Hours after trading defenceman Dion Phaneuf, the Leafs dropped a 4-3 decision to the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.
Toronto was already without injured forwards Tyler Bozak, Joffrey Lupul and James van Riemsdyk. Meanwhile the Flames were without the services of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Lance Bouma, who had all been benched by coach Bob Hartley for disciplinary reasons.
The teams exchanged special teams goals in the first period with Calgary’s Matt Stajan off for holding. Markus Granlund converted a shorthanded breakaway, firing the puck between the legs of James Reimer to open the scoring.