St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) stops Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Conor Timmins (25) during second period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Thursday, October 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan DenetteNathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Craig Berube’s bid at revenge fizzled on Thursday when the Maple Leafs got clobbered 5-1 by the St. Louis Blues at Scotiabank Arena.
It was the first time Berube coached against the Blues since he was let go after a 13-14 start last season. He served as a head coach in St. Louis for six years and in 2019 helped the team win its first Stanley Cup.
“There are emotions but once the puck drops it’s over,” Berube said beforehand. “I have a lot of memories for sure. In the end we need two points. That is what I am focused on.”
The loss dropped Toronto to 4-4 with a game on Saturday at Boston. The Maple Leafs have been outscored 11-3 in back-to-back losses to Columbus and St. Louis. They were booed by fans in the third period.
Dylan Holloway scored twice and Philip Broberg, Alexandre Texier and Jake Neighbours once each for St. the Blues while goalie Jordan Binnington turned away 41 shots
Oliver Ekman-Larsson had his first goal in a Toronto uniform but that was it on the night.
“We have been flat for two games in a row now,” Ekman-Larsson said. “That’s not good enough. We have to be better.”
Berube didn’t mince words afterward. He criticized the defensive play, said the power-play unit was trying to be too cute and said the team played “lazy hockey.”
“We made mistakes,” Berube said. “For me, we gave them three goals. You are going to have tough times like this over the course of a season but you have to get out of it.”
Before the game Toronto activated netminder Joseph Woll from the injured-reserve list and he made his first start of the season. He stopped 22 of the 26 shots he faced.
Woll sustained a groin injury at the end of preseason, missed more than two months in 2023-24 with an ankle sprain and then sat out Game 7 of the playoffs against Boston with a back problem.
He had an inauspicious debut, giving up a goal while screened on a long one-timer by defenceman Broberg on the Blues’ third shot on net and was then deked on a power play by Holloway midway through the first period on the Blues’ fifth. Both of those goal scorers played for Edmonton last season.
Woll, 26, went 12-11-1 last year and was excellent during the postseason before he got hurt.
He didn’t really have much of a chance on Thursday.
“We didn’t help him,” William Nylander said. “We’ve certainly had a dip.”
Woll was expected to be the starter this season but has at least temporarily lost the job to Anthony Stolarz.
“He was disappointed but injuries happen,” Berube said. “You can’t control them. They’re part of the game and you have to deal with it.”
Woll rebounded to make two spectacular saves later in the first, one on a breakaway by Brayden Schenn and then on a lunging stop of a wrist shot by Mathieu Joseph 59 seconds before the first intermission.
In the second, he stymied Schenn again on a 2 on 0.
Ekman-Larsson cut the Blues lead to 2-1 on a one-timer with 13:40 left in the middle period.
Texier then returned the margin back to two goals less than two minutes later when left wide open in front of the net.
Players said Berube had not even brought up the significance of the game for him against St. Louis.
“It’s disappointing,” Woll said. “It would have been nice to win it for him.”
The Maple Leafs entered the evening 4-3 after a lopsided defeat at Columbus on Tuesday in what was their first stinker of the season. Toronto fell behind 3-0 in the first period and was steamrolled 6-2.
“We let them skate through us all night,” Berube said. “We can’t do that. You have to check and we didn’t check. That’s where it ends with me.”
Ryan Reaves drew back into the lineup with Max Pacioretty day-to-day with a lower-body injury sustained against the Blue Jackets.
“Hopefully that game [on Tuesday] was our worst of the season,” Reaves said. “You aren’t going to have your best game every night. Sometimes that happens, but you have to make sure the next one is a good one.”
It wasn’t.
“It shouldn’t happen,” Auston Matthews said. “We needed a better response after a game like the last one.”