ST. LOUIS — The Toronto Maple Leafs might have their first crisis of confidence on their hands.
The Leafs lost their third straight game, dropping a 5-1 decision to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.
It’s the first time this season the Leafs have lost three straight in regulation, and it comes at time when the club is using up their games-in-hand in pursuit of a playoff spot.
Unlike a lacklustre first period, which was their undoing in Dallas on Tuesday, the Leafs waited until the second period to fall apart as the Blues exploded for three goals on five shots over three minutes and 45 seconds.
While their offence has dried up, it’s the Leafs play in their own zone that has really been an issue. Forwards aren’t winning own-zone battles, defencemen seem unsure of where on the ice they should be, and in-zone passes are not crisp or clean.
The Leafs got a boost with the return of top defenceman Morgan Rielly to the lineup, as well as fourth-line centre Ben Smith. And Leafs coach Mike Babcock had rejigged his lines.
But the Blues got a jump of their own, playing for the first time under new coach Mike Yeo, with Ken Hitchcock fired on Wednesday.
Halfway through a dud of a first period, Babcock abandoned his new lines and returned to familiar ones. It paid off right away, with Marner opening the scoring — his 13th goal of the season — at 14:22 of the first, assisted by Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk.
But the Blues scored late in the first — former Leaf Alexander Steen — at 17:58, a momentum swinger that carried into the second period with goals from Paul Stastny, Vladimir Tarasenko and Colton Parayko.
Stastny got his second goal of the night in the third period.
The Leafs’ road trip continues Friday in Boston. They have lost four in a row just once, counting overtime losses, going 0-2-2 from Oct. 19-25.
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