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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – It was a letdown the Maple Leafs could have seen coming. And yet it came, just the same.

Toronto entered Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes having just clinched a postseason berth 24 hours earlier, in a gritty 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders.

The Leafs acknowledged repeatedly Tuesday morning that Carolina wouldn’t hold back, desperate as they were to pad a one-point lead over Montreal for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. Toronto knew how hard Carolina would claw, and in that process the Leafs became collateral damage, on the losing end of a 4-1 decision.

“The level of emotional engagement of the two teams at the start, the fact that they were one point ahead of Montreal and we’d clinched last night, there was a different level of emotional engagement,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said after the defeat. “I don’t think that’s a big surprise for anybody as a human being. I thought it was an emotional night for our team [on Monday]…we’ll get re-energized now like you do after a back-to-back.”

Before the loss, the Leafs still had a chance to catch Boston, their first-round opponent, for home ice in the series. But their defeat plus the Bruins’ 6-2 win over Columbus Tuesday put six points between them and the Leafs in the Atlantic Division standings, sentencing Toronto to start (and possibly finish) in Boston for the second straight season.

The Leafs knew all that too, the possibilities a win could bring closer to fruition. But a lifeless first period in which Toronto gave up one goal to Justin Williams from below the goal line while only registering two shots on net and 14 per cent possession set them up poorly for any kind of success.

“I just think that we, on a back to back, weren’t ready from the start of the game,” said William Nylander. “They were hungry and they needed points. The first period we didn’t come out as we wanted to but I think it was a good test for us to try and battle back in the game. We’re probably going to be down in the playoffs, so it was good practice.”

But the Leafs haven’t arrived at the postseason yet, a fact readily acknowledged before the game when talk was centred on using these final regular season contests as a tune-up, a chance to get rolling ahead of Game 1 against Boston.

The first period against Carolina was hardly a reflection of the Leafs’ best. The second started poorly too, with Dougie Hamilton beating Leafs backup goalie Garret Sparks nine seconds into the Hurricanes power play to make it 2-0 Hurricanes.

“I thought we were in a pretty good spot to start,” assessed Sparks. “Unfortunate bounce on the first goal. Don’t get the [penalty] kill at the beginning of the second either, so those are two things I would have changed if given the opportunity.”

In fits and starts after Hamilton’s goal, Toronto found some footing and spurts of momentum, right up to John Tavares breaking though on the Leafs’ own second period power play chance and cutting Carolina’s lead to 2-1.

The Leafs’ even-strength offence wasn’t dominating though, and Babcock tried juggling his lines in the third, but the Leafs’ issues of breaking the puck out, winning battles in the middle of the ice remained and taking care of the puck raged on.

Their continually battered blueline was without Jake Muzzin (illness) in this instance, replaced by Martin Marincin, and Babcock didn’t think his team gave up too many prime chances. But when Travis Dermott turned the puck over midway through the final fame, on an errant pass looking for a forward outlet, Jordan Staal’s wrister behind Sparks was the dagger in Toronto’s comeback hopes.

Hamilton would add his second of the game with an empty net to jettison the Leafs.

“We were just a little sluggish to start coming off of yesterday, and obviously [Carolina’s] extremely desperate coming in here,” Tavares assessed of the game. “We just have to be at a better level than we were to start the game and the first half, then we started to do some good things. Giving up the third goal made it difficult…just have to be better from the start.”

Toronto has two more games to work out the kinks before the playoffs, taking on Tampa at home and Montreal on the road. Excuses like fatigue or lack of emotional preparedness won’t apply in either outing, giving the Leafs every chance to prove Tuesday’s limp effort was a fluke.

“We have to keep challenging ourselves to continuously find ways to get better, and to continue to up our game,” said Tavares. “We have some good tests coming up. We have a lot to play for. You go out there and you work and you find ways to get better and continue to try and be consistent and up our game.”

TAKEAWAYS

Can’t quite Spark

In his last scheduled start of the season, Sparks was in familiar territory – not getting much help from the team in front of him, and not helping himself much, either.

As he was on Saturday in a 4-2 loss to Ottawa, the Leafs backup goalie was solid through much of the first period, while Toronto’s weak defensive effort had Carolina controlling play for nearly the entire frame.   

But however well Sparks was playing, the good vibes evaporated with that first goal allowed to Williams, which Sparks explained away as a “tough bounce.”

“He just poked it and it just kind of came to the wrong spot, exactly where I didn’t need it to go,” Sparks continued. “I don’t know. It’s not even a situation where you’re typically down because the puck is behind the net.”

Sparks said if he could change anything about his potentially last appearance of the  season, it would be that marker, and the ensuing failed penalty kill to start the second period, where making an initial save put Sparks on his stomach and incapable of recovering in time to halt Hamilton from below the goal line.

Of Staal’s deflating third period strike, Sparks could only concede, “clean shot, gotta make a save.”

And that was in many ways the most concerning aspect of Sparks’ play, how often he seemed to misplay pucks or not know where the puck was, how he was slow to get back into position after a save and generally seemed uncomfortable in the net.

Sparks finished the game with 33 saves and a .917 save percentage, declaring “I’ll be ready” for whatever comes next, whether it’s this season or next.

Nylander’s woes continue

Heading into Tuesday’s game, Nylander had tallied one goal in 16 games, his worst drought of the season since scoring one goal in 23 games to open his late-starting campaign.

Nylander thought he had scored the game's first goal late in the opening period, but a quick challenge by Carolina called the score back for being offside. It was Nylander himself who was blatantly over the line, another example of where he's been a little off. 

Once the second period rolled around, Babcock had demoted Nylander to the fourth line with Frederik Gauthier and Tyler Ennis, moving Trevor Moore up to take his place with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and bumping Kasperi Kapanen to the Tavares line with Zach Hyman.

It wasn’t the first time Nylander’s been banished to the fourth line this season, usually Babcock’s way of sending a message about Nylander’s play (or lack thereof) away from the puck.

He did manage one good scoring chance on Petr Mrazek midway through the third, and registered a team-high 62.50 per cent possession reflective of having started 85 per cent of his shifts in the offensive zone. But ultimately, Nylander played only 13:46, the fourth-fewest minutes among Leafs, when he should be a player Toronto can highlight in moments of adversity, and entrust with a big role in which to produce. Two games removed from the postseason, that’s still not a place Babcock seems comfortable putting Nylander.

He finished the game even, with three shots on goal

Concerning kill?

The Leafs’ penalty kill has been one of their most consistent elements in the season’s second half, but Hamilton’s power play goal in the second period marked the third straight game in which Toronto’s kill has given up a goal. The last time that happened was late February, and in between the Leafs had given up only four power play goals total through 14 games.

The Leafs finished Monday’s game 1-for-2 on the kill. 

Blue and White Trending

Tracking Leafs’ trends all season long

Tuesday’s game was Toronto’s 13th and final set of back-to-backs this season, having won both games in those 13 sets only twice (Nov. 15-16; Dec. 22-23).

Next up

Toronto welcomes the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.