The Maple Leafs managed to keep Macklin Celebrini off the scoresheet but did little else, falling 4–1 to the San Jose Sharks Thursday night at the SAP Center.
After a gutsy come-from-behind win against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, the Leafs reverted to their post–Olympic break form, struggling to generate offence, turning the puck over in their own end, and failing to match their opponent’s speed in transition. The latter was on display during San Jose’s opening goal. Zack Ostapchuk outraced the Leafs on a rush and beat Anthony Stolarz with a wrist shot at the 3:27 mark to make it 1–0.
Later in the period, San Jose capitalized on a Jake McCabe misplay to make it 2-0. The defenseman got the puck caught in his skates and could not clear the zone. Tyler Toffoli knocked it away, Michael Misa collected it, and set up Collin Graf with a drop pass that the winger rifled past Stolarz to extend the lead.
The Sharks made it 3-0, 1:42 into the second period, when William Eklund scored on a fluky deflected shot that bounced off the end boards and the back of Stolarz’s pads into the goal.
The Leafs managed just 11 shots through two periods, though one found the back of the net. John Tavares scored his 29th of the season on a power play at 6:43. That was the only highlight for the Maple Leafs. Toronto never seriously threatened afterward.
Adam Gaudette added an empty-net goal with just under a minute left in the third to seal the 4–1 victory for the Sharks.
Toronto continues its West Coast swing with a Saturday night game against the Los Angeles Kings.
