<p>You could call it a trap game, or the function of a tough back-to-back, but this was an abnormally poor performance from the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were soundly <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/knee-jerk-reaction-nothing-goes-right-toronto-maple-leafs-blowout-columbus-blue-jackets">defeated by the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2</a>.</p>
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<p>Dennis Hildeby allowed three goals in the first period, becoming the first Maple Leafs goaltender to surrender greater than two goals in a single game this season. There were few positive grades to hand out, as Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson got on the board with the result already in the balance.</p>
<p>Max Pacioretty also was ruled in the third period <a href="https://x.com/LeafsPR/status/1848903004851749371">due to a lower-body injury</a>. Craig Berube said that they&#8217;ll find out the severity of the injury on Wednesday, via <a href="https://x.com/dalter/status/1848916195195449801">David Alter of The Hockey News</a>.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s get right into three takeaways from the Maple Leafs&#8217; 6-2 loss to the Blue Jackets</p>
<h3>Dennis Hildeby received no support but struggled badly in loss to Blue Jackets</h3>
<p>It&#8217;s tough to evaluate a goaltender when they get zero support from their teammates, especially a 23-year-old <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/hildeby-gets-the-start-vs-blue-jackets-kampf-out-reaves-in?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter">making his second career NHL start</a>, but multiple things can be true and Dennis Hildeby didn&#8217;t do nearly enough to keep the Maple Leafs in the game. Hildeby allowed three goals in the first period and the barrage continued in the second frame, with the Blue Jackets holding a 5-0 lead before Matthew Knies scored Toronto&#8217;s first<b> </b>goal of the contest.</p>
<p>It wasn&#8217;t all his fault. Ryan Reaves and Pontus Holmberg both surrendered on their defensive assignments, allowing James van Riemsdyk to get on the board early. Oliver Ekman-Larsson — who has been outstanding to start the year, but turned in a rough performance Wednesday, which is true of countless other Leafs — tossed a puck carelessly up the ice, which was intercepted by Zach Werenski. Mitch Marner communicated for Ekman-Larsson to pick up Justin Danforth, Danforth went unchecked and beat Hildeby on a routine shot for a 2-0 lead, with the goals coming 52 seconds apart.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">That&#39;s why they call him Dancin&#39; Danny! </p>
<p>&#8230;. They don&#39;t. But they could. <a href="https://twitter.com/FanaticsBook?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FanaticsBook</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CBJ?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CBJ</a> <a href="https://t.co/uxTogSHsSO">pic.twitter.com/uxTogSHsSO</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJacketsNHL/status/1848877180987838800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Hildeby received no support on Columbus&#8217; third goal, where Max Domi was too far up the ice, the speedy Bobby McMann didn&#8217;t track back and Mathieu Olivier sniped it home. It was an exhausted looking Maple Leafs team and this was a true outlier, as this team didn&#8217;t remotely resemble the club that provided stellar results through six games, even in losses.</p>
<p>The 23-year-old struggled with rebound control, which was evident on Sean Monahan&#8217;s 4-0 goal, as Morgan Rielly was beat off the rush and Chris Tanev was too late to react. By the time Olivier scored his second goal of the contest, the result was effectively sealed, capping off the Maple Leafs&#8217; worst performance of the season by several fathoms.</p>
<p>There was an idea emerging that Hildeby could buy Joseph Woll some more time in his recovery from an injury that has kept him out of the regular season thus far. Woll is considered close to returning but if Hildeby operated as an NHL-calibre goaltender, it would certainly allow Woll all the time he needed. Anthony Stolarz has been one of the NHL&#8217;s best goaltenders through October, but he can&#8217;t start every game and Toronto will have to evaluate the sum of Hildeby&#8217;s two starts: an excellent debut against the Devils and a dismal performance against the Blue Jackets.</p>
<h3>Matthew Knies receives lone positive grade for Maple Leafs</h3>
<p>The least enjoyable part of covering a team is delivering criticism, but it would also be a complete disservice to pretend as if anyone other than Matthew Knies, and perhaps Nick Robertson, earned positive grades for the Maple Leafs. Knies was Toronto&#8217;s best player by a mile and scored Toronto&#8217;s first goal of the contest.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Matthew Knies finally puts the Leafs on the board 🚨 <a href="https://t.co/kVEuk1roa0">pic.twitter.com/kVEuk1roa0</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Omar (@TicTacTOmar) <a href="https://twitter.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1848896479353549064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Knies kept his feet active on an evening where the Maple Leafs&#8217; defining team speed was sorely lacking, and he outworked the entire Blue Jackets&#8217; defense on his goal, spinning off a defender before spoiling Daniil Tarasov&#8217;s shutout bid. Knies finished a team-high five shots — tied with Marner and John Tavares, while generating two rebounds and drawing a penalty. The entire team can burn the tape and look ahead to Thursday&#8217;s game against the St. Louis Blues, but Knies did some well things in a game that the Maple Leafs will quickly aim to forget.</p>
<h3>A poor performance from Rielly, Ekman-Larsson highlight their strong starts to the year</h3>
<p>There&#8217;s no point on dwelling on a blowout loss that was highly uncharacteristic of the Maple Leafs we&#8217;ve thus seen far. Mitch Marner said the team will flush the performance down the toilet, during his post-game interview and we tend to agree. Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have been particularly strong to begin the year. McCabe has been on the ice for eight goals for, three against and has been more active in the offense, while allowing Ekman-Larsson to thrive as a shot-creator and facilitator. It just wasn&#8217;t their night.</p>
<p>Rielly in conjunction with Tanev has formed a true No. 1 unit and even after the loss to the Blue Jackets, the tandem has controlled nearly 66 percent of the expected goals when they&#8217;re on the ice at 5-on-5 via <a href="https://www.naturalstattrick.com/game.php?season=20242025&amp;game=20097&amp;view=limited">Natural Stat Trick</a>. It&#8217;s a high-volume pairing and Toronto&#8217;s top four have largely been excellent — we should&#8217;ve given them more room in this space throughout the month. But on a rare off night for virtually the entire team, a rare poor performance gets magnified.</p>
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You could call it a trap game, or the function of a tough back-to-back, but this was an abnormally poor performance from the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were soundly <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/knee-jerk-reaction-nothing-goes-right-toronto-maple-leafs-blowout-columbus-blue-jackets">defeated by the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2</a>.
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Dennis Hildeby allowed three goals in the first period, becoming the first Maple Leafs goaltender to surrender greater than two goals in a single game this season. There were few positive grades to hand out, as Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson got on the board with the result already in the balance.

Max Pacioretty also was ruled in the third period <a href="https://x.com/LeafsPR/status/1848903004851749371">due to a lower-body injury</a>. Craig Berube said that they'll find out the severity of the injury on Wednesday, via <a href="https://x.com/dalter/status/1848916195195449801">David Alter of The Hockey News</a>.

Let's get right into three takeaways from the Maple Leafs' 6-2 loss to the Blue Jackets
<h3>Dennis Hildeby received no support but struggled badly in loss to Blue Jackets</h3>
It's tough to evaluate a goaltender when they get zero support from their teammates, especially a 23-year-old <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/hildeby-gets-the-start-vs-blue-jackets-kampf-out-reaves-in?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter">making his second career NHL start</a>, but multiple things can be true and Dennis Hildeby didn't do nearly enough to keep the Maple Leafs in the game. Hildeby allowed three goals in the first period and the barrage continued in the second frame, with the Blue Jackets holding a 5-0 lead before Matthew Knies scored Toronto's first<b> </b>goal of the contest.

It wasn't all his fault. Ryan Reaves and Pontus Holmberg both surrendered on their defensive assignments, allowing James van Riemsdyk to get on the board early. Oliver Ekman-Larsson — who has been outstanding to start the year, but turned in a rough performance Wednesday, which is true of countless other Leafs — tossed a puck carelessly up the ice, which was intercepted by Zach Werenski. Mitch Marner communicated for Ekman-Larsson to pick up Justin Danforth, Danforth went unchecked and beat Hildeby on a routine shot for a 2-0 lead, with the goals coming 52 seconds apart.

https://twitter.com/BlueJacketsNHL/status/1848877180987838800

Hildeby received no support on Columbus' third goal, where Max Domi was too far up the ice, the speedy Bobby McMann didn't track back and Mathieu Olivier sniped it home. It was an exhausted looking Maple Leafs team and this was a true outlier, as this team didn't remotely resemble the club that provided stellar results through six games, even in losses.

The 23-year-old struggled with rebound control, which was evident on Sean Monahan's 4-0 goal, as Morgan Rielly was beat off the rush and Chris Tanev was too late to react. By the time Olivier scored his second goal of the contest, the result was effectively sealed, capping off the Maple Leafs' worst performance of the season by several fathoms.

There was an idea emerging that Hildeby could buy Joseph Woll some more time in his recovery from an injury that has kept him out of the regular season thus far. Woll is considered close to returning but if Hildeby operated as an NHL-calibre goaltender, it would certainly allow Woll all the time he needed. Anthony Stolarz has been one of the NHL's best goaltenders through October, but he can't start every game and Toronto will have to evaluate the sum of Hildeby's two starts: an excellent debut against the Devils and a dismal performance against the Blue Jackets.
<h3>Matthew Knies receives lone positive grade for Maple Leafs</h3>
The least enjoyable part of covering a team is delivering criticism, but it would also be a complete disservice to pretend as if anyone other than Matthew Knies, and perhaps Nick Robertson, earned positive grades for the Maple Leafs. Knies was Toronto's best player by a mile and scored Toronto's first goal of the contest.

https://twitter.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1848896479353549064

Knies kept his feet active on an evening where the Maple Leafs' defining team speed was sorely lacking, and he outworked the entire Blue Jackets' defense on his goal, spinning off a defender before spoiling Daniil Tarasov's shutout bid. Knies finished a team-high five shots — tied with Marner and John Tavares, while generating two rebounds and drawing a penalty. The entire team can burn the tape and look ahead to Thursday's game against the St. Louis Blues, but Knies did some well things in a game that the Maple Leafs will quickly aim to forget.
<h3>A poor performance from Rielly, Ekman-Larsson highlight their strong starts to the year</h3>
There's no point on dwelling on a blowout loss that was highly uncharacteristic of the Maple Leafs we've thus seen far. Mitch Marner said the team will flush the performance down the toilet, during his post-game interview and we tend to agree. Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have been particularly strong to begin the year. McCabe has been on the ice for eight goals for, three against and has been more active in the offense, while allowing Ekman-Larsson to thrive as a shot-creator and facilitator. It just wasn't their night.

Rielly in conjunction with Tanev has formed a true No. 1 unit and even after the loss to the Blue Jackets, the tandem has controlled nearly 66 percent of the expected goals when they're on the ice at 5-on-5 via <a href="https://www.naturalstattrick.com/game.php?season=20242025&amp;game=20097&amp;view=limited">Natural Stat Trick</a>. It's a high-volume pairing and Toronto's top four have largely been excellent — we should've given them more room in this space throughout the month. But on a rare off night for virtually the entire team, a rare poor performance gets magnified.
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
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Maple Leafs-Blue Jackets takeaways: Hildeby struggles with no support, Knies gets lone passing grade

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