The Toronto Maple Leafs will aim to turn on the offense and end their three-game losing streak Thursday night against the visiting New Jersey Devils and former coach Sheldon Keefe.
It will be Keefe’s first game back in Toronto since Craig Berube replaced him as coach after last season.
The Maple Leafs lost to the Dallas Stars 4-1 on Tuesday after losing 3-0 to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, both home games. They have lost three straight in regulation for the first time this season. There were some boos.
“I mean, I think it’s frustrating losing,” Toronto’s Oliver-Ekman Larsson said. “So, I think we feel the same way.”
The Maple Leafs were also booed late in the game on Saturday in the opener of the three-game homestand.
“They do it in every rink, don’t they? I mean, it’s part of the game,” Berube said. “They pay good money and they come to see hockey, and they want to see us win. That’s the way it goes.”
The Devils lost 2-1 in a shootout against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday and are 2-4-2 in their past eight games, the first six on the road.
“I thought it was a solid game for us in lots of ways,” Keefe said. “You’d like to make one or two more plays here or there or finish one or two more of our chances, but there’s lots to like in a game that gives us every chance to win against a good team.”
The loss to Florida ended the Devils’ six-game home winning streak. They split two home games after a 1-4-1 road trip.
“Like all teams in this league, it’s tough to get points and you’ve got to take them when you can,” said Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who made 27 saves. “We played some good hockey and good defensive hockey. We’ve got a big game coming up.”
Toronto has been struggling on the power play. The Maple Leafs were 0-for-2 on the power play on Tuesday while the Stars were 2-for-3.
“It was a special teams battle tonight. I thought five-on-five it was a pretty even game, pretty tight game, not much going on either way,” Berube said. “We’ve got to win that battle. We’re not getting the bounces I don’t think, but we’re not executing well enough. I think we can execute better. We seem a little off on the execution part of things.”
Toronto hit the goal post twice during its first power play of the game when they still led in the first period.
“Our execution can be better,” said Auston Matthews, who scored Toronto’s goal. “I mean, we’re going through adversity right now. And as much as you prefer not to go through that, it’s necessary sometimes, and these are the kind of moments where we’ve got to come together even more and stick with each other and work our way out of it.”
Toronto ranked 18th in the league on the power play after Tuesday.
Maple Leafs forward John Tavares was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body ailment on Thursday.
Tavares got his skate tangled with teammate Chris Tanev while participating in a power-play drill during Wednesday’s practice. He was able to leave the ice under his own power and went directly to the locker room.
“Week-to-week right now,” Berube said Thursday. “It’s unfortunate (it happened) in practice. Bad luck, but it is what it is and we have to move on from it right now. You see his production and what he’s done, his leadership, he’s been an all-situational guy for us pretty much and he’s done a great job for us.”
Jake McCabe (upper-body injury) practiced and appears ready to return soon to the Toronto defense.
The Maple Leafs defeated the Devils 2-1 in overtime on Dec. 10 and 4-2 on Oct. 10, both times at Newark, N.J.
–Field Level Media
