Maple Leafs close out 2023 with a home loss to Hurricanes — and a message for the new year

Even steeped in angst and anxiety, the belief persists that this outfit will somehow transmogrify into a team of playoff destiny. That might be magical thinking, an aspirational yearning. Where reality bites, the nitty gritty stuff of game to game execution, there is cause and effect and — my, my — consequence.

Also, rather atypical for the coach — all of a sudden like — punishment for crimes against heads up hockey. Which could describe the low wattage, eyelids drooping on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena. But which more specifically describes how David Kämpf came to be a healthy scratch. Because of a brain yip move that turned into an offensive zone turnover that led to the tying goal 24 hours earlier in Columbus, forcing overtime in a quick off the OT bat loss for Toronto.

A poor change by Kämpf’s line was also responsible for Columbus’ second goal. Now, sending a fourth line centre to press box purgatory might not seem terribly punitive or even significant. Not like, say, benching Mitch Marner, at several points over the past month or so.— would have been mind blowing.

But a boldface memo delivered nevertheless to the entire group that forbearance for dopey hockey has been maxed out. “I guess you could call it a message to the group,’’ Keefe agreed, “in the sense that there’s going to be less tolerance for that.’’ Of course, that was before the Hurricanes scored a brace of power play goals with Toronto’s best penalty killer in disciplinary outer orbit.

The coach had continued: “Mistakes are inevitable. If players don’t make mistakes there would be no goals scored, I don’t care how good the players are. Sometimes the team forces you into mistakes and sometimes s t happens, you lose an edge and you fall down. Sometimes you make mental mistakes where you’re just making life easier for your opponent.

I thought we had too many of those. Where we had the s t happens moments and you can outscore those, or you can deal with some of those when you’re scoring at the rate that we are. But the other ones, we have to do a better job.’’ In a word: accountability. You muff it, you wear it. There hasn’t been a whole lot of that ‘round these parts.

Ever. With Kämpf fingered and punted, young Pontus Holmberg drew in as — the Scarborough native and one time chaos agent for Toronto returning to Scotiabank for the first time since signing with Carolina in the summer. As fate would have it, Bunting opened the scoring early on a power play wrister that PPG ditto in the second, Seth Jones scoring 12 seconds after was sent off for holding.

Again, missing Kämpf. Toronto did manage to emerge unscathed from a tripping penalty to his first infraction of the season, actually, and a dumdum thing — spilling Jordan Martinook behind the Hurricanes net. Much of this encounter was eye glazing dull: typical Canes style, standing ‘em up at the blue line.

It did liven up with flurries at both ends of the third, Timothy Liljegren notching his first of the season at 4:16, beating Pyotr Kochetkov from the hashmarks, top corner, stick side. Sebastian Aho scored into the vacated net at 19:05, but the Leafs did have one last gasp left: with seven seconds left, Kochetkov pulling his glove (the puck in it) inside the post.

“It was a tight hockey game,’’ said John Tavares afterward. “I thought we played pretty well, especially at even strength. Obviously special teams was big tonight and we were on the wrong end of it.’’ A win over Carolina on the downbeat side of back to back weekend games would have injected a squirt of positivity.

At the very least, it would have taken some of the cringe out of four losses in their previous five games. Instead, the Leafs will see out the calendar on a 1 4 1 skid. Quiet night for Matthews, despite five shots: held at 29 goals, still on a torrid pace for 73. Offensive blessings will always whet this team’s chops.

Yet there’s a niggling sense of foreboding that Matthews, Marner, William Nylander et al will get dragged down by a sketchy defence cadre alongside goaltending stricken by injury and with the second worst save percentage in the league. There was a clear sense of relief, psychic confidence, with Jones between the pipes, even though he was beaten by the second shot on goal, Toronto’s putative No.

3 cartwheeled to No. 1. “We played hard under tough circumstances with travel yesterday, on a back to back against a team that skates really well and forechecks hard,’’ noted Jones. “Get a bounce here, maybe find a way to score a little earlier in the game … who knows.’’ Goaltending wasn’t the issue this time.

A trembly Samsonov in the crease has put keen pressure on both D corps and forwards to keep the puck away from net range. Because at this point Samsonov can’t be trusted to make even the rote saves. Friday’s 6 5 OT flop in Columbus marked the eighth time this season Samsonov had allowed at least four goals.

He’s turned into a one man disaster zone, a slapstick goalie, except nobody’s laughing. Keefe will now have to make a critical decision for what unfolds on the other side of New Year’s Day, with Joseph Woll still several weeks away from returning from his high ankle sprain: Straight ahead, should he start veteran Jones back to back against the Kings and Ducks this coming week on the West Coast? The Leafs have squandered a fistful of presumptive easy peasy points over the past fortnight, dropping games against bottom feeders Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres and Blue Jackets (twice).

It was supposed to be the soft spot on the schedule. Mystifyingly, Toronto has played down to low echelon opposition rather than feasting, which says a lot — none of it good — about competitive sinew, mental lethargy and structure sloppiness. Meanwhile, bust Samsonov down to the Marlies through waivers on a conditioning stint (apparently not leaning that way, not yet) and summon 22 year old prospect Dennis Hildeby (playing his first year on North American ice) and potentially throw his development off the rails.

With a bit of salary cap tinkering, the Leafs can carry three goalies. Or pull off an exigency trade for netminding ballast. Something’s gotta give. The schedule may not have even reached the midway mark yet, but a prolonged stretch of fallow hockey at this juncture could easily cost Toronto home ice advantage in the post season.

Guess what? The regular season really does count after all. A lot..