Minor mistakes continue to add up as Maple Leafs drop third straight

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Bobby McMann only played two shifts after his second-period turnover led to a Boston Bruins goal on Saturday night. 

"I didn't say anything to him after the game, but I definitely will," said Leafs head coach Craig Berube. "We need to clean up these mistakes."

McMann, a winger who started the game on the second line, mishandled a pass from defenceman Philippe Myers in the defensive zone. The botched breakout led to a fire drill in front of Toronto's net with Justin Brazeau eventually converting on a rebound chance. 

But it's not just McMann making mistakes. Berube is seeing growing pains throughout the lineup as the Leafs, who have dropped three straight decisions and four of their last five games, adjust to his north-south system. 

"Things creep back in," Berube noted. "Old habits creep back in."

A lot of familiar issues are popping up around the Leafs, who fell to 4-4-1 following Saturday's overtime loss to the Bruins. Toronto also got off to slow starts under former coach Sheldon Keefe. Last year they opened slightly better at 5-3-1. The previous two years they also started 4-4-1. 

"It's game nine, right," captain Auston Matthews stressed. "It takes time sometimes. It's not going to click perfectly right away. I think you just want to take positive steps in the right direction. [Saturday] was competitively a much better game than we had the previous two."

The Leafs got outscored 11-3 in losses to the Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues, two non-playoff teams last season, earlier in the week. Squandering points to teams below them in the standings has been an issue in recent years. Toronto has also struggled to beat Boston and not just in the playoffs. The Bruins have now won eight straight regular-season games against the Leafs.

Boston jumped on Toronto early on Saturday, holding a 10-5 edge in shots after 20 minutes. High-danger chances favoured the Bruins 6-1 in the first period, per NaturalStatTrick.com. 

"We just weren't able to break out cleanly," winger Mitch Marner said. "That's something we've talked about that we've got to be better at. We've got to do a better job on the walls as wingers."

Marner felt the team got better as the game progressed.

"As a five-man unit, we got to do a better job supporting each other, talking to each other, getting out cleanly," Marner said. "I thought we did that in the second and third, and started getting a little more results up ice with it."

Berube feels his players are "close" to playing the style he wants. 

"We got back to checking a lot better," he said. "We were hard around our net and hard in the battles."

Berube also liked the offensive zone time generated on Saturday, but didn't feel the players did enough to translate that into good looks. It's an issue Keefe also grappled with. 

"We've got to get more shots from the top through," Berube said. "That's one thing. And look to shoot a little quicker. There's times where, in the third period, all our forwards are jammed at the net and [we] couldn't get it through. We need to pop off and create some separation a little bit more in the offensive zone." 

The Leafs only generated six shots on net in the third period, despite trailing for almost all of it. 

Clearly, there's still work to be done. But it's not easy to improve when the calendar is condensed. Toronto initially planned to hold a practice on Sunday before travelling to Winnipeg, but scrapped the workout. 

"Long travel today and, you know, overtime game, hard-fought game," Berube explained. "Some guys had a lot of minutes."

It's been a busy stretch. The Leafs put forward a strong effort on Monday in a home win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Then it was off to Columbus where they fell 6-2 on Tuesday. After a day off on Wednesday, the team failed to bounce back in a 5-1 home loss to the St. Louis Blues. 

Next up is a date against the undefeated Jets (8-0-0) on Monday. 

The Leafs have only held one practice (Friday) in the last nine days. It's hard to stay sharp without those additional reps. 

"It's the key mistakes at wrong times right now that are hurting our team," Berube concluded.

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Only 36 seconds after the Brazeau goal, another Leafs mistake led to another Boston tally. William Nylander, usually a smooth skater, lost an edge while carrying the puck high in the offensive zone, which opened the door to a 3-on-2 rush the other way. 

Nylander also made a costly turnover in Thursday's loss to the Blues.

The 28-year-old winger continues to lead the team with five goals, but has now gone three straight games without a point. 

"A little bit of frustration has set in with him as of right now," Berube said. "Not getting enough clean looks."

Nylander also took a double minor for high sticking on Saturday. He finished the night with two shots in 18 minutes of ice time. Nylander was not made available to the media after the game. 

Berube told reporters he planned to talk to Nylander about the issues. Sure enough, the pair were spotted sitting together and chatting as the media departed the team hotel on Sunday. 

"Just trying to help him out and show him things he can do better," Berube said. "But also I think there's not much chemistry with his line [McMann and Max Domi] right now."

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Berube pointed out the lack of power-play success is likely contributing to Nylander's frustration. Nylander led the Leafs with 35 power-play points last season. 

The Leafs are 3/30 on the power play this season after going 0/3 in Boston. Toronto even had a 5-on-3 on Saturday, but couldn't pull the trigger at the right times. 

Defenceman Morgan Rielly rejoined the top unit for the game against the Bruins. 

"Just to see if something could happen," Berube said. "We had the 5-on-3, I mean, there was two empty nets, and we just don't put them in."

While defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson got a look on the top unit for a stretch of games, the team has stuck with the same four forwards – Matthews, Nylander, Marner and John Tavares – on the top unit. 

"It'll come," Berube insisted. "I'm confident in this team and, you know, they're going to get it going. They'll get it going on the power play."

The Leafs faded down the stretch on the power play last season before going an ugly 1/21 in the playoff series against Boston. 

One of the issues right now is getting set up in the offensive zone. 

"We just got to sometimes maybe be a little smarter and just chip it down low, get a hard rim, or something like that," said Marner. "Just start from there and just try to break pressure off that."

With Tavares winning only 44.8 per cent of his power-play draws, this issue is being amplified. Last year, Tavares won 59.8 per cent of his power-play faceoffs. 

"We're just a step behind," said Matthews when asked about the zone entries. 

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The Leafs almost stole a second point on Saturday, but after controlling play early in overtime, Matthews turned over the puck leading to the Brad Marchand winner. 

"I thought somebody was coming back," Matthews explained. "And then, as I went to pass it, I looked up and it wasn't the case. So I just tried to get back and make a play. Just an unfortunate bounce."

Matthews, who was more than a minute into his shift, was hounded by Marchand as he retreated into the defensive zone. Looking for a quick break or line change, Rielly and Marner were well up ice. Matthews tried to get the puck out with a long pass, but it was easily picked off by David Pastrnak. 

"It was a tough play on Auston," Berube said. "We have to support him a little bit more on that play. We left him alone there. It was a mistake by everybody out there."

Rielly and Marner tried to get back, but couldn't make it before Marchand stuffed in a rebound following a great save by Anthony Stolarz. 

"We want to be a good overtime team and a good 3-on-3 team because they are critical points," Berube said. 

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The Leafs don't get to overtime without a three-assist effort from Marner. 

"Just an exceptional player," said Rielly. "He just has great vision."

Marner set up Rielly for a one-timer goal during a 4-on-4 sequence in the second period.  

"When you play with him long enough, you're able to kind of predict what he's thinking," said Rielly. 

Marner set up Matthews for a 6-on-5 goal with just over a minute remaining. 

"Just a great entry there," Marner said. "[Matthews] with speed, kick out to John and unbelievable pass cross ice from Johnny to me. I saw [Matthews] going backside, tried to hit the seam, lucky enough it worked out. He doesn't miss those often."

Marner logged 26 minutes and 12 seconds of ice time, which was his highest total in a regular season game since Oct. 20, 2022. 

"I overused him last night," Berube admitted. "But with penalty kill and overtime, you know, it got a little extended. And that's on me to try to work that a little bit more. I've got to not use him so much on the penalty kill, but he's an extremely good penalty killer."

Marner played four minutes shorthanded on Saturday. 

Much like Keefe did over the years, Berube plans to lean heavily on Toronto's dynamic duo. Marner is averaging 21:40 of ice time per game so far, which is up from 21:17 last season. Matthews is playing 20:58 which is basically the same as the 21 minutes he averaged in Keefe's final season.

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Stolarz kept the Leafs in the game during the first period as the Bruins, who had lost three straight, came out hot. 

"Weathering that storm, that first 10 minutes, was important," said Matthews. "Stolie was huge for us."

Stolarz was playing his first ever game against the Bruins. 

"You look down at the other end and you see [Jeremy] Swayman, so you know you're going to have to put together a sharp game," he said. 

Stolarz allowed a season high four goals on 34 shots but, make no mistake about it, this was another strong performance. 

"I saw the puck really well again," the 30-year-old said. "I mean, obviously being 6'6, that helps ... My reads were good. Pucks were sticking to me and I thought my puck handling was pretty good as well."

Stolarz has a sparkling .927 save percentage on the season. 

Stolarz wasn't entirely satisfied with his effort on Saturday. He felt he could have prevented the corner pass from John Beecher to Mark Kastelic on the third Boston goal. 

"I'd like to have that third one back," he said. "I just took a half-second glance to see where their guy was and he threw it back out front. It's a quick game and you have to be ready for anything."

Even with Joseph Woll back from injury, Stolarz is in line to make a majority of starts moving forward. 

"He's earned it," Berube said. "He's played extremely well. But, you know, we always have conversations and talk about these things."

Berube notes the Leafs will need to manage the workload and factor in rest. Stolarz has already played six games. He didn't make his sixth appearance until December last year with the Florida Panthers. 

After Monday's game, the Leafs don't play again until Thursday when the Seattle Kraken visit Toronto. 

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Lines to start Saturday's game in Boston:

Knies - Matthews - Marner
McMann - Domi - Nylander
Pacioretty - Tavares - Robertson
Lorentz - Kampf - Reaves

Rielly - Ekman-Larsson
McCabe - Tanev
Benoit - Myers

Stolarz starts
Woll