Once again, the Toronto Maple Leafs were spanked on a Saturday night CBC game. This time, it was six different St. Louis Blues players who scored to pace the Blues to a 6-1 victory over the Maple Leafs at the ACC. Last week, the Leafs lost 4-0 to the Canadiens in Montreal. In their last two Saturday games, the Leafs have been outscored 10-1.
Stoney Point - March 8, 2015 - Once again, the Toronto Maple Leafs were spanked on a Saturday night CBC game. This time, it was six different St. Louis Blues players who scored to pace the Blues to a 6-1 victory over the Maple Leafs at the ACC. Last week, the Leafs lost 4-0 to the Canadiens in Montreal. In their last two Saturday games, the Leafs have been outscored 10-1.
St. Louis outshot Toronto 44-24 on the night, including 17-5 in the first period and 12-7 in the second period. Jaden Schwartz, T.J. Oshie and Vladimir Tarasenko scored in the first period to end the night for starter Jonathan Bernier’s who was replaced by James Reimer to start the second.
Early in the second, it felt for a while as though the Maple Leafs were going to make a game of it. Captain Dion Phaneuf delivered a huge hit on Oshie and the game started to take on a bit of edginess. I have said before that I like Phaneuf and plays like that is what Leafs fans need to see more of.
However, the momentum from that hit quickly fizzled as the Blues would go up 5-0 on goals by Chris Butler and Paul Stastny. The Butler tally was short-handed putting the visitors up 4-0 and you could feel any hope of a comeback quickly fading.
Early in the third, the Leafs got on the board and broke Brian Elliott’s shutout bid on David Booth’s third of the year. David Backes would finish the scoring with about ten minutes left to go in the game.
It appears as though the end of the season cannot come quick enough for the boys in Blue and White.
"I think there was no effort," Maple Leafs coach Peter Horachek said. "We didn't win any of the 50-50 battles, we didn't compete hard, we didn't forecheck, we didn't keep the puck in the offensive zone. Playing from behind and chasing the game is not a good way to play. There were small little push-backs, but it just wasn't enough."
The Maple Leafs are back in action tomorrow night when they host John Tavares and the New York Islanders.
In his lifetime, Chris Savard has spent time as both an elected official and a hot air balloon pilot. As such, FULL OF HOT AIR seemed to be an appropriate name for this column. Savard will provide his thoughts on a number of topics including hockey on this site, as well as politics and local issues on OurHometown.ca. His opinion combined with $1.60 will buy you a medium coffee at Tim's! You can email him at csavard@ourhometown.ca
