The Maple Leafs might’ve had one eye on their previous three road wins and the other on their impending time off.
Whatever, it was less than full concentration on Saturday, what would’ve been the win to give them their first sweep of Western Canada and Seattle since the Kraken joined the NHL.
“A good trip all around, we just missed out on making it great,” defenceman Morgan Rielly told media in Vancouver.
The Canucks, always jacked to beat the Leafs and their accompanying fans, weren’t going to give them the satisfaction.
Our takeaways of a 2-1 Vancouver victory:
ZERO HOUR
It was another night of shooting blanks from forwards that coach Craig Berube has shown remarkable patience with.
Max Domi, after a couple of games on right wing with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, heads into the 4 Nations Face-Off break with no goals since Dec. 20. He’s been chipping in some assists, which is encouraging and he is foremost a playmaker, but he is capable of more.
His promotion to the top group, a good idea by Berube to restore Domi’s confidence, gave the coach a look at Mitch Marner with John Tavares and William Nylander, but their anticipated success has yet to materialize in limited time together.
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Nick Robertson is without a goal in his last 11 starts. Of course, he isn’t going to light it up on the third line with checker Pontus Holmberg as his centre, but does have Bobby McMann on the other side and has to start burying the chances his speed are creating.
Max Pacioretty was already moved out of the top six as the 36-year-old struggles at times to keep up with the most skilled young Leafs. He last scored on the same night as Domi.
The aforementioned trio and a couple of others are doing nothing to dissuade general manager Brad Treliving from seeking impact and depth scoring with the NHL trade deadline less than a month away.
MAC THE KNIFE
Late Saturday, Berube had McMann with Tavares and Nylander to try and get something going in a low-event game, but also as a possible preview of McMann being elevated after the 4 Nations Face-Off.
It was the first time on the trip McMann didn’t score and he certainly has the better potential to skate with the stars full-time with his speed and touch once the schedule resumes in 13 days. Matthews has called McMann and Knies ‘the same player’ and it would be worthwhile to see how McMann does with a long leash.
JOE’S THE REAL THING
The buzz that Anthony Stolarz created by coming back from weeks away following knee surgery to reclaim his NHL save percentage lead was quickly tempered as Woll ended the pre-break schedule with another strong performance to take the No. 1 role into the break.
A couple of times, normally reliable teammates defensively were at fault for some adventures around his crease, Matthews among those failing to clear the puck on the opening goal, while Brock Boeser’s winner was on the power play.
Woll’s 23 saves capped a rewarding workload so far in reaching his 30th game of the year.
GO, MO, GO
Rielly can exhale after starting the trip with a mounting minus number beside his name, but talking things out with Berube and making some adjustments on his own.
“It’s an ongoing thing, I have more to go and more to give,” Rielly said. “This break is good, we’re all going to come back, ramp up and help the team.”
X: @sunhornby