The Toronto Maple Leafs are about waist-deep into the muck now.
It’s not only that they’ve lost three straight in regulation for the first time all season, but the way they lost them. The Leafs didn’t mount any kind of push after falling behind St. Louis 4-1 in the second period on Thursday night, making Mike Yeo’s first victory as head coach of the beleaguered Blues a comfortable experience.
A late Paul Stastny goal made it a 5-1 final.
We will learn much about the young Leafs in the days ahead.
There is no let-up in the schedule – a big game in Boston looms on Saturday – and the heat is starting to get turned up ever-so-slightly.
Mike Babcock certainly aired some frustration on the visitor’s bench during the second period of Thursday’s game. However, in the big picture, his team remains well-positioned in the Eastern Conference playoff race – provided it can get back on track.
Here are some takeaways from the Leafs-Blues game:
Average Auston
There haven’t been many moments where 19-year-old Auston Matthews looked anything like a rookie this season, but he’s fighting it a bit right now.
Matthews had a tough night possession-wise against the Blues and was held off the scoresheet entirely. That leaves him with just one point in the last seven games and two goals in 11.
At this point, it’s not a cause for serious concern. But it’s something to monitor.
Matthews noted recently that he played more games from October through January than he did all of last season in Switzerland, and he’s done it while shouldering an impossibly heavy load for a rookie centre.
He also spent last weekend in Los Angeles taking part in the NHL’s all-star festivities.
Even on an off-night like this one, he had a glorious chance to score. Matthews fired wide at an empty cage after taking a nice cross-ice pass from William Nylander on the power play.
Rumour, rumour…
No player is likely to hear his name in the rumour mill more than Kevin Shattenkirk ahead of the March 1 trade deadline, and the volume went up a few octaves with Toronto in town.
It didn’t seem to affect how well the Blues defenceman played.
He picked up a first-period assist and had a strong impact on shot attempts, with the Blues generating more than 63 per cent while he was on the ice at even strength.
Shattenkirk has been linked to a Leafs team that needs to improve its blue line before becoming a contender. Still, a trade between the two seems unlikely given the high cost of acquiring the NHL’s fourth-highest scoring defenceman and what you’d need to pay him to avoid losing him as a free agent this summer.
That won’t quiet the speculation, though, especially with St. Louis scheduled to visit Air Canada Centre next week.
Rielly’s return
This most certainly is not how Morgan Rielly envisioned his return from a lower-body injury after six games on the sidelines.
He was on the ice for three goals against – getting fooled by Vladimir Tarasenko in a one-on-one battle before the 4-1 dagger – and saw his minutes limited to 18:31 by Babcock.
For the organization, it was a welcome sign to see him back in action. It may just take a little time to get back into the groove.
Freddie’s follies
Frederik Andersen didn’t survive the first period in Tuesday’s blowout loss at Dallas, and only fared marginally better in this one.
He was thrown directly into the fire with early breakaways from Colton Parayko and David Perron – both of which he stopped – before allowing three out of eight shots to get past him during a tough stretch in the second.
This loss can’t be pinned directly on Andersen, not at all, but his save percentage since Jan. 1 now sits at .896 over 12 appearances.
Line juggling
The Leafs have enjoyed more stability with their forward lines than just about any other team, so it was telling that Babcock decided to shake up his entire top-nine on Thursday.
Starting with the opening faceoff, this is how they were rolled out:
JVR-Kadri-Marner
Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Komarov-Bozak-Brown
It didn’t last.
All it took was 14-plus largely ineffective minutes for Babcock to revert to the old look – immediately getting rewarded when Mitchell Marner flashed his soft hands to finish off a play started by Tyler Bozak and James van Reimsdyk.
For what it’s worth, that line entered the night having played 477 even-strength minutes together – third-most in the NHL behind Anaheim’s Cogliano-Kesler-Silfverberg trio (529) and Columbus’ Foligno-Wennberg-Saad trio (487), according to Corsica.hockey.
There’s a good chance they’ll remain together in Boston, too.