When the results stop mattering and the season is long lost, you squint harder to spot meaning in the grind.
Morsels of inspiration as you skate out the schedule.
So, upon returning to St. Louis, where the coach is still seeking his first win since being fired from the Blues, Craig Berube started Missouri native Joseph Woll in net, even though he was the less rested of his goaltending options.
Perhaps getting a hometown win for Woll, if not doing Berube one last solid, would summon a strong showing from the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday.
Nah, not even close.
The visitors got pummeled 5-1 by an opponent that also sold off talent at the trade deadline. They got outshot 38-13. They registered zero shots on a four-minute power-play. Sportlogiq counted the high-danger chances 22-8 and scoring chances off the rush 11-1 for the winning team.
“We had one player show up tonight, and that was our goalie,” Berube told reporters in St. Louis, following loss No. 43.
We could mention that callup Jacob Quillan registered his first NHL point, a secondary assist on Jake McCabe’s third-period strike.
Or that William Nylander — who poked some fun at Berube’s constant prodding for him to shoot when he sniped one at Friday’s practice — failed to hit the net once in his 20-plus minutes of ice time, most among all forwards.
Or wax on about the Leafs’ hanging Woll out to dry so often, the springs on the clothespins are wearing out. (Toronto has been outshot 300-162 over Woll’s past eight starts.)
But we’d rather look past the Blues, like the Leafs did, and consider the only game of the eight remaining on Toronto’s calendar that should be appointment viewing.
Monday in Anaheim shouldn’t require a pep talk or a sentimental start (although ex-Duck Anthony Stolarz should get the nod).
Revenge Night against Radko Gudas has been circled since the Leafs lost captain Auston Matthews to a greasy knee-on-knee hit, then lost respect for not responding to Gudas in the moment.
“You never want to see anyone go down like that, especially the captain,” an angry Max Domi said two weeks ago. “Certainly not happy about it, and we play ’em in a couple weeks.”
While the Leafs have been a punchy bunch since, seemingly eager to make up for opportunity lost, Gudas’s availability to answer the bell has come under question.
The defenceman suffered an injury to his left leg Thursday in Calgary, sat out Saturday’s loss in Edmonton, and was seen wearing a walking boot. He’ll visit a doctor in California Sunday.
Gudas says he apologized to Matthews and wants to face the Leafs “no matter what,” Elliotte Friedman reported on Hockey Night in Canada. “He recognizes the Maple Leafs want a piece of him, and he wants to play… because it’s the right thing to do.”
How will the Maple Leafs, so listless in St. Louis, enter Honda Center 48 hours from now?
“I hope very fired up,” McCabe said.
“A large chunk of us are going to be back here next year, and you need to continue to build bonds with your teammates and not leaving your buddy out to dry.”
“It’s a game that means a lot for our side, so, yeah, we’ll be fired up,” echoed Nylander, who was on the ice when Matthews went down, busy flagging the penalty.
No, the Maple Leafs don’t get a mulligan for the embarrassing scene when the Ducks flew into Toronto. And no, we’re not certain Gudas’s doctor will give even him a green light.
But the Leafs can make sure their goalie isn’t the only one who shows up.
“We’re gonna be ready to come. We know what happened last game, so we got something to prove next game, for sure,” Quillan said.
Help spoil the Ducks’ bid for top spot in the Pacific. Leave a mark. Or at least with heads held high.
Finding inspiration should be easy this time.
“You can’t go out and do stupid things and (get) suspensions,” Berube said.
“But we definitely have to go out and play a physical, hard game against that team.”
Fox’s Fast Five
• Earlier this season, Matthew Knies spoke with training partner and former University of Minnesota linemate Jimmy Snuggerud about how best to adapt to the NHL grind.
“The biggest piece of advice that he’s given me,” the 21-year-old freshman relayed, “is just like the stretching and the little things are so important. Getting treatment, things like that, because it’s a long season. It’s 82 games, so it gets to be a lot.”
Snuggerud has blasted through the rookie wall.
His opening strike Saturday gives him 17 goals and 39 points. And he’s a plus-8 asset on a minus-36team.
Among all rookies, only Calder favourite Matthew Schaefer (31 points) has been more productive than the red-hot Snuggerud (27 points) in 2026.
Snuggerud earned bragging rights in the close friends’ first NHL meeting. Knies went minus-3 without a shot on this night.
• Nylander has now had time to digest the idea of missing the playoffs for the first time in his 10 seasons, but told reporters it’s still “an awful feeling” knowing he’ll be done hockey on April 15.
Where did it go wrong in 2025-26?
“I have my thoughts about maybe some stuff,” Nylander said. “But that’s something I’m going to keep to myself.”
Hmmm…
• London’s Mark Hunter fired off a “good job” text to Knights alumnus Eason Cowan after the rookie went after the ginormous Nikita Zadorov in Boston Tuesday.
“Takes a lot of balls to do that,” Anthony Stolarz confirmed.
• Justin Holl’s first goal as a St. Louis Blue comes against the Maple Leafs — and holds as the game winner.
Holl’s final goal as a Detroit Red Wing also came against the Leafs.
• Because Bo Groulx has played nine games with the Leafs, the Marlies’ leading scorer was returned to the AHL.
GM Brad Treliving didn’t want to risk losing Groulx, 26, to waivers and would rather he gain playoff experience — even if it’s at the minor-league level. (Groulx can now only be recalled on an emergency basis.)
“He wanted to go down and help them and play,” Berube said. “That’s a testament to his character and what he believes in, and how it all works, and he understands it. He’s good.”
The coach added that the depth centre has “a very good opportunity” to crack the Leafs’ opening roster in 2026-27.
4:45