The Maple Leafs exciting 6-3 come-from-behind victory over Carolina on Thursday most likely leaves Toronto with one less team to worry about in the Eastern Conference playoff race, as the Hurricanes now trail them by 10 points.
Tyler Bozak and Cody Franson staked the Blue and White to a 2-0 midway through the game, but the Canes rallied(or Toronto dozed off) and scored the next three goals, as Eric Staal scored on a short-handed breakaway, Alexander Semin tied the game late in the second with a power play tally and Jordan Staal put them in the lead.
Toronto pressed for the tying goal, outshooting Carolina 15-5 in the third and were finally rewarded with 5:25 left in regulation, as Dion Phaneuf’s point blast beat Canes goalie
Justin Peters after sustaining pressure for nearly all of Eric Staal’s minor for closing his hand on the puck. Just over two minutes later, the Air Canada Center erupted as crowd favorite Joffrey Lupul scored on a Gilbert Perreault-like end to end rush for his seventh goal since returning from an arm injury less than two weeks ago.
Jay McClement and Nikolai Kulemin scored on an empty net and James Reimer made 19 saves for Toronto, who have earned points in seven straight games and move seven points ahead of the ninth place NY Islanders with the victory.
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Conspicuous by his absence from the Leafs lineup Thursday was defenseman Jake Gardiner, as he was replaced by veteran John-Michael Liles, who returned after suffering an ankle injury against the Bruins on Saturday.
Gardiner has averaged over 20 minutes of ice time over the five games since being recalled from the AHL Marlies on March 19th, but made defensive errors that resulted in goals in successive games against Boston and Florida earlier this week.
According to TSN’s Jonas Siegel, Leafs coach Randy Carlyle took the young defenseman aside Thursday morning for specific instruction on proper positioning in the defensive zone.
It is possible that Gardiner was sat down as a means of communicating that he has to improve defensively to stay in the lineup, it is also possible that the Leafs wanted to get Liles back into the lineup to show that he is healthy for any teams that could be looking for a puck carrying defenseman at the deadline.
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Just when we thought it was over, the Roberto Luongo rumors pop up again.
The Toronto Star’s
Damien Cox indicated in his column Thursday that talks between the Vancouver Canucks and Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis “quietly resumed this week after weeks of silence between the two teams.”
Cox reports that Vancouver GM Mike Gillis may have given up on trying to acquire young roster players like Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner or Matt Frattin for the veteran goaltender who turns 34 next week, but continues to have interest in pending UFA center Tyler Bozak.
Toronto has the distinct advantage if there are any trade talks between the two clubs, as they can make the case for sticking with the young tandem of James Reimer and Ben Scrivens or going after other potentially available goalies like Ryan Miller, Jonathan Bernier, Miikka Kiprusoff, Nikolai Khabibulan or Evgeni Nabakov.
With the Leafs enjoying a level of consistent success not seen since before the 2004-05 lockout, it is unlikely that Nonis will want to significantly alter his lineup by trading his top line center in advance of the April 3rd trade deadline. It is more likely that he will add pieces to the already existing club without giving up anyone off their NHL roster, as Pittsburgh did this week by adding Douglas Murray, Brenden Morrow and Jarome Iginla,
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