from Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun,

A three-game trip ended the way it started in Philadelphia on Tuesday and continued in St. Paul, Minn., on Thursday.

With a thud, and another loss in regulation.

Playing without Auston Matthews for the fourth game in a row as the team’s best player recovers from an upper-body injury, the Leafs lost 3-1 against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night at Little Caesars Arena.

It’s the second time this season the Leafs, who have a rare off-day on Saturday and don’t play until Tuesday, have lost three games in a row in regulation. The skid comes after Toronto won five of six games.

After the Leafs were shut out in Minnesota, the club’s forwards again fired blanks, as defenceman Andreas Borgman was the lone Toronto player to score on Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, though Borgman said after the game he thought his shot might have been deflected by Kasperi Kapanen.

That doesn’t matter. What does is the Leafs scored just four goals in the four games Matthews missed this past week.

read on