Flat start costs listless Leafs in loss to Sharks

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We're often required to be brief in this space, so we'll be especially brief with this particular game summary.

The team that was trying to win the hockey game at the Air Canada Centre on Thursday night won the hockey game.

The team that was not trying to win did not win.

All was right with the universe, thanks to the Toronto Maple Leafs. They are predictable – we will give them that.

This night, Leafs lost 4-1 to the San Jose Sharks, which was the home team's 33rd loss in its past 41 games. San Jose desperately needed this game. Toronto desperately did not – and it certainly looked that way when Trevor Smith lined up for the opening faceoff against Joe Thornton.

The Sharks rang up 21 first-period shots on beleaguered Leafs netminder Jonathan Bernier, scored one goal early, added another to start the second and things went from there.

That's been the tale of so many of Toronto's games lately that it's on pace to be one of the worst first-period teams in recent league history, outscored by a combined 82-50 in the opening 20 minutes over 72 games.

The Leafs get down, and they rarely get back up.

The Leafs are taking a lot of heat for going through the motions, with the fan base paying big dollars to watch a lineup filled with AHLers lose, but let's face it: They're not alone.

Ten NHL teams went into Thursday's games with a less than 2-per-cent chance of making the postseason, which means the final 12 or so games of their season are utterly meaningless.

That, combined with some of those already played, means roughly 10 per cent of all the regular season games this season will involve at least one team playing out the string.

It's a bit much.

For all the talk of parity in the NHL – and there is among the playoff-bound teams – there's also been an incredible display of disparity as so many teams chase Connor McDavid and friends in the draft.

Usually teams in this situation get really young in a hurry, but the Leafs have taken the opposite tact: They've actually iced an average-aged lineup, compared to what they started the year with.

Especially with Nazem Kadri suspended and Peter Holland out because of injury, as was the case against San Jose.

Some of that is the fact the Leafs took on a handful of borderline-talent veterans in deadline deals, but some of it is also that the only player under 24 years of age on the roster has usually been Morgan Rielly.

And 24, in an NHL context, is not that young.

With the Toronto Marlies in a life-and-death push for their own playoff berth in the AHL, the organization has made the wise decision to leave most of the top kids down in the minors, where they'll get more ice time and be protected from the toxic atmosphere around the big club.

That makes sense from a long-term perspective, but it stinks for the fans still watching and attending games.

It's not as though the organization doesn't have talent worth looking at. Connor Brown, the Leafs' sixth-rounder in 2012, is one of the top rookies in the AHL with 51 points in 61 games. William Nylander, the top pick at last year's draft, isn't far behind in terms of points a game, despite being only 18.

Unlike the Leafs' relative paucity of high-end youngsters, there are currently nine Marlies that are 21-and-under playing a key role in a league that's typically not quite that young – including a few surprise success stories such as Ryan Rupert.

Credit management with turning that roster over to youth rather quickly.

Doing the same with the big club is going to take more time than some might expect, as rushing anyone into what will be another long year next season would be ill-advised.

That will be good news for some NHL veterans trying to find work in the off-season, perhaps even some of those that have landed in Toronto late in the year with little on the line.

The Leafs are going to need cannon fodder again – and the results on the ice, more often than not, will be predictable.

They'll lose.