Nick Robertson the odd man out again tonight with Ryan Reaves in to face his former team.

First Period

Toronto opened with some early offence, but St. Louis was able to come back the other way a very little bit.

Woll managed to make a save with John Tavares rolling right into him.

An inexplicable and one-sided fight. Jake McCabe in the wrong weight class here.

Goal! Mitch Marner actually did pass this to himself.

The entire period was a Matthews line showcase.

No one did anything much on any special teams play. The Blues have a very low shot rate on their power play this year.

Score was 1-0 Leafs in a period they utterly dominated.

The Tavares line played mostly against the Kyrou-Schenn-Holloway line, the Blues only good line, and they did not get much offensive zone time.

Second Period

This was a very bad period of hockey for the Leafs. And it started out with an ominous portent:

That was a fluke goal, but it wasn't a fluke that the Blues were in a good position to take the shot. The Blues got a chance going the other way and John Tavares and Max Pacioretty were well behind on the backcheck. There is a price to be paid for that line's success, and that was it.

The Blues came out hard after the goal and the Leafs started to lose their cool. Marner took a hooking call (against Kyrou) and then McCabe and Jake Neighbours go off together after a scrum.

Chris Tanev then went for tripping, and you'll never guess who it was! Yes Jordan Kyrou. The PK was very good, and the Leafs finished it in the offensive zone, so the next line out was... line three.

St. Louis took a penalty, and the power play was horrible. It's fine and to be expected that sometimes you just can't get setup. But this is now endemic. The power play shot rate is climbing, so they're doing better in some sense, but better only means mediocre, not good.

Score was 3-1 St. Louis after a period of very low-event hockey for the Leafs.

Note the very different shot patterns on the Blues PP (blue stripe) and the Leafs (grey stripe).

Third Period

Matthews took a penalty for retaliating for Suter knocking down Marner in what is clearly interference. Power play to the Blues.

Inevitably it all blew up into multiple hits and roughing. St.Louis got the extra penalty so it was four-on-four.

Both Max Domi and William Nylander with great chances. Nylander drew a penalty.

Goal. Steven Lorentz got one back out of a scramble in front of Binnington.

Pacioretty with a big hit on Schenn on the backcheck.

Joe Woll came out with a minute and a half left. Leafs never really threatened quite like they can.

Pavel Buchnevich ended it with an ENG.

Final score was 3-2 Blues.

In general, a very fully committed third period from everyone on the Leafs. But it wasn't enough.

Next game is tomorrow at 6 pm Eastern in Minnesota. (And turn your clocks back.)

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