<p>Complacency can take on many forms in professional sports, and it was a listless effort from the home team on Saturday night, as the Vancouver Canucks cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.</p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
<p>It started from behind the bench. Toronto started its fourth line of Connor Dewar, David Kampf and Steven Lorentz, and while the line won its 14-second matchup, it was a puzzling call from head coach Craig Berube. Dennis Hildeby was the right choice to start Saturday&#8217;s contest, but with the admission that he was in the net to alleviate Joseph Woll&#8217;s workload, with the Dallas Stars coming to town on Tuesday, it was a sign that the Leafs thought they could beat the Canucks with a sub-optimal effort.</p>
<p>Brock Boeser opened the scoring on the game&#8217;s second shift, tipping a Tyler Myers point shot past Hildeby, with Toronto&#8217;s first line of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies standing idly by. Matthews, Marner and Knies made a minimal impact on the game, so Berube threw his lines into a blender to start the third period, placing Matthews with Bobby McMann and William Nylander, while Knies and Marner were joined by John Tavares. Max Pacioretty formed a new-look third line with Max Domi and Nick Robertson. It did not make a difference.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Skate to centre, drop pass, opponent sets defence and the entry gets swatted. Repeat the process with same result! Not to overreact, but I don&#39;t get the entry approach at all. Enter with speed, take good looks when they are presented, rather than optimal ones that never arrive. <a href="https://t.co/MBlxFDY133">https://t.co/MBlxFDY133</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Arun Srinivasan (@Arunthings) <a href="https://twitter.com/Arunthings/status/1878245359027101887?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Toronto&#8217;s dormant power play also defined the game, as Vancouver easily swatted away several uninspired entries. During Saturday&#8217;s morning skate, Berube profanely asked for greater puck movement, but the instruction wasn&#8217;t applied. Morgan Rielly would skate to centre-ice, drop the puck back to a forward — often Nylander — and the Canucks would get their defence set, breaking up the threat. You could feel the frustrations from the home crowd, and who could possibly blame them? With five minutes remaining in the third period, the boos began to rain down. It may be time to start the second unit on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars, to send a message to a group that has looked uninspired with the man advantage and needs to deliver better results, considering the sum of their collective talent.</p>
<p>Quinn Hughes was excellent for the Canucks and took over the contest. Hughes scored an insurance goal at the end of the second period, then set up Kiefer Sherwood as the Domi line got caught puck-watching, and the game was effectively sealed in the opening minute of the final frame. Hughes was outstanding defensively, breaking up Toronto&#8217;s point of attack with consistency — and really, the Maple Leafs never really generated any offensive looks with Vancouver&#8217;s captain on the ice. It&#8217;s just one game of course, but we&#8217;ll certainly buy into Hughes&#8217; campaign for a second consecutive Norris Trophy, and a look at the Hart.</p>
<p>Toronto resumes its season Tuesday, where Woll is projected to start. It may be time to burn the tape from the past two games, in an effort to get an Atlantic Division-leading season back on track.</p>
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="324" data-promotion-id="18983" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>


Complacency can take on many forms in professional sports, and it was a listless effort from the home team on Saturday night, as the Vancouver Canucks cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
It started from behind the bench. Toronto started its fourth line of Connor Dewar, David Kampf and Steven Lorentz, and while the line won its 14-second matchup, it was a puzzling call from head coach Craig Berube. Dennis Hildeby was the right choice to start Saturday's contest, but with the admission that he was in the net to alleviate Joseph Woll's workload, with the Dallas Stars coming to town on Tuesday, it was a sign that the Leafs thought they could beat the Canucks with a sub-optimal effort.

Brock Boeser opened the scoring on the game's second shift, tipping a Tyler Myers point shot past Hildeby, with Toronto's first line of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies standing idly by. Matthews, Marner and Knies made a minimal impact on the game, so Berube threw his lines into a blender to start the third period, placing Matthews with Bobby McMann and William Nylander, while Knies and Marner were joined by John Tavares. Max Pacioretty formed a new-look third line with Max Domi and Nick Robertson. It did not make a difference.

https://twitter.com/Arunthings/status/1878245359027101887

Toronto's dormant power play also defined the game, as Vancouver easily swatted away several uninspired entries. During Saturday's morning skate, Berube profanely asked for greater puck movement, but the instruction wasn't applied. Morgan Rielly would skate to centre-ice, drop the puck back to a forward — often Nylander — and the Canucks would get their defence set, breaking up the threat. You could feel the frustrations from the home crowd, and who could possibly blame them? With five minutes remaining in the third period, the boos began to rain down. It may be time to start the second unit on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars, to send a message to a group that has looked uninspired with the man advantage and needs to deliver better results, considering the sum of their collective talent.

Quinn Hughes was excellent for the Canucks and took over the contest. Hughes scored an insurance goal at the end of the second period, then set up Kiefer Sherwood as the Domi line got caught puck-watching, and the game was effectively sealed in the opening minute of the final frame. Hughes was outstanding defensively, breaking up Toronto's point of attack with consistency — and really, the Maple Leafs never really generated any offensive looks with Vancouver's captain on the ice. It's just one game of course, but we'll certainly buy into Hughes' campaign for a second consecutive Norris Trophy, and a look at the Hart.

Toronto resumes its season Tuesday, where Woll is projected to start. It may be time to burn the tape from the past two games, in an effort to get an Atlantic Division-leading season back on track.
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="324" data-promotion-id="18983" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>

Knee Jerk Reaction: Complacency, dormant power play sinks Leafs in loss to Canucks

Recent articles from Arun Srinivasan

Breaking News