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You would think that the Toronto Maple Leafs would be more than motivated to beat up on the Montreal Canadiens, as their arch-rival entered the contest in last place in the NHL standings, but in their first meeting since opening night, the Leafs put forth a listless and disinterested performance in a 5-2 loss at the Bell Centre on Monday.
Toronto fell behind 2-0 in the first period on goals by Josh Anderson and Cole Caufield, and received a knockout blow 38 seconds into the second when Mike Hoffman scored to increase the lead. Trailing 5-0 after 40 minutes, the Leafs got on the board with goals from Ilya Mikheyev and Pierre Engvall, but the contest was the club’s most embarrassing effort since a 2-1 loss to Arizona last month.
“It wasn’t very good. Probably as disappointing of a game for us this year. We have to clean up what we’re giving up off the rush.” Leafs captain John Tavares said after the contest. “It’s obviously something that is continuously giving the other team opportunities and life and certainly for them tonight they generated a lot off of that. I thought in-zone play we didn’t give up a whole lot, but off the rush was just not very good and continues to be an area we have to find a way to get better in and get our game connected.”
It was a bad night for the Leafs top pairing of Morgan Rielly and TJ Brodie (on the ice for three of the five goals) and the Kerfoot-Tavares-Nylander line, who have struggled at both ends of the ice for a prolonged stretch.
Toronto's defense overall has been a concern since early December, as turnovers and lack of positional discipline have resulted in more offensive chances on Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek. Mrazek allowed five goals on 24 shots in his second straight loss. Of greater concern to the club is the status of defenseman Jake Muzzin, who left the ice after colliding with Habs blueliner Chris Wideman late in the middle frame. Muzzin, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Monday, lost his edge and his head slammed to the ice after the collision.
Muzzin collides with Wideman, hits his head hard on the ice and stays down for a while. pic.twitter.com/jSyhSkagJr
Muzzin missed seven games after suffering a concussion on January 15 in St. Louis and stayed overnight in Montreal for observation, but the fear is that the veteran blueliner could be out long term with another concussion so soon after recovering from one.
The Leafs take on the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second of back-to-back games on Tuesday. Jack Campbell is expected to get the start in goal, and newcomer Ilya Lyubushkin is likely to make his Leaf debut after being acquired on Saturday.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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