Hockey historians will have to go back to the final days of the Harold Ballard regime to find a Toronto Maple Leafs team that played with as little resolve as this season's edition.
Last night, faced with a chance to redeem themselves after a humiliating loss to the defending Stanley Cup champions the previous night, the Maple Leafs meekly rolled over and submitted to the last-place team in the NHL.
They let the Los Angeles Kings have an easy night, as the hosts rolled around and over the Leafs for a 5-2 win. The Leafs can say they fired 50 shots at Kings goaltender Jason LaBarbera but that is a misleading statistic. They did not commence firing in earnest until the Kings had a 5-0 lead early in the second period. It was the Leafs' fourth loss in succession. In their last 12 games, the Leafs have exactly two wins.
A Royal Beating (Globe and Mail) 
