Leafs finish ugly homestand with another loss

详细摘要

Anthony Stolarz watched from the crease as his teammates battled for 60 hard minutes.

TORONTO – Anthony Stolarz watched from the crease as his teammates battled for 60 hard minutes.

The goaltender also did his part with a string of big saves against Connor McDavid and Co.

One shot was the difference Saturday. The Maple Leafs once again came out on the losing end.

Toronto went toe-to-toe with Edmonton in a grinding, playoff-style matchup accented by an Evan Bouchard blast and 19 saves from Devon Levi in the Oilers’ 1-0 victory.

The Maple Leafs (8-12-2) completed a disastrous 0-6-0 homestand with their best performance of an ugly 12-day stretch, but wound up with the same result.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” Stolarz said after finishing with 22 saves against an opponent that improved to 15-3-3. “That’s how we have to play. Get to the net and throw pucks to the net, get to their goalie, play solid defence and limit our mistakes.

“That’s a hell of a hockey team right there. They’re up there in the standings and we stuck with them every minute of this game. This is something that we have to build on. We have to play like this every night.”

Toronto’s six straight home losses — a gauntlet that also included games against the Utah Mammoth, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche — are the most since the 1985-86 season.

“Guys played their tail off … I don’t think anybody’s going to question that,” Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller said. “I’d like to see them get rewarded. You write your stories, but I’m here to tell you we deserved better than that over that six-game homestand.

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