Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Vesa Toskala likely wished he had waited until the weekend to return to the lineup.

Toskala, who missed the previous six games with a groin injury, received little defensive support as the Maple Leafs lost 5-0 to the Anaheim Ducks before a crowd of 17,174 at the Honda Center on Wednesday night.

Vesa Toskala is challenged by Chris Kunitz in a 5-0 Maple Leafs setback.
(Mark Avery/Associated Press)

Toronto went 1-4-1 without Toskala, who faced 24 shots in the whitewash.

"It is discouraging," Maple Leafs head coach Paul Maurice said. "We have got to find a way to get some of these guys going.

"They're struggling with the puck … and doing strange things. "

"We're making it complicated out there," Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin said. "We have to simplify it."

Todd Bertuzzi and Corey Perry had one goal and two assists apiece for the defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks (23-17-6), who have gone 8-2-1 over their past 11 games.

Doug Weight provided a goal and an assist, while Brandon Bochenski and Chris Kunitz closed out the scoring.

Ryan Getzlaf had two assists, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned aside 28 shots for his second shutout this season and 27th in the NHL. 

"We have been playing a lot better defensively the last 10 games," Giguere said.

"We had a tough time retrieving the puck when we dumped it in," Sundin observed.

Bertuzzi breaks out

Anaheim opened the scoring 4:22 into the contest on a breakaway goal by Bertuzzi, who fooled Toskala with a forehand deke for his seventh goal of the season.

Bertuzzi was sprung by Mathieu Schneider and burst around Maple Leafs defenceman Pavel Kubina, who tripped as he spun around.

When Hal Gill fell and coughed up the puck at the Anaheim blue-line, the Ducks capitalized as Perry took Bertuzzi's drop pass and ripped his 23rd past Toskala with six seconds left in the first period.

"We fell twice and never recovered from that," Maurice said.

Less than five minutes into the second period, Bochenski swept in Bertuzzi's pass from the slot for his first and a 3-0 lead.

Video review credited Weight with his seventh, a power-play goal that struck his skate and fluttered by Toskala 6:46 into the third period.

Kunitz capped the carnage with a power-play goal of his own, potting a Weight rebound for his 15th with 10 minutes remaining.

"Offence in the new NHL comes from your power play," Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said.

The Maple Leafs (16-19-8) continue their California trek in Los Angeles on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET), and Saturday at San Jose (CBC, 10 p.m. ET).

With files from the Canadian Press