Maple Leafs looking for answers after Game 1 loss to Bruins

BOSTON -- In a Toronto Maple Leafs dressing room filled with disappointment Thursday, one question kept coming up.
What was Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand trying to do when he laid a smooch on the left cheek of Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov?

"I was just trying to get into his head," Marchand said, explaining why gave Komarov a peck on the cheek when the two became tangled near the benches midway through the first period.
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Mission accomplished.
The Bruins' dominant 5-1 win against the Maple Leafs at TD Garden was more than just a victory that gave the hosts the lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round. Much like Marchand's tactics with Komarov, it left Toronto confused and looking for answers on several levels.
This was supposed to be a seasoned Toronto roster, one that had gained valuable experience by reaching the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season for the second time since 2004. The Maple Leafs lost the 2017 Eastern Conference First Round to the Washington Capitals in six games, but insisted they'd gained confidence and a better understanding of what postseason hockey was all about.
It didn't look that way in Game 1 against the Bruins.

Following the four-goal loss, Toronto needs to address some key issues before Game 2 on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVAS). At the top of the agenda: Fix a penalty kill that finished No. 11 during the regular season (81.4 percent), but gave up three power-play goals to Bruins on six opportunities.
"We were outscored 3-0 on special teams, three on the PK," defenseman Ron Hainsey said. "That's most likely never going to get it done."
Hainsey, 35, would know, having led the NHL in average shorthanded ice time during the regular season (3:58 per game).
"The other thing is, there was not nearly enough offensive zone time for us. It felt like we spent the vast majority of the game on our half of the ice," Hainsey said. "We weren't able to get any long, sustained pushes in their end."
Another pressing issue was lack of discipline. Toronto took 23 minutes in penalties; Boston took six. Included in Toronto's tally was a five-minute charging major and game misconduct to forward Nazem Kadri at 8:18 of the third period.
Kadri will have a hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety on Friday.
"It's always a fine line," Hainsey said. "They're going to call penalties out there. It's not a free-for-all. You want to stay out of the box as much as possible. Their power play made us pay, and that's what they're supposed to do when you take penalties."
Feisty players like Kadri and Marchand like to get under the collective skin of the opposition, but Toronto coach Mike Babcock said players have to know not to cross the line.
"The bottom line is you've always got to be disciplined at all times," he said. "I think emotion is real important in the game, but it's got to be controlled."
The 2017-18 Maple Leafs set a Toronto record for points in a season (105). Babcock said it wasn't a fluke, no matter how lopsided the score was in the opener.

"We've got to be better, obviously," he said. "We've played against them lots so give them credit; they were good, we weren't good enough. The puck went in for them, it didn't go in for us. They were better than us and all that.
"They won Game 1. That's the beauty of this. We've got to win four and they've got to win three. So that's where we're at."
In order for Babcock's math to work in Toronto's favor, the Maple Leafs must stay out of the penalty box and keep Marchand out of their heads.
Easier said than done.
"We've got areas we can improve on and things we've got to get better at," defenseman Morgan Rielly said.
"Moving forward, I expect us to be a lot better."