Maple Leafs offer little resistance in shutout loss to Canucks

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So much for taking advantage of what could have been a tired Vancouver Canucks team.

Never mind that the Canucks didn’t get to their Toronto hotel until early Saturday afternoon after they were forced to travel from Raleigh, N.C., earlier in the day.

The Maple Leafs were no match for the Canucks, who were hungrier at every turn and won 3-0 at Scotiabank Arena.

It was the third time this season that the Leafs were shut out. Kevin Lankinen stopped 20 Toronto shots, while Dennis Hildeby made 15 saves in his fifth National Hockey League start.

The Leafs spread the malaise around. No less than 12 were on the ice for at least one Canucks goal.

Boos were heard late in the third, and they were deserved.

Weather issues in North Carolina kept the Canucks grounded into Saturday morning after they lost 2-0 to the Hurricanes on Friday night.

With his team down 2-0 to start the third, Leafs coach Craig Berube mixed up his forward lines, putting captain Auston Matthews between Bobby McMann and William Nylander; John Tavares between Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner; and Max Domi in the middle with Max Pacioretty and Nick Robertson.

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The changes didn’t work.

The Domi line was on the ice when Kiefer Sherwood fired the puck over Hildeby’s glove at 47 seconds of the third, a goal that slammed the door shut on any hope by the Leafs for a comeback.

Vancouver scored on its first shot of the game when Tyler Myers’ drive from the point went off Brock Boeser and past Hildeby at 31 seconds.

The Leafs had some chances to tie the game, most notably on a solo rush by Tavares at the five-minute mark that ended with a glove save by Lankinen, but couldn’t break through.

In the second, a shot by Canucks captain Quinn Hughes found its way through several players in front and went off the stick of Leafs defenceman Simon Benoit before crossing the goal line at 18:12. That came during a delayed penalty to the Leafs’ David Kampf, and with Lankinen on the bench in favour of a sixth Canucks skater.

The Leafs had three power plays through 40 minutes and were terrible, more or less, on each one. The first unit of Morgan Rielly, Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares couldn’t have organized a three-float parade, let alone anything resembling cohesion with the man advantage.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun