The Maple Leafs probably earned a better result against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The hope to keep the focus on their process and how they played rather than the result.
The Toronto Maple Leafs sustained their sixth loss in their last games after falling to the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 in overtime on Thursday.
It was a competitive game, which more than what you can say about how the Leafs played many of their games earlier this month. Despite a mistake from Max Domi in overtime, Toronto may have deserved two points and instead the talking could have been about winning two consecutive games.
That said, the Leafs will aim to keep their focus on the good things.
"We played a pretty solid game all around. I thought guys worked and competed, did a lot of good things. Overtime, you know, it's the way it goes," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said.
The Leafs played this game without Auston Matthews (lower-body), Anthony Stolarz (upper-body), Matthew Knies (lower-body), Nicolas Roy (upper-body), Brandon Carlo (lower-body) and Chris Tanev (upper-body). The combined cat hit of all six players exceeds $34 million. So it's tough times right now. The Leafs will take any victories they can get, including the return of Scott Laughton to the lineup.
Laughton returned after he was the recipient of a high hit from Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov on Nov. 8. Laughton had only played in two games after recovering from a leg injury sustained in the pre-season. He's watch the Leafs endure some tough games.
"I've been in this situation many times back in Philly. You string together a couple, and you get some momentum, and you continue to go," Laughton said. "The parity in the leagues, it's so tight. You can't wear on yourselves. You keep a positive mindset. The guys are all saying that we're all in this together, and we've got a veteran group here. I think this is good for us."
Laughton certainly made a difference as Berube was able to give Tavares a bit of a break on some of the tougher matchups against the Blue Jackets., Laughton demonstrated speed and was effective on the team's penalty kill, something Laughton had been eager to be a part of going into this season.
Tavares factored on both Toronto goals, scoring one and assisting on Dakota Mermis' first tally as a Leaf and first in the NHL since early 2024.
"Our game is building, it was a hard-fought game was better, but obviously you don't end up on the right side of it," Tavares said. So that's the difficult part. So just got to stay with it, take the point and continue to work on the things we need to work on and get better and keep pushing forward. So, you know, much better things. I think our power play has been building, too. We got to find a way on the right side of the special teams battle here to help us out as well. So just got to stay with it."
To Laughton's point about Parity, the Leafs fell to 9-9-3, but are still just four points out of first place in the Atlantic Division as futility has begun to settle in. The Leafs are in Montreal on Saturday to take on a Canadiens club that also struggling hard, having lost seven of their last eight. They just lost 8-4 to the Washington Capitals.
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