Maple Leafs' power play lifeless in shutout loss to Washington Capitals

Not so long ago, the Maple Leafs were feared for their ‘world class’ power play.

They aren’t scaring anyone in the NHL any more and coach Craig Berube knows it. That’s why he let Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly take a seat for a few shifts when Toronto had five man-advantages in Thursday’s 4-0 loss in Washington.

Berube gave his second unit plenty of time, including a couple of tell-tale opening assignments to underline his impatience. But this start of a three-game road trip was already getting away from Toronto.

Despite a strong effort from goalie Dennis Hildeby, who brushed off a long Saturday night against the Edmonton Oilers, the Leafs’ first shutout loss this year dropped them to 15-13-5 and further back in the Eastern Conference wild-card pack.

Hildeby came in positioned in the top five of NHL save percentage with .923 in limited, Berube deciding to give Joseph Woll extra rest after his latest return from injured reserve.

Ovechkin held off scoresheet

About the only plus for Toronto was holding NHL career goals leader Alex Ovechkin off the board and to 45 total tallies against Toronto. Hildeby avoided becoming the 187th netminder to surrender a goal to Ovie, who has been stuck on 911 for a few games.In 16 of their initial 32 games this season, the Leafs have had two or fewer power plays, before earning three in Thursday’s first period alone. But Matthews and company struggled both on the entry and along the boards.

So, Berube let Max Domi, Easton Cowan, Nicholas Roy and Bobby McMann spread their wings on special teams and they produced the best looks with Oliver Ekman-Larsson as their defenceman. A second-period opportunity had the understudies looking more crisp again, possibly pushing Berube to finally act on his thought to create two balanced units.

Toronto killed three minors itself, Hildeby denying Ovechkin three times, with one even-strength blast ringing iron for a second time in the game. But Toronto lost two puck battles around the net when Alieksei Protas opened the scoring. Scott Laughton was then a tad late catching Jakob Chychrun when a shot banked wide and came out hard the other side.

Line-juggling doesn’t work

Chychrun, one of the league’s best offensive blueliners on a team stacked with such talent, scored again on a slow Leafs line change that afforded him a left side lane. John Carlson added the fourth

At even strength, Berube tried to get Tavares out of a slump (one point in seven games, two goals in his past 15), by putting eager beavers Cowan and Robertson on his wing. Berube went to Cowan with Nylander and Mathews as part of his third-period juggling.

Capitals netminder Logan Thompson, trying to earn a starting spot on the other Canadian team with a maple leaf crest, made 27 saves, the first time the Leafs were blanked in 70 games going back almost a calendar year.

 Lhornby@postmedia.com 

X: @sunhornby

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