On a night that the NHL was calling the Frozen Frenzy with all 32 teams in action, the Maple Leafs were iced out.
In Columbus against the Blue Jackets, the Leafs didn’t play with structure, made bad decisions and had no physical impact, resulting in a 6-2 loss at Nationwide Arena.
The Leafs on Tuesday night were everything they weren’t in their first six games under coach Craig Berube. It easily was their worst 60 minutes of hockey in the early stages of 2024-25.
The Jackets built a 3-0 lead in the first period and scored two more goals in the second before Matthew Knies got Toronto on the scoreboard with a minute left in the middle period.
Nick Robertson, with his first goal of the season, scored late in the third.
The Leafs were 5-0-2 in their previous seven games against the Blue Jackets and Auston Matthews had scored at least one goal in nine consecutive games versus Columbus. Neither mattered as the Leafs had no traction in their second game of a back-to-back set after soundly beating Tampa Bay at home on Monday.
In his second NHL start, Leafs goalie Dennis Hildeby was shaky at times and served up some big rebounds, giving the Jackets more scoring opportunities than they needed.
Mathieu Olivier, with two goals, James van Riemsdyk, Justin Danforth, Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko scored for Columbus.
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The Leafs’ Max Pacioretty didn’t play after the second period as he departed the game with a lower-body injury.
Forward Ryan Reaves drew back into the lineup and David Kampf was a healthy scratch. Berube threw his lines into a blender as the game progressed. Nothing was saving Toronto.
Berube said on Monday that it was possible that Joseph Woll would make his season debut in goal in Columbus, but that didn’t happen. Woll still isn’t completely ready to play after experiencing some tightness in his groin and as the Leafs have a scheduled day off on Wednesday, don’t expect him to start at home against Berube’s former team, the St. Louis Blues, on Thursday. Anthony Stolarz, with the way he has been playing, deserves to be in goal anyway.
Speaking of that game, key will be the Leafs’ response after their performance in Columbus. We don’t imagine they will be as bad.