Maple Leafs' ugly power play sinks to new low in loss to Blues

Is it simply a head-scratcher? A joke? A serious problem?

How about all of the above?

An optimist might wish to dismiss the Toronto Maple Leafs' no-good, very bad power play as a function of small sample size or bad luck or the evil media highlighting the negative.

But this is getting ridiculous.

With a dismal 0-for-4 showing in Saturday's 4-2 loss to the banged-up St. Louis Blues — so much for head coach Craig Berube's revenge or starter Joseph Woll's emotional hometown debut — the Maple Leafs officially own the worst power play in the league.

Following their scoreless attempts in St. Louis, the Leafs are 3-for-38 on the season for a 32nd-place 7.8 per cent success rate. 

Barf.

The falloff of Toronto's PP is as precipitous as Vince McMahon's. After finishing first overall in 2021-22, second in 2022-23, and seventh in 2023-24, the Maple Leafs went 1-for-21 in last spring's first-round playoff loss to the Boston Bruins.

A decent power play might've got them to Round 2.

To remedy the issue, Berube hired go-to assistant Marc Savard from Calgary and originally stuck with the Core Five on the top unit: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Morgan Rielly. 

Berube was banking on years-long chemistry and past success. He was betting that a great power-play player makes a great power-play coach — even if Savard's PP in Calgary scuffled to 17.9 per cent (26th overall) before he and the Flames cut ties over the summer.

Ultimately, we don't blame the coaching staff here. (How many power-play coaches has this core exhausted?)

The Leafs, to their credit, have not ignored this growing problem.

Berube has flipped PP1 quarterbacks twice — from Rielly to Ekman-Larsson back to Rielly. He's invested considerably more time into special teams at morning skates and practice than we've seen from previous regimes. And this week, he pulled the lever on the nuclear option: two balanced units, splitting Matthews and Marner from Tavares and Nylander.

This first step toward fixing a problem is realizing you have one.

"We're working on it nonstop. We're trying to figure things out. It's not like we're not," Marner told reporters in St. Louis. "It'll eventually click, so we can't get frustrated with one another. We gotta stay confident. We gotta know we're doing the right things. And we will get results."

And yet? The Leafs' power-play goals remain expected. Not actual.

"It's about results in the end," Berube said. "I think we got two pretty good units right now, and that's the way we gotta go forward here. Whoever's doing the job will get an opportunity."

"It seems like it's flowing much better with the two units," Matthews agreed. "Good opportunities. I think the puck's getting moved around well. It's just a matter of time. You see one go in and get the confidence back and take it from there." 

Zone entries are an issue. So is urgency. And penalties taken while on the power play — the ol' self-kill — don't help either.

Marner scored a nifty opening goal Saturday in a dominant first period to give Toronto a 1-0 lead on the road. He also high-sticked Ryan Suter in the O-zone while the Leafs held a man-advantage late in the second, contributing to the home side's momentum flip.

"We let Chief down a little bit in that first game back in Toronto. He's not the guy to make a big deal of it, but we want to put a good effort forth for him tonight," Jake McCabe noted pre-game.

Well, the Leafs let Chief down again — against a weakened, beatable opponent. 

By failing to score more than twice. 

By failing to turn their pricy power play into the positive difference-maker it should be.

Sure, it may not be a massive problem in the first week of November. But power-play results like this in spring will spell another early exit.

"It's execution, to be honest with you," Berube said, following the loss. 

"There's not a directness to it. We're not getting pucks to the net enough. We're on the power play. We need to shoot pucks more. We need to get pucks to the net and create opportunities around the net on broken plays. But we're not. There's not a shot mentality on the power play right now."

Heck. Even Michael Scott knows you can't score if you don't shoot.

Fox's Fast Five

• As if the Blues' back end wasn't ravaged enough with long-term injuries to Torey Krug and Nick Leddy, Philip Broberg left Saturday's win in the second period with an injury suffered when Marner fell on his right leg.

Yikes. 

Broberg had jumped off to his best season as a pro, putting up nine points in his first nine games for St. Louis.

"We've had a lot of injuries, and that's part of the game. Every team goes through it, and we seem to be going through a few. They just seem to be coming all at once right now. We're being tested, and that's fine," Blues coach Drew Bannister said.

"We have a resilient bunch in there, and we're going to push through it, regardless if it is one day, two weeks, two months. We're going to find ways to push through it."

• We recognize Max Domi is a pass-first forward and respect his ability to sauce the thing, but he's 12 games into the longest (four years) and richest ($15 million) contract of his career and has zero goals to show for it. 

Subtract William Nylander from his line, and Domi's offence has been MIA.

Domi is pointless in six and minus-3 over that stretch. He is averaging 1.08 shots per game this season.

• The Maple Leafs have a discipline problem.

They ranked 18th in minor penalties taken in 2023-24; they rank third this season. 

Their 48 power plays against rank top five in the league.

"For me, it's understanding situations. You're in the offensive zone — there's no reason to take a penalty there. You're 200 feet from the net," Berube said. "At times, we're just careless with our sticks.

"It's a mindset. Move your feet. Get your stick on the ice."

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• Where does Nick "Trade Request" Robertson stand with Berube?

Well, it's telling that the 5-foot-9 winger was scratched for this week's two most important games: against the then-undefeated Jets in Winnipeg and the coach's homecoming tilt in St. Louis.

Seemingly leapfrogged by a mediocre Pontus Holmberg, Robertson is saying the right things. That he's not taking it personally. That it's his job to fight through some bad puck luck and execute when he does get a chance.

But when the coach comes out and says he prefers a bigger lineup, it's tough to see a world where Robertson wins Berube over and becomes an everyday Leaf.

"I'm not really fazed by it," Robertson said. "I'm not scared at all about how big or whatever. I'm not the biggest guy in the room, but I think I play bigger than where I'm at."