In the wake of their 0-2 start, many fans may have been tempted to search through their lawn shed this Thanksgiving holiday weekend for a shovel to throw dirt on the corpse of the Maple Leafs, but the return of defenseman Cody Franson, offensive contributions from the club’s top line, a solid debut by goaltender James Reimer and the requisite amount of desperation resulted in a 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
Toronto took advantage of a distracted Rangers club in their home opener, who raised their Eastern Conference Championship banner prior to the game. The normally sharp Henrik Lundqvist allowed six goals on 24 shots before being pulled late in the second period, newly anointed Rangers team captain Ryan McDonagh was on the ice for four Toronto goals, top scorer Rick Nash did not return for the third period due to his wife going into labor and the club entered the game without veteran defenseman Dan Boyle, forwards Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello in the lineup due to injury.
In spite of both teams playing in their second of back-to-back nights, the Leafs appeared to have more jump on the sluggish Rangers from the start and used their special teams to open the scoring and extend the lead in a five-goal second period outburst.
Franson(who missed three weeks with a bruised knee)replaced Jake Gardiner in the Leafs lineup and made his presence felt almost immediately, scoring a power play goal in the first period and assisting on Phil Kessel’s first goal of the season in the second. James van Riemsdyk finally broke through on the score sheet with a behind-the-net feed on Nazem Kadri’s goal and registered his first goal of the year on a shorthanded breakaway. Tyler Bozak added two points (including his club-leading third goal) and David Clarkson chased Lundqvist with first tally of the season.
While Leafs coach Randy Carlyle did not make wholesale lineup changes, the scratching of Gardiner and limited ice time of sophomore Morgan Rielly(who played just 14:20) may have sent a signal to players that subpar play will be greeted with negative consequences.
“We have seven defensemen and we wanted Franson to come back in the lineup and Jake drew the short straw tonight.” Carlyle said following the game.
The addition of rookie Stuart Percy gives the Leafs options on the blueline. The 21-year-old Oakville native was solid once again, registering an assist in his third straight game and playing 20 minutes.
“A very high hockey IQ.” Carlyle said of the club’s 2011 first round pick. “Even though he does make the odd mistake out there, you can see him trying to do some things, he’s trying to do the right thing.”
Winger Daniel Winnik was promoted from fourth line duty to the second line to provide the offensive tandem of Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul some defensive cover. The former Anaheim Duck registered his first point as a Leaf on Kadri’s goal and was only exceeded by van Riemsdyk in ice time by forwards.
Reimer appeared composed and confident making 24 saves and did not display the frenetic scrambling that has been his calling card in recent years, but did not finish the game as former Leaf Dominic Moore collided with the Leafs goaltender early in the third period.
Due to his history of concussion issues, Reimer was removed for precautionary reasons and replaced by Jonathan Bernier, but did not feel any ill effects after the game and took part in the Leafs optional skate at Air Canada Center on Monday.
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Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers north of the 49th Parallel.
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