UPDATE- 7pm
D'Amigo - plays
McLaren - out
Clarkson -in
Fraser - in
Liles - out
Reimer starts.
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The Toronto goaltending rotation could be a thing of the past, based on preliminary indications coming out of the Leafs optional skate on Tuesday.
Jonathan Bernier played well in a 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center Monday night and has started four of the last five games, but has lost three of those starts, which lowered his record to under .500(10-11-2)on the season.
Head coach Randy Carlyle’s normal modus operandi in back-to-back games has been to split the duties between Bernier and James Reimer, but Reimer participated in the team’s morning skate at Air Canada Center, which is unusual if he is the starter for the contest against the Florida Panthers.
Reimer gave up three goals in 18 minutes in a 6-3 loss to St. Louis last Thursday and is 1-2-1, with a 4.29 GAA and sub .900 save percentage in his last four starts.
The Panthers, in spite of their low standing in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference, have played well of late. They are winners of five of their last six games under new coach Peter Horachek. Veteran netminder Tim Thomas is injured once again and backup Scott Clemmensen is expected to get the start in goal.
Winger David Clarkson will be in the lineup after serving his two-game suspension for his hit on Blues forward Vladimir Sobotka, but it is undetermined what line he will be playing on.
Toronto completed the more difficult stretch of their December schedule with a loss to the short-handed Penguins, who were without forwards Evgeni Malkin and James Neal, as well as their top four defensemen; Brooks Orpik, Paul Martin, Rob Scuderi and Kris Letang.
The Leafs did not continue the high level of effort that saw them win convincingly over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, as they fell behind 39 seconds into the game when Chris Conner’s shot deflected off Dion Phaneuf’s leg past Bernier.
The contest was feisty throughout, as Troy Bodie fought Robert Bortuzzo and Zach Sill, Dion Phaneuf opened up the bomb bay doors on Pens winger Pascal Dupuis and Nazem Kadri mixed it up with Sidney Crosby, but there were a few victims of the physical going, as Pens winger Jayson Megna left the game after being checked by Bernier as both scrambled for a loose puck and Leafs winger Jerry D'Amigo was injured after two run-ins with the much larger Bortuzzo.
The Leafs were outshot 15-7 in the first, but began to gain an equal footing in the middle frame, as rookie Morgan Rielly scored his first NHL goal on a power play rush to tie the score and the game remained tied deep into the third.
Toronto nearly took the lead as Nikolai Kulemin’s shot wide on a gaping Penguins net, but the decisive moment came with just over six minutes remaining in regulation, as Jake Gardiner puzzlingly iced the puck. The icing allowed Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma to put the Crosby line in for an offensive zone faceoff. The Leafs won the draw, but Gardiner’s clearing attempt off the glass was stopped by Bortuzzo, who fed it to Dupuis and quickly passed to a wide open Crosby, who fired past Bernier for the game winner.
“When a team executes a faceoff play against you, that you’ve won…..you’ve made multiple mistakes.” Carlyle said following the game.
The Leafs had an opportunity to tie the game late, as Kadri drew a Chris Kunitz tripping call with 1:05 remaining, but Toronto could not manage a good scoring chance up two men before Brandon Sutter scored on the empty net to ice away the victory.
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There still appears to be some uncertainty whether the Leafs will keep rookie Morgan Rielly with the club or send him to Sweden with Team Canada for the upcoming World Juniors.
Carlyle indicated in his post-game remarks that the 19-year-old has played well in the last four games after being a healthy scratch for three straight earlier in the month, but there is still some determination to be made whether staying with the Leafs or playing a leadership role on the Canadian National squad will be more beneficial for the youngsters career.
"We're going to have a tough decision here coming, that's for sure," he said.
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