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The Toronto Maple Leafs four-game road trip ended as it began, with an early lead squandered and a questionable defensive effort, as the St. Louis Blues scored three times in a span of just under eight minutes in the second period and coasted to 6-4 victory at Scottrade Center on Saturday.
Tyler Bozak tallied twice, Andreas Borgman and Zach Hyman added goals and Frederik Andersen made 26 saves for Toronto, who went 1-3 against San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles and St. Louis and fall to 8-7 after their sixth loss in the last eight games.
.@andreasborgman with the blast. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/BwfzSjJd9t
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 4, 2017
The fourth line and bottom defensive pairing were the most effective units on the night for the Leafs. Matt Martin registered a career-high three assists, Bozak scored his third and fourth of the season, Borgman tallied for the second time in three games and Connor Carrick was +4 on the evening, but Toronto's top three lines and top four defensemen seemed lost at times against the more energetic Blues.
"The first 10 minutes I thought we were good, I thought they were better than us after that. I thought they dominated the second period and had lots of chances, rolled around in our zone." Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. "We didn't have enough jump and enough juice and enough legs by any means. The game got out of hand, obviously. We took some penalties and they were better than us. We made it look closer, probably, than it was at the end, but we're fortunate the trip is over."
Magnus Paajarvi sneaks behind Nazem Kadri to give the #stlblues a 4-1 lead.#RogersNHLLive pic.twitter.com/TIzblAvHWA
— Rogers NHL LIVE (@RogersNHLLive) November 5, 2017
Babcock once again resorted to line shuffling after his club fell behind in the second period. William Nylander was moved to center between James van Riemsdyk and Patrick Marleau in the middle frame, but sat the bench for most of the third period. Brown replaced Nylander on the top line with Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman and scored his sixth of the season in a late Leafs rally.
Once again, the main reason for the Leafs loss was their inability to limit turnovers and maintain control of the puck. Toronto allowed five or more goals for the sixth time this season, as the Blues hemmed the Leafs in their own zone for most of the game, seizing on turnovers and maintaining possession of the puck without much difficulty.
"What I would say to you is you're always concerned and I try to keep that under control as much as I possibly can." Babcock said. "We didn't look like we had much juice here at all tonight. So, I don't want to overreact. In saying that, the thing is we have to act. Obviously, we're not playing good enough."
Toronto returns home to begin on three-game homestand on Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
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