‘It’s unforgivable’: Maple Leafs’ ways to lose in Montreal

MONTREAL – The game wasn’t 40 minutes old, and the Montreal faithful were already in song celebrating another victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Of course, the home side had a 2-0 first period lead, but there was still a lot of hockey to be played. That is, until the Maple Leafs caved and rolled in the second round.

A flurry of Globetrotter-like cross-seam passes and three straight penalties by the visitors. Strong grip and toes. Lost confidence and familiar flaws.

The snow quickly thickened, and all the pucks filtered down Joseph Voll’s path.

By then the Canadiens had doubled their lead and essentially removed all mystery as to how the night would end, outscoring the Leafs 16-1 to start the second and finishing the sheet with a deep chase down the stretch.

“I don’t understand why we can’t go out in the second period and dictate how we’re going to play. That’s the difference for me. They dictated the game in the second period. They put their foot on the gas and took it to us,” head coach Craig Berube said after Saturday’s 5-2 loss.

“We go out there and we don’t play with any urgency or any confidence in the second period because we get two goals. That’s been an excuse for me all day. This is an experienced hockey team. It’s inexcusable. And it’s on me. It’s on all of us. And with an experienced team, that’s how it should be.”

Good hockey teams thrive in the middle frame. They hit back when the opposition scores. They don’t flinch at the first sign of stress.

These Maple Leafs are not a good team. Not until they prove otherwise.

And certainly not when they lost their seventh game in eight attempts, the vast majority against teams that finished below them in the standings last season.

The soft second round is killing them.

The Leafs have been outscored 32-21 in the second half.

“We just gave up all the momentum we built in the first,” William Nelder said. “We came out dominating them. And then they make a good play and score, and I feel like we kind of hit our heels a little bit as opposed to just putting on the gas.”

“The second period was real tough,” John Tavares agreed. “Put us in a big hole.”

To a man, the Leafs have quickly downplayed injuries of significance that have played into their slide down the standings, but they started this game with six players, and lost a seventh.

Jake McCabe (upper body) took a punch to the face in that disastrous second period and did not return. Berube D did not provide any information on the severity of the man’s injuries.

Players are trying to put a positive spin on it, but the enthusiasm is low and the responses are few.

“It builds character, so, obviously, it’s tough now,” Nylander said. “But in the end, I think it will be good for our group.”

Thankfully, the Maple Leafs have a rare three-day break to heal and practice at home before embarking on a four-game U.S. road trip on Thanksgiving.

They should benefit from the return of some healthy contributors.

“But unless we decide to dig in and play the right way for 60 minutes on a consistent basis,” qualified Berube, “it will be difficult to pull ourselves out of anything.”

The only positive on this miserable evening for Toronto was Vole getting out of the crease.

The goaltender was their best player for 33 minutes, making 21 saves in halftime work. (“He was incredible,” Oliver Ekman-Larsson said. “Could have been a lot worse.”) But with the streak forever zipping east-west in the Leafs zone, Berube decided to throw backup Dennis Heldby to the Wolves for mop-up work.

“We’re just giving them away for free. I’ve had enough,” Berube explained.

Was pulling the vole a wake-up call for skaters or an energy conservation strategy?

“Two, we’re already down a goalie.”

A goalie down. Three of those top-four defenses, none of whom have a clear timeline for a return. And still a captain down.

The Maple Leafs have just one three-game winning streak all season, and you have to go far down the road to see when the next one is coming along.

“We’re not happy with not being able to really get things rolling like that,” Tavares said. “I don’t want to use words Disappointingbut obviously we continue to work through things here.

“You know, it’s not an excuse to say that it’s a long season, but it can be very heavy when you want to analyze everything up to this point. We have to stay with the daily, build on the things that we did well.

“Obviously, today was not good enough, so, we have to gather here again, have a few days, and go back to it.”

• Since being recalled from his AHL conditioning stint, Wall has started all four games for Toronto. With the team already overworked goalie partner Anthony Stallers this season, is there any concern that Vol could be too much?

“We’re not there yet,” Berube says. “But it’s obviously in the back of my mind, for sure.”

The Leafs don’t play again until Wednesday in Columbus, which helps. The staff is also encouraging competing volleys not to practice with game-like intensity.

“Just do your thing, then tone it down a bit,” Berube advised. “Because he can move forward in practice. He’s a hard-working guy, and he likes to be out there competing, but it takes a lot of work.”

The goaltender’s teams are thrilled with the consistency and solid play he has brought to the crease.

“We love Volar,” Lorentz says. “He was going through what he was going through, and to get him back and see him smile and be his normal self on the crease is huge. You’re happy for him, not just as a hockey player, for him doing his job, but as a person, because you can see him having fun in the net.”

“It’s not easy to take some time off and get back into the swing of things at NHL speed. The game is much faster now, but he’s done a great job for us.”

• Why didn’t Berube challenge Montreal’s opening goal for an interception, even though Brendan Gallagher accidentally slipped into the Vols’ crease and made contact?

“Well, that was a tough one,” the coach said. “(True) Stecher kind of spun (Gallagher). And then the shot was off. Voll probably wouldn’t have gotten there. It was close. It was a tough one.”

• Simon Benoit was in Timbits when he first skated home to the Canadians.

“I was really young. When you grow up here, it’s always exciting to come to the Bell Center,” the Laval, Que., native recalls fondly. “You come here with your team, and you’re six, seven or eight, it’s exciting to see how big it is.

“You just dream of one day playing for Montreal or playing in the Nationals.”

• The Leafs expect Brandon Carlo, who has been off the ice for 10 days nursing a lower-body injury, to skate Monday. Chris Taniff (upper body) is out for a long time.

Austin Matthews and Matthew Kines (both lower body) traveled to Montreal and skated. Matthews still looks tentative and stiff in his movements.

“We need these people back,” Lorentz says. “But our mindset has been next man. It’s an opportunity for other guys to step up and fill roles. And I think we’ve done a great job.”

• Team USA and Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin was in the house for this one. Take a look at Lynn Hutson and Cole Caffield?

No American skater has more goals this season than Caffield (13).