Put it in perspective

On the bright side, the Toronto Maple Leafs did not surrender a power play goal.

Their play while shorthanded this season has been embarrassing, the worst in the league, in fact, but against the Vancouver Canucks Saturday night they were perfect the only time they played a man down.

The bad news, however, is the Maple Leafs were horrible in so many other aspects of the game. Up against a team that was competing in its fifth straight road game and riding a two-game losing streak, the Leafs were sloppy at both ends of the ice and only the solid performance of goaltender Jonas Gustavsson prevented it from being a blowout. The Monster made numerous highlight real saves, but his individual heroics were not enough to stall a team that made it all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final last season.

On a night when home ice advantage was eliminated due to the fact Toronto played on the road last night in Buffalo, and the Canucks had the evening off, it was Vancouver that came out flying, scoring 1:02 into the game and setting the tone for the contest. To the Leafs credit, they hung in, even though they were being out-played throughout. That has been a notable characteristic of Ron Wilson's clubs the past few years even though they have not made the playoffs. Being close in losses, though, isn't enough to get a club into the post-season.

The Leafs can take pride in the fact they never quit. But giveaways - the Leafs committed 16 in the first period and 24 overall, compared to just 10 by the Canucks - contributed to Toronto's second loss in a row and fourth in five games. And that's not all. The Leafs gave up goals early in the first and second periods as well as a 3-2 go-ahead goal in the final minute of the middle frame.

Defencemen the Leafs are counting on to shut down the opposition, namely Luke Schenn and Dion Phaneuf, both made poor decisions that resulted directly in Canucks scores. Schenn, for some reason, abandoned the front of the net on his first shift of the game leaving Chris Higgins unguarded. As you might expect, the puck found its way to Higgins who scored easily. Late in the contest, just 1:03 after Phil Kessel's league-leading 19th goal of the year drew the Maple Leafs to within one and gave them an unexpected chance to force overtime, Phanuef misjudged Jannik Hansen's speed and appeared a little too casual in chasing down the Canucks winger who drove hard to the net and scored the insurance marker.

The Leafs are clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and even coach Ron Wilson admits that after a great start to the year, he is not taken aback by where his club ranks in the standings.

"We're right where I expected we would be," Wilson said. "We've just got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. There were too many giveaways tonight and generally last night our defence really struggled moving pucks and getting it out cleanly. We've got to solidify our backend and start making simple plays.

"You have to give Vancouver a lot of credit. The Canucks wore our defence down by cycling the puck for 30 to 30 seconds on end and that's a lot of work for the defence. When we got the puck we were too tired to make a good play with it."

At the end of the night the loss was a measuring stick for the Maple Leafs. They are a good hockey team; most certainly a playoff contender. But if they think they are close to being counted among the best teams in the league, even after their terrific start to the year which has since disintegrated, they are dreaming. Lopsided losses to the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins and this defeat to the Canucks puts things into perspective.

"We were there, again, but they made some really good plays," said Toronto left winger Joffrey Lupul who finished a very uncharacteristic minus-3 on the night. "We had our chances to come back and we battled hard, but they were solid tonight. They were the better team. Last night in Buffalo we thought we played pretty well, but got into some penalty trouble.

"I think we did compete with them. We were right there. We were down one with a couple of minutes left. There's no question in our minds that we can play with that team."

Defenceman Cody Franson also acknowledged the strength of the opposition.

"The Canucks are a good team," he said. "You've got to give them that. They got to the final last season for a reason. We didn't protect the puck well enough tonight and they were able to generate momentum off our turnovers. That was the game pretty much in a nutshell."

The Maple Leafs host the struggling Los Angeles Kings Monday.

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy will cover the Toronto Maple Leafs for sportsnet.ca for the 2011/12 season.