Leafs decry effort after lopsided loss: 'They brought their best and we brought our worst'
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The Toronto Maple Leafs came out flat Tuesday night in Columbus, falling behind 3-0 in the opening period and going on to lose 6-2.
Winger Mitch Marner said after the game that it was their worst outing of the season.
“Just not good from the start,” he said via NHL.com. “Not competitive enough throughout the game. They brought their best and we brought our worst.”
Columbus outshot Toronto 38-28, won over 54 per cent of the faceoffs and appeared to be much fresher than a Leafs team coming off a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning the night before in Toronto.
“Neutral zone was the Autobahn for them tonight,” Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said. “They were just coming in, flying through.
“We just got our butts handed to us a little bit. It's a busy week for us, so there's no time to sulk over this.”
He isn’t kidding. The Leafs return home for a Thursday showdown with the St. Louis Blues and then go back on the road to take on the Bruins in Boston Saturday. That means four games in six days for the Leafs, two on the road and two at home.
Despite the truncated schedule this week, head coach Craig Berube was not pleased with his team’s effort Tuesday, saying they made things far too easy on a Blue Jackets team expected to be in the mix for the No. 1 pick next spring.
“I didn’t feel like we skated very well tonight,” the Toronto coach said. “They skated through us all night. We didn’t win many puck battles tonight, didn’t defend very well tonight and that’s what you get.
“It boils down to they outskated us. They outworked us and they were a harder team than we were. Bottom line.”
Dennis Hildeby got his second start of the season in net for Toronto, conceding six goals on 38 shots. It was a far cry from his first start on Oct. 10 against the New Jersey Devils when he stopped 21 of 23 shots in a 4-2 win.
“We were aggressive and we were on top of them for most of the night,” Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier said after a two-goal game.
“They were on a back-to-back, and that's never easy with the travel and everything. We knew we had to get on them early. To our credit, that's exactly what we did.”
The loss dropped Toronto to 4-3-0 on the season.
Leafs lose Pacioretty to lower-body injury
Forward Max Pacioretty left Tuesday’s loss in the third period with a lower-body injury and did not return.
Berube did not have an update on the 35-year-old after the game, saying the team would know more about his status on Wednesday.
He has two hits and zero points in 9:58 of ice time before heading off. He has two goals in five games this season.