Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

During the first game of a three-game road trip, the Toronto Maple Leafs failed to show up, losing 4-0 to the Washington Capitals. It’s not even worth pointing out the exemptions during a comprehensive loss, although it may be unfair to pin the loss on goaltender Dennis Hildeby, who fought valiantly on a night where his team couldn’t meaningfully generate real offence or possession.

Jakob Chychrun scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season, afforded plenty of time to get his blistering shot off. Aliaksei Protas opened the scoring, while John Carlson added a third-period insurance goal, as the Capitals cruised to victory on home ice. Considering that Alexander Ovechkin hit the post twice, this scoreline is almost flattering to the Maple Leafs.

Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube tried to make some in-game adjustments after the first period, but nothing worked, and the power play reached a new low on Thursday.

“They played with more passion than we did tonight,” Berube said post-game. “That’s what it boils down to. It looked to me like they had way more urgency in their game, more passion in their game. That’s the difference.”

“Ask those guys. Don’t ask me.”

Auston Matthews managed to spin a season-worst performance through two periods into a two-point effort, leading a galvanizing comeback against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. This simply wasn’t the case on Thursday, against a far superior Capitals team that has allowed the fewest goals at 5-on-5 in the NHL. Matthews accounted for one shot, and a loaded up line featuring Matthew Knies and William Nylander were outshot 7-0 at 5-on-5 before Berube had enough.

Matthews and Nylander both did not record a single shot at 5-on-5. That would be unacceptable if they were playing against the 2002 Detroit Red Wings, and it’s certainly the case tonight. Matthews and Nylander simply need to do better, and their completely absent performances set the tone for the Maple Leafs on an awful night. Toronto were outshot 8-1 when Matthews was on the ice at 5-on-5, and 7-1 when Nylander was on the ice. Nylander hasn’t scored in December. There is no way to spin this, it was completely dreadful from the franchise players.

“I thought we made it really easy for them,” Matthews said post-game. “The neutral zone was a highway for them to get through. We just made it so easy for them, and they’re obviously a skilled team. I don’t think we put enough stress on them, on both sides of the puck.”

Berube moved Knies, the least culpable member from the first line, to a new combination with John Tavares and Nick Robertson. Matthews and Nylander remained together, with rookie Easton Cowan, but neither revamped pairing made much of a difference. Robertson was flying on every shift, and is perhaps the lone skater exempt from real criticism.

After the game, when Berube was asked if Knies-Matthews-Nylander were good enough, he provided a succinct response:

“Not even close.”

Although the primary error lies with Morgan Rielly, Matthews provided zero puck support on the Capitals’ opening goal. Matthews stood idly by as Protas jammed the puck in off Ekman-Larsson’s skate, with the defence pair doing a poor job of impeding the lane.

Matthews was barely in the frame during the backcheck on John Carlson’s goal, and showed a lackadaisical effort through the contest. If it’s the function of an injury, we won’t criticize Matthews for his performance. If he’s in the lineup, he’s considered healthy, and this was perhaps the worst game he’s played since assuming the captaincy, while Nylander didn’t fare much better.

Matthews and Nylander are certainly culprits here, too, but the power play reached a new low during Thursday’s loss. Toronto generated the fewest power play opportunities in the NHL prior to Thursday but it was afforded five chances during the contest, with three coming in the first period. And during the first three power plays, Toronto generated one shot cumulatively. It was a completely disjointed effort from the five-man group, and it may invite a larger conversation of assistant coach Marc Savard’s role with the team.

Matthews appeared to provide a tepid defence of the power play, reducing the sum of their errors to mere execution. And yet, the Maple Leafs ran into consistent issues. There were several entries that were swatted at the blue line due to a lack of speed, and Nylander ran into a phantom defender at centre ice. The puck movement was lethargic, allowing the Capitals to rotate into shooting lanes with relative ease. Toronto tried to stack three forwards into the corner, but couldn’t maintain possession to tilt the ice, even with an extra man.

Berube attempted to make a change, albeit too late, during the third period, by giving the second unit the first look. And yet, the benching only lasted 20 seconds. Half-measures simply aren’t going to cut it.

“Just execution. It’s one, two passes, and then like, the next one is not a good one, or it’s just not being executed,” Matthews said. “I thought we had some good progress, and tonight was a big step back in that regard, as far as execution goes, opportunities. We didn’t really get much going in that regard, especially in a game where there’s not a whole lot offensively going on.”

“The power play has actually been getting better, but tonight, it was God awful, in my opinion,” Berube said. “The other unit did some good things. They had a couple of opportunities and just misfired, or it didn’t go in. They had a couple of chances.

Bruce Boudreau was Thursday’s guest on Leafs Morning Take, and he certainly has more answers than the current coaching staff.

It wasn’t a good evening for any Maple Leafs player to be clear, but Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson deserve their fair share of criticism as well. Ekman-Larsson was on the ice for all four goals, Rielly was on the ice for three, and neither player made a positive impact at 5-on-5.

During the opening goal, Rielly initially poses a puck battle, the Capitals regain the puck and Protas banks the puck off Ekman-Larsson’s skate into the net.

Rielly went for a change as the Capitals regained possession, and no one did anything to stop Chychrun from depositing a laser past a helpless Dennis Hildeby for a 3-0 lead. Bobby McMann made a passive effort on the play, while Ekman-Larsson and Henry Thrun simply watched.

It was a brutal game for the Maple Leafs’ top defence pair, and their night didn’t improve when Berube split the group up, placing Rielly with Thrun and Ekman-Larsson with Simon Benoit. Ekman-Larsson in particular has been excellent for the Maple Leafs, so it can be rationalized as a rare off-night, but the Leafs simply need more from all their veterans, a recurring theme from Thursday’s game.

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