Maple Leafs fall 5-1 to Blues for second straight loss

Craig Berube’s bid at revenge fizzled on Thursday when the Maple Leafs lost 5-1 to the St. Louis Blues at Scotiabank Arena.

It was the first time Berube coached against the Blues since he was let go after a 13-14 start last season. He served as a head coach in St. Louis for six years and in 2019 helped the team win its first Stanley Cup.

“There are emotions but once the puck drops it’s over,” Berube said hours before the game. “I have a lot of memories for sure. But in the end we need two points. That is what I am focused on.”

Dylan Holloway scored twice and Philip Broberg, Alexandre Texier and Jake Neighbours once each for St. Louis while goalie Jordan Binnington turned away 41 shots. The defeat was the third in the past four games for Toronto, which was booed by the home fans in the third period.

The Leafs travel to Boston to play the Bruins on Saturday night.

Before the game Toronto activated netminder Joseph Woll from the injured-reserve list and he made his first start of the season. He stopped 22 of the 26 shots he faced.

Woll sustained a groin injury at the end of preseason, missed more than two months in 2023-24 with an ankle sprain and then sat out Game 7 of the playoffs against Boston with a back problem.

He had an inauspicious debut, giving up a goal on a long one-timer by defenceman Broberg on the Blues’ third shot on net and was then deked on a power play by Holloway midway through the first period on the Blues’ fifth. Both of those goalscorers played for Edmonton last season and signed with St. Louis during the summer.

Woll, 26, went 12-11-1 last year and was excellent during the postseason before he got hurt.

“He has been progressing in the right direction for some time now,” Berube said. “We kind of had this date picked out. We just had to make sure he was ready and comfortable.”

Woll was expected to be the starter this season but has at least temporarily lost the job to Anthony Stolarz.

“He was disappointed but injuries happen,” Berube said. “You can’t control them. He had a good camp and was ready to go but injuries are part of the game and you have to deal with it.”

Woll rebounded to make two spectacular saves later in the first, one on a breakaway by Brayden Schenn and then on a lunging stop of a wrist shot by Mathieu Joseph 59 seconds before the first intermission.

In the second, he stymied Schenn again on a 2 on 0.

Matthew Knies, the young winger, looked forward to Woll’s return.

“I’m excited for him,” Knies said. “I think everyone is happy he is back and can help us out. We trust him a lot back there.”

Oliver Ekman-Larsson cut the Blues lead to 2-1 on a one-timer with 13:40 left in the middle period. Texier then returned the margin back to two goals less than two minutes later when left wide open in front of the net.

Players said Berube had not even brought up the significance of the game for him against St. Louis.

“He hasn’t talked about it or anything but it’s obviously an important one for him,” defenceman Morgan Rielly said. “We want to perform and look to do that for him.”

The Maple Leafs entered the evening 4-3 after a lopsided defeat at Columbus on Tuesday in what was their first stinker of the season. Toronto fell behind 3-0 in the first period and was steamrolled 6-2.

“We let them skate through us all night,” Berube said. “We can’t do that. You have to check and we didn’t check. That’s where it ends with me.”

Ryan Reaves drew back into the lineup with Max Pacioretty day-to-day with a lower-body injury sustained against the Blue Jackets.

“Hopefully that game [on Tuesday] was our worst of the season,” Reaves said. “You aren’t going to have your best game every night. Sometimes that happens, but you have to make sure the next one is a good one.”

The Blues also came in 4-3 and were without their top-line centre, Robert Thomas, who fractured an ankle against Winnipeg on Tuesday.

Thomas, who was St. Louis’s leading scorer last season, is expected to miss at least six weeks.