THE The Toronto Maple Leafs lost 5-1 at home at the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night. What were the good, bad and ugly aspects of the Maple Leafs’ loss to the Blues?

The Ugly (bad start, struggles on the front line, misfortunes on the power play)

I’m starting with the ugly because this game started out ugly. After allowing six goals in the previous game, I expected the Maple Leafs to surge forward and take control of this game from the start. Instead, they allowed two goals on five shots in the first 10 minutes and changed. That’s eight goals in just over 70 minutes of hockey conceded by the team that allowed ten goals in its first six games. From that point on, the Maple Leafs were forced to play catch-up hockey and failed to do so.

The second ugly is the top line. For the second straight game, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies were all minus three in plus-minus. That means they were six-under in the last two games. Chris Tanev was also minus-three in each of the previous two games.

Ugly No. 3 was the power play, which was tied for four in the game. Midway through the second period, they showed a graph comparing the power play with last season’s overall standings. In 2023-24, they finished fourth in shot attempts, second in slot plays, and fourth in expected goals with the man advantage. This season, they are 22nd in shot attempts, 23rd in slot plays, and 17th in expected goals on PP.

The Bad (Woll departure, defensive errors)

I’ll start with what I consider to be a poor decision by Craig Berube. It was starting Joseph Woll at home in an important early season game. I’m not saying that this match was important because it was Bérubé’s old team. This was important because if they won, the Maple Leafs would have improved their record to 5-3 and would be in second place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the Florida Panthers with a game in hand. Instead, they’re at .500, with a 4-4 record, tied with Ottawa, Tampa and Detroit, and all three of those teams have games in hand against the Maple Leafs.