Maple Leafs serve up an uninspiring dud in Game 1 loss to Bruins

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Never mind that the Maple Leafs didn’t have William Nylander in the first game of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.

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Where were Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner at TD Garden in Boston against the Bruins? Where was the solid goaltending that was being provided by Ilya Samsonov in the second half of the regular season?

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The best-of-seven series couldn’t have started much worse for the Leafs on Saturday night, falling in Game 1 by a score of 5-1.

When Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman made a quick pad save on Nick Robertson 90 seconds after the opening faceoff, it served notice that the Boston starter was going to be in a groove.

Not so with Samsonov, who was stuck in rut at the other end. Moments after that Swayman save on Robertson, John Beecher scored on the Bruins’ first shot on goal, converting on a 2-on-1 with Jesper Boqvist.

Yes, Joel Edmundson pinched and Ryan Reaves didn’t get back in recovery on the play, but right away, there’s a big save in the Bruins end and it’s not followed by one at the Leafs end.

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And right away, the Leafs are down 1-0.

That’s not how confidence is built.

That was the lone Bruins goal in the first period. They also hit the iron behind Samsonov three times.

Rather than striking iron in the second period, the Bruins struck gold, scoring three goals to take a 4-0 lead into the second intermission.

The Leafs had a 4-on-3 power play for the first one minute 50 seconds of the middle period and could not score.

Brandon Carlo scored through a screen at 5:47 — on the Bruins’ first shot of the period.

Then Jake DeBrusk went to work, scoring on a power play at 15:02 with Matthews in the box and again on a power play at 17:34 with Max Domi serving a minor for slashing Brad Marchand.

Strange, the Leafs somehow were unable to fix their woeful penalty kill between the regular-season finale in Tampa Bay on Wednesday and the post-season opener on Saturday.

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The Leafs, who also didn’t have Bobby McMann (lower body), handed the Bruins five power plays in total. That’s just dumb.

All the while, Swayman was calmly turning aside the rare Grade-A chances the Leafs did get. Saves on Reaves and Tyler Bertuzzi before DeBrusk’s pair were key.

The Leafs scored at 1:39 of the third when David Kampf ended Swayman’s shutout bid. Trent Frederic scored an empty-net goal for the Bruins.

Matthews had five shots on goal and hit the post. Marner had two shots on goal. Neither, obviously, was a difference-maker, an aspect that will have to change as the series progresses, and for the sake of the Leafs, it has to happen as soon as Game 2 on Monday in Boston.

No matter which team was being picked to win this series, no one figured it would be anything but a lengthy set, likely to go at least six or seven games. That should still be the expectation, but the Leafs will have to find another level that eluded them in Game 1.

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That means more determination in the offensive zone and making it more difficult for Swayman — or Linus Ullmark — to do his job.

It means better goaltending from Samsonov, who was nothing more than average in allowing four goals on 23 shots. And if coach Sheldon Keefe decides already to turn to Joseph Woll, the latter will have to be a heck of a lot better than he was in the last several weeks of the regular season.

It’s fine to say the Leafs are a different team, one that’s more physical than they ever were during the Kyle Dubas era. It’s fine that before the series, the Leafs indicated they were ready for the challenge that the Bruins would bring.

The Leafs’ physicality didn’t matter in Game 1. And no, they weren’t fully prepared, top to bottom, for a Bruins team that is controlled and gets ruffled by nothing.

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At least it’s still early.

NYLANDER DURABLE

Nylander didn’t miss a game in the past two seasons, and he was the only Leaf to play in all 82 games in the 2023-24 regular season.

The injury, which the Leafs have not disclosed, is a rarity for Nylander. Since his rookie season in 2016-17, he has missed games, but those absences were because of a contract dispute in 2018 and illness or health protocols in recent seasons.

An injury had not kept Nylander out of the lineup since Nov. 26, 2016, when he missed a home game against Washington because of an upper-body injury.

TSN’s Darren Dreger posted on X on Saturday morning that Nylander could be dealing with a “tweak” but it was not something that Nylander had been playing through in the final games of the season. Subtracting Nylander’s career-high 98 points, including 40 goals, from the lineup is a blow, whether he misses one game or several. The Leafs pride themselves on depth, and while Calle Jarnkrok could provide some spark in the series after he missed the final 17 games with a hand injury, there’s no replacement for Nylander.

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Leafs defenceman Timothy Liljegren on Saturday morning was asked about Nylander.

“We’ve had guys step up when players have been out,” Liljegren said. “Hard to replace Willie, obviously, but we got guys stepping up when (others) go down.

“Tough for him, but hopefully he won’t miss too much and he will be back.”

Said captain John Tavares: “It’s not an easy thing to do, playing in 82 games, it’s a grind. You go through a lot physically, mentally, emotionally. He has been that for us as long as I have played with him.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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