ll start Marchand on the left wing of Sam Bennett in effort to build on the agitating duo’s chemistry as Team Canada linemates last month.
• Toronto’s power-play has been scorching at a 22-for-56 (39.3 per cent) clip since Feb. 1.
“We’re starting to find a good groove of just being very direct, a good puck support, winning a lot of battles and earning second and third opportunities, wearing penalty kills down, not trying to do a whole lot,” Tavares says.
“We’re taking what’s there. And when you create some opportunities, you break them down a little bit, they’ve been out there for a little while, some passing lanes, opportunities to make some plays, open up and we’re taking advantage of them when we’re there.”
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