Maple Leafs report cards: Defensive mistakes define ugly loss to Blue Jackets

That was ugly.

The Toronto Maple Leafs looked exhausted in the second half of a back-to-back and the Columbus Blue Jackets jumped out to a three-goal lead in the first period. The team made defensive mistake after defensive mistake, and they were thoroughly outplayed against one of the worst teams in the league. Dennis Hildeby struggled, but the team in front of him was somehow even worse in a 6-2 loss.

The overall team grade is a clear F.

Matthew Knies: A-minus

Knies had three of the team’s best chances in the first half, but he wasn’t able to convert. He was finally rewarded late in the second, generating a takeaway before finishing off a strong individual effort. He was the Leafs’ best player, but he didn’t have much competition.

Conor Timmins: B-plus

He was somehow a plus-2 and the Leafs out-chanced the Blue Jackets during his minutes. He wasn’t spectacular or anything, but all of the damage came when the top two pairs were on the ice.

The third line (Max Pacioretty, John Tavares, Nicholas Robertson): C-plus

They played boring minutes and weren’t on for a goal against. Pacioretty took a blatant penalty in the first, but his team bailed him out and he partially made up for it by throwing a big hit that dislodged the glass. Unfortunately, he then left the game with a lower-body injury.

While it’s nice to see strong defensive results from Tavares and Robertson, they’re both on this team to score. Robertson finally scored his first of the season in the third when the game was out of reach.

Jake McCabe: C

He was on for two of Columbus’ three first-period goals. However, neither goal was his fault and he made a nice play to set up Knies for a decent chance in the slot.

Simon Benoît: C

He didn’t make much of an impact. That’s not the worst thing to say about a depth defencemen in a blowout loss, as the top four was on for most of the damage, but he certainly didn’t impress either. He has a weird role as a shutdown defender who doesn’t usually play against opposing top lines.

Morgan Rielly: C-minus

He made an impressive rush to set up a great chance for Knies in the second and then followed it up by setting up Matthews for a high-danger chance. He was on for quite a few chances against, but there were at least some positives to offset that.

William Nylander: C-minus

He was easily the best player on his line, but that’s not exactly saying much. Like Matthews and Mitch Marner, he didn’t meet the standard.

Chris Tanev: C-minus

The Blue Jackets generated plenty of scoring chances during his minutes, and he’s counted on to be a high-end shutdown defender. This was his worst game as a Leaf, though he was due for a poor performance after blocking a billion shots against Tampa Bay.

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner: D-minus

They’re both held to a high standard, and that standard simply wasn’t met. They were barely noticeable and they’re paid to be very noticeable.

Bobby McMann: D-minus

He looked tired and the Leafs generated little to nothing during his minutes.

The fourth line (Steven Lorentz, Pontus Holmberg, Ryan Reaves): D-minus

They were on for Columbus’ first goal just five minutes in, and this came after the Blue Jackets generated a two-on-one earlier in the shift. Ivan Provorov skated right between Holmberg and Reaves to set up the play. Holmberg is looking like an AHL forward on most nights and Reaves hasn’t been on the ice for any Leafs goals this season. Lorentz got off to an incredible start to his Leafs career, but the team is now getting outscored during his minutes regularly. If the fourth line is going to produce no offence whatsoever, they need to be far better defensively.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson: F

He got off to a dreadful start, coughing up a turnover that led to Columbus’ second goal. It wasn’t just the turnover that was bad — his defensive coverage on the play was also poor. It looked like he was going to have a Grade-A scoring chance minutes later, but the puck bounced over his stick and the Blue Jackets immediately went down the ice and extended their lead to three.

Max Domi: F

Domi made a poor defensive read that contributed to Columbus’ third goal. It was his responsibility to cover for a pinching McCabe, but Domi gave the Blue Jackets a two-on-one when he decided to pinch as well. He then failed to cover his guy on Columbus’ fifth goal before taking an undisciplined penalty in the third.

Dennis Hildeby: F

Hildeby got off to a tough start, as James van Riemsdyk scored from the doorstep on Columbus’ fourth shot. The next shot beat him as well when Justin Danforth scored off the rush following a bad turnover from Ekman-Larsson. The Blue Jackets then beat him for a third time in 13 minutes when Mathieu Olivier converted on a two-on-one.

The team was terrible in front of him, but he probably could have stopped at least one of the three to keep them in it. The second goal against was definitely a little iffy.

The second period wasn’t any better, as Sean Monahan beat him early on. While Hildeby had little chance to save the shot, a bad rebound set it up. The final two goals were fairly nice, but this was overall a rough performance for the young prospect.