Colorado Avalanche centre Brock Nelson (11) scores one of his three goals against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday in Toronto, as the Leafs drop their fourth straight game in a disastrous five-game home stand.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
On a positive note, the only chance the Toronto Maple Leafs have of meeting the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights or the Minnesota Wild again this season will be if they reach the Stanley Cup final.
However, unless they can break out of their current death spiral, they won’t even reach the postseason, with the team still five points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Avalanche.
Combined with the week’s earlier defeats to the Golden Knights and Wild – who, along with Colorado, represent three of the top four sides in the Western Conference – Toronto has picked up just one point from eight available so far during a five-game homestand that concludes Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.
“Losing at home here, it’s worn on our team a little bit,” head coach Craig Berube said after the team’s fourth straight loss. “But that’s pro sports, and we got to all pull it together here and get ready for Tuesday, and we need a win. That’s the bottom line.”
As much as anything else, the team’s lack of urgency should concern both Berube and the Maple Leafs brain trust.
On Friday, the team spotted Vegas a two-goal lead inside the first five minutes. On Sunday, the Leafs took a little longer but the result was the same, with Colorado taking the game by the scruff of the neck once Brock Nelson netted twice inside the opening 7:31, forcing Berube to call a timeout to try to get his team settled.
Cathal Kelly: With Carney in tow, Canada is taking no prisoners at the Milan Olympics
It didn’t have the desired effect, with Toronto getting outshot 17-6 in the first period and providing next to nothing to get the home fans – many on the younger side, with Sunday’s contest the team’s annual Next Gen game – excited.
“There’s just, I think, mental mistakes, and just times where we just shoot ourselves in the foot, and then you’re down 2-0 to the best team in the league,” captain Auston Matthews said. “And you end up having to chase the game for the rest of the night.”
If that hole looked problematic after the first period, it was virtually insurmountable after 40 minutes. Both Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who will be spearheading Canada’s quest for Olympic hockey gold in Milan next month, broke in on Joseph Woll with chances to put the game firmly beyond Toronto’s reach, but the Leafs goaltender, who made 33 saves on Sunday, was equal to the challenge.
But, with 67 seconds remaining in the period, he was unable to stop another famous Avalanche name from stretching the lead to three. Jack Drury, whose uncle Chris won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2001, burst down the left wing, and had ample time and precision to pick the top corner over Woll’s glove.
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) made 33 saves for his team in their Sunday matinee game, but it wasn’t enough as the Avalanche were in control throughout a 4-1 win.John E. Sokolowski/Reuters
Despite the current rut, Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe and his teammates are sustained by the belief that they have what it takes to turn it around. The frustrating part is the inconsistency, particularly coming off a road trip – the team’s Achilles heel this year, going 8-11-3 away from Toronto – where the team picked up five of the eight points on offer, including a 4-3 overtime win over the Avalanche in Denver on Jan. 12.
“We’ve got a lot of really good players in here,” he said. “I think we’ve got great depth throughout the lineup. We’ve shown it this year. We’ve put the good stretches together. Just came off a good stretch, frankly, before this home stand. So just got to get back to it quickly on an individual level.”
Colorado, which looks on course to win the Presidents’ Trophy for the fourth time with a 10-point lead at the top of the overall standings, barely broke a sweat to win the first of a four-game road trip. Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves in picking up his 14th win of the season.
Berube had cautioned Sunday morning that his team needed to slow the Avs’ fluid skaters with an aggressive forecheck. But despite outhitting the Avalanche 28-14, Toronto struggled to contain its speedy opponent, and Berube turned up the desperation stakes, pulling Woll with 5:30 remaining in the game to try to find a breakthrough.
The tactic allowed Nelson, who will suit up for Team USA at the Olympics, to complete his fifth career NHL hat trick with his 27th goal of the season into the empty net off an assist from MacKinnon – his 88th point.
Max Domi’s seventh goal of the season came with 62 seconds remaining, but by then it was too little, too late.
Now, following a fourth straight loss, Berube needs to pick his team up with an important divisional matchup against the Sabres looming large on Tuesday. After that, the Leafs head out on a Western road swing to Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton before the Olympic break begins on Feb. 6.
“It’s all about coming together as a team and pulling out of this,” Berube said. “No individual is going to play you out of it. It’s a team.”