KANATA, ONT. — The most disappointing season in Toronto Maple Leafs memory won’t stop supplying rubberneckers of this car wreck with another ugly scene to digest.
The series of unfortunate events just keeps getting renewed.
On Saturday, in a barn beside an Ottawa highway, the Maple Leafs didn’t even make it to puck drop before things veered off the road.
William Nylander — aloof whipping boy and barrel-chested leading scorer bundled into one — accidentally zipped a puck off Anthony Stolarz’s throat during warmups, sending the visitors’ intended starting goaltender to a nearby hospital for imaging.
(Stolarz was released from hospital and did fly home with his teammates, but it’s worth noting that he already dealt with a nerve injury in his neck this season that sidelined him for three months.)
“Really tough to see that happen. I mean, I always come in and shoot a puck in the glove, and this one just came off a little bit to the left. I hit him in the neck, so I was obviously worried for him. But I’ve been texting with him, so he seems to be OK,” an apologetic Nylander explained, following a 5-2 thumping by the Ottawa Senators.
“I have certain spots where I shoot it, so they know where I’m shooting it all the time.”
In came a scrambling Joseph Woll, who had lost an overtime game and been called out by his coach for coming up one save short less than 24 hours prior.
A surprised Woll, who hadn’t played both halves of a back-to-back since March 2021 with the Marlies, swapped out his practice equipment for his game gear and “hit play” on starter mode.
“Just tried to, soon as I could, get to my routine and give our team the best chance I could,” Woll said. “Just an accident. Stuff happens.”
We won’t blame Woll for missing a big save in this one, as the bad-luck, highly fragile Maple Leafs turned in another sloppy, slumpy performance, this time to a provincial rival they eliminated from the playoffs the last time these teams played a game of any consequence at Canadian Tire Centre.
But those Maple Leafs are not these Maple Leafs, who don’t particularly need wins and are acting like it.
Outshot by a resounding 43-14 and out-chanced 44-18, the Maple Leafs inadvertently injured one goalie, then hung their next out to dry.
An ugly pattern that has permeated this stain of a season.
In total, Craig Berube’s club has allowed 382 more pucks on net than it has taken. Only the rebuilding Blackhawks have a worse shot differential.
“It’s tough on Joseph, for sure. Played last night. Now he’s got to prepare and everything,” Berube said. “He did a great job, but the team’s got to respond better than that.
“We get ourselves back in the game again in the third, and we just don’t have enough guys that go out and push.”
Trouble is, mentally they’re getting pushed over too easily.
When Tim Stützle took advantage of a bad Matias Maccelli tripping penalty and sniped a power-play marker in an otherwise tightly contested first period, rookie Easton Cowan said the 1-0 score “deflated us.”
The game wasn’t 15 minutes old at that point.
“I don’t really understand this deflated stuff, to be honest with you. I think it’s a copout,” Berube said.
“Second period, they took the game over. You know, they just wanted it more. Came out harder. We couldn’t get the puck out of our zone.”
Couldn’t tie up sticks. Couldn’t complete a smart first pass. Couldn’t block enough shots.
Couldn’t protect the net-front of a tired and overworked goalie thrust into emergency action.
“They just kept rolling over on us,” Nylander said.
The night began with an unfortunate bout of friendly fire and concluded with gleeful Sens fans twisting the knife, rejoicing in “You need Mar-ner!” chants.
Only Team Tank could glean a silver lining from this one, as Toronto secured its 29th regulation loss.
“I feel like some nights we have been giving up a lot of shots and not being able to generate that much offence, spending a lot of time in D-zone,” Nylander said. “If we spend some more time in the O-zone, we can relieve some of that pressure on Joe tonight on the back-to-back.
“But, I mean, I think the battle, it’s hard now.”
• Morgan Rielly suffered a lower-body injury in Friday’s overtime loss to the Hurricanes and did not play. He’s listed as day-to-day.
• Why is Matthew Knies still participating in meaningless games with a bad knee?
“It’s kind of an injury I don’t think can get much worse, so I don’t think there’s any risk for me playing,” Knies told reporters. “Everyone is playing through something.”
Berube notes that Knies did get weeks of rest during the Olympics: “I haven’t heard one thing, so he’s healthy.”
• The Maple Leafs recalled the scrappy Michael Pezzetta for this weekend’s back-to-back but didn’t dress him in either game.
Berube: “I thought about it a lot.”
Would have liked to see diehard Leafs fan Pezzetta’s energy in the Battle of Ontario over, say, impending UFA Calle Järnkrok, who is unlikely to be with the team next season.
• We sense a new Fan Day competition coming…
• Cowan, who set up John Tavares’s goal and scored his ninth, has mentioned that he is trying to model his game after that of feisty winger Brandon Hagel.
Berube likes the aspiration.
“That’s going to be a big part of Easton’s game, just the skating and being a hounder and having the ability, which Hagel does, to score some goals and make some plays,” Berube says. “I do see some similarities there. In time, he can get there if he keeps working on his game.”
;)
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