ST. LOUIS, Mo. – If you’re a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, this was a night to be happy that the HBO cameras were rolling behind the scenes.
At least that way we might see if there were actually a few signs of life among this group during Thursday’s visit to the Scottrade Center. There certainly weren’t any to be found on the ice during a 6-3 loss to St. Louis that could have been much worse than that for the visitors.
It was a puzzling performance, especially since it came directly after the team’s most complete 60-minute effort of the season against Los Angeles on Wednesday. And while fatigue and the quality of the Blues lineup can certainly be listed as mitigating factors, what really plagued Toronto here was something deeper than that.
"It looked like we were mentally tired and not there," Leafs defenceman Carl Gunnarsson said. "We can always deal with the body being tired – shorter shifts or whatever it might be – but it just looked like we weren’t there mentally at the start."
There were some tough questions being asked of a team that has just six victories in 19 games since Nov. 2 and still has a tough few weeks ahead leading into the Winter Classic. However, answers were tough to come by.
What really incensed Leafs coach Randy Carlyle was how poor his team played defensively against another Western Conference heavyweight. David Backes, Jaden Schwartz and Derek Roy all beat James Reimer from the bottom of the circle or closer during a dominant first period that set the tone for a forgettable night.
"It looked like we were totally brain dead in a lot of areas," said Carlyle. "I don’t know any other way to describe it."
There wasn’t even a hint of the surprisingly strong puck possession game Toronto demonstrated against the Kings on Wednesday. Instead, we saw the Blues exert their will and dominate from the get-go. Outside of one power-play opportunity, the Leafs barely got out of their zone during the opening 20 minutes.
Surely, there must have been some frank words exchanged in the visiting dressing room during the intermission, but that didn’t keep the Blues from making it 4-0 just 29 seconds into the second period. That goal came off a quick St. Louis transition and saw Chris Stewart beat Jonathan Bernier from the bottom of the circle as well.
It triggered a promotion where everyone in the building won a free Big Mac and the game wasn’t even yet 21 minutes old. The fans might as well have left right then to go claim them because the outcome wasn’t in doubt.
"How you guys saw it was how it was," Reimer said. "We didn’t have too much life and I’m not quite sure the reason."
The list of offenders was long.
The defensive pairing of Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner, a major bright spot on Wednesday, wasn’t able to clear the puck nearly as efficiently or effectively. The more veteran tandem of Mark Fraser and Paul Ranger didn’t fare any better.
However, it’s worth noting that all of the defencemen could have used more help from a forward group that seemed to lack urgency. Even Reimer took his share of the blame despite facing 15 shots in 16 minutes of action.
As a result, the slow slide towards the pack in the Eastern Conference continued. Toronto might still be clinging to the final wild card spot, but the team’s grip on a playoff position has weakened considerably over the last month.
Leafs general manager Dave Nonis and his top lieutenants, Claude Loiselle and Dave Poulin, all took in this game live from the press box. The biggest question facing them is if some kind of shakeup is required to try and bring some life back to this group.
The players seem to believe that it will happen in due time.
"There’s lots of time – 50 games left," centre Nazem Kadri said. "There’s no reason to panic. It’s just something we’ve got to figure out in the dressing room."
Added Reimer: "If you get tense that’s the worse-case scenario. Do we need some more urgency? Probably. But you have to be careful when you start going down that path."
The concern from Carlyle has been evident during the last few weeks. He wasn’t a fan of opening the dressing room to HBO’s cameras and by this weekend some of the team’s dirty laundry will almost certainly be hanging in public after the "24/7" series premieres.
The game against the Kings filled him with a little optimism, but the follow-up performance against the Blues sent him back to the drawing board.
"We just didn’t have any kind of energy to be able to even put forth an effort that was needed," Carlyle said.
The results will continue to be painful if they don’t find some way to summon it. Chicago is next up on Saturday night – it is the third straight recent Stanley Cup champion to visit Air Canada Centre – and a trip to Pittsburgh immediately follows that.