Here are five takeaways from the Golden Knights’ victory over the Maple Leafs

• Joseph Woll submitted an awful start and was rightfully pulled during the first period. It wasn’t entirely his fault. Brandon Saad was afforded way too much room off the rush, with Jake McCabe inexplicably giving him a clear lane to the net, and Tomas Hertl pounced on the rebound for the game’s opening goal. Brett Howden then followed up with another goal off the rush, beating Woll with a backhand that he should’ve easily stopped. Woll needed to do better, but the rush defence was so poor from Morgan Rielly, who failed to cut Howden off, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who allowed a very easy passing lane for Ivan Barbashev to take advantage of. By the time Jack Eichel wired home a laser on the power play, Woll’s night was over. He’s been largely great all season, while carrying a true starter’s workload, but Woll will need to regain his confidence, and it appears he may get his next look against the Utah Hockey Club on Monday.
• We cannot understate how awful the Maple Leafs’ rush defence was throughout the contest, which was particularly disappointing giving that it’s been a clear point of emphasis from Craig Berube. Toronto allowed several chances off the rush and it didn’t fare much better when trying to force Vegas out of sustained zone time. Rielly and Ekman-Larsson constantly lost puck battles, which led to Noah Hanifin’s 4-0 goal and eventually Berube had enough. “You can’t give a team like that five odd-man rushes in the first period and, you know, think you’re going to win the game. That’s really what I take out of it,” Berube said post-game via David Alter of The Hockey News.
• Jake McCabe submitted one of his worst games of the season, and he’s feeling Chris Tanev’s injury-related absence more than any other Maple Leafs defender. McCabe afforded Saad too much room on the opening goal, his positioning was poor throughout the game, while the Golden Knights outshot the Maple Leafs 14-4 when he was on the ice in all situations, resulting in a ghastly 11 percent share of the expected goals via Natural Stat Trick. McCabe has been excellent for the Maple Leafs throughout the year, but in a microcosm of the team’s effort overall, it just wasn’t his night, and he’ll benefit from Tanev’s return to the lineup, which may occur during Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche.
• It was a tough night from all parties involved with the Maple Leafs, as the world-class video team of Sam Kim and Jordan Bean lost their first video review of the year, when they challenged Tanner Pearson’s 5-0 goal for goaltender interference. It appeared that Pearson had interfered with Anthony Stolarz, but the referees upheld their original decision and the Maple Leafs were granted a delay of game penalty.
• We’ve been critical in this space, so let’s consider the human elements at play. Toronto played its seventh game coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break, effectively hitting the ground running. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving hasn’t made a trade prior to the deadline and the clock is ticking ahead of Friday afternoon. You can certainly empathize with the idea of mental and physical fatigue, especially against a Golden Knights team that is looking to win its second Stanley Cup in three years. This holds up as a one-off excuse, as the Maple Leafs will look to get back on track against the Avalanche on Saturday.