TORONTO -- Three spectators wearing green Grinch masks on their heads and Toronto Maple Leafs jerseys on their backs aimlessly wandered through the Scotiabank Arena concourse minutes before puck drop of Toronto’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, looking as if they were lost.
What better way to symbolize the beleaguered fan base of an entire city?
Disappointment. Anger. Indifference. All those emotions were running sky high as the Maple Leafs attempted to end a three-game losing streak in a season that even general manager Brad Treliving admits has been below standard.
That Toronto was able to subsequently put together one of its better efforts to defeat Pittsburgh 6-3 certainly was a source for optimism, a commodity that has been scarce in these parts lately.
But is it the beginning of a trend? Or an arbitrary upward blip for a team (16-15-5) that remains in last place in the Atlantic Division with 37 points entering the NHL’s three-day holiday break?
“Well, it’s a boost,” coach Craig Berube said. “Going to have a better Christmas, I guess.”
He paused.
“If you like Christmas.”
There hasn’t been a lot to like about the Maple Leafs in recent times, so much so that there have been calls from outside the organization for Berube to be fired. Treliving quickly squashed any such rumors to that end prior to the game Tuesday, holding an impromptu press conference to tell reporters that the coach’s job is not in jeopardy.
Nevertheless, Treliving’s comments came less than 24 hours after assistant Marc Savard was relieved of his duties.
Savard had been in charge of a sputtering Maple Leafs power play that came into the game having scored an NHL-low 12 goals with the man-advantage. That total was one less than the 13 that Dallas Stars forward Wyatt Johnston had scored on his own.
“Obviously, you know, he’s a great guy and it was sad to see him go,” Maple Leafs forward William Nylander said of Savard. “But I mean, we’ve been struggling. I guess that’s the first step to make a change for the team.”
Nylander would know all about struggling. Relied upon as one of the team’s top offensive weapons, he’d gone 11 games without a goal before busting out with a four-point effort (two goals, two assists) against the Penguins.
He’d looked like a beaten man just two days earlier after Toronto’s 5-1 loss at Dallas on Sunday, admitting he’d been looking for answers he just couldn’t find.
“I don’t know if I’ve felt like this before, if I’ve had a stretch like this,” he whispered to the assembled media. “I’m not sure. I don’t feel like I’ve had that in the NHL, at least.”
For Berube, the reason for Nylander’s breakout performance was simple.
“He was taking pucks hard to the net,” Berube said.
So, too, was forward Max Domi. And if Nylander’s recent slump could be considered a dry spell, Domi’s should be called a monumental drought.
Consider this: When the 30-year-old broke a 3-3 tie at 11:35 of the third period with what would prove to be the game winner, it ended a 23-game goalless run for a forward, who has spent a good chunk of the season playing in Toronto’s top six. He hadn’t scored since doing it twice against the Calgary Flames on Oct. 28, a span of 56 days.
