The Toronto Maple Leafs hope that changes to their forward lines and power play provide some offensive success, as they take on the Buffalo Sabres at the Air Canada Center on Tuesday.
The Sabres are 29th in the NHL standings with a 2-7-0 record and have scored a league-low 11 goals, but have always risen to the occasion against their long time geographic rival. Buffalo went 1-2-0 in California last week, with losses to Anaheim and Los Angeles and a 2-1 win in San Jose on Saturday.
Michal Neuvirth earned his first victory of the season against the Sharks and will be between the pipes for Buffalo. The former Capitals netminder is 5-3-1 in 11 career games vs Toronto, with a 2.96 GAA and .893 save percentage.
Jonathan Bernier gets his fourth straight start in goal for the Leafs, in spite of being pulled in the third period of the 4-1 loss to Boston on Saturday. Bernier is 0-3 with a 4.77 GAA and .867 save percentage at ACC this season.
Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle shook up the line combinations at practice on Monday and kept those units intact at Tuesday’s morning skate. Joffrey Lupul and Nazem Kadri have been moved to the top line with Phil Kessel, David Clarkson plays with James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak, winger Daniel Winnik with Mike Santorelli and Leo Komarov and Peter Holland with wingers Richard Panik, Carter Ashton and Matt Frattin.
"We're not really happy with our production 5-on-5 or our offensive production the last little while." Carlyle said on Monday. "Hopefully it stimulates some more offense from our group."
The ineffective Toronto power play also has been tweaked, as Jake Gardiner has been moved to the first unit pairing with Cody Franson, while team captain Dion Phaneuf is partnered with Morgan Rielly. The Leafs have not scored a power play goal since their 6-3 victory in New York on October 12 and have gone 0-19 with the man advantage in the last five games.
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The Leafs 3-4-1 record, a trio of pathetic losses on home ice and inconsistent efforts from core players have fueled speculation that Randy Carlyle’s job is on the line if the club does not turn things around quickly, but some of the focus on Toronto's woes have begun to shift from the veteran coach to the players under his command.
Carlyle’s level of frustration was apparent after the loss to the Zdeno Chara-less Bruins on Saturday, as the Leafs could not generate any consistent offensive pressure and allowed three goals due to defensive errors from players who regularly get the most ice time.
Winger Phil Kessel was primarily responsible for David Krejci’s game winning goal in the second period, as he was outhustled and could not prevent the Bruins forward from scoring on a rebound. The Leafs leading scorer is in the first year of an eight-year, $64 Million contract extension has been a disappearing act in all of the club’s losses.
Defensive lapses by Jake Gardiner and Dion Phaneuf(also in the first year of a new long-term deals) were once again front and center, as their errors led to both of Boston’s third period goals.
"We didn't play with any structure."Carlyle said of Saturday night's effort. "It looks like we didn't have a game plan in place when you got people going all over the place and not staying in position and being on the wrong side of the puck, those were the things that were a most annoying from a coaching perspective."
Elliotte Friedman’s comments in his latest
“30 Thoughts” column are indicative of the changing perception.
There’s this fantasy in the Ontario capital that the Maple Leafs will change coaches and all problems magically disappear. It’s the most egregious example, but nothing Carlyle draws up on the smart-board can correct Jake Gardiner’s fly-by on the 4-0 goal in the Boston game. It’s not a big deal if players don’t like their coach. We all hate our bosses at times. But if players don’t demand the best of themselves, no coach looks good.
Friedman also ponders whether Detroit coach Mike Babcock, who could be looking for a new challenge after a decade with the Red Wings, would be willing to come take Toronto’s big bucks if he doesn’t think he can win.
Carlyle’s fate may be sealed one way or the other at the end of this season, but with the core group continuing to show the same flaws they displayed with Ron Wilson at the helm, team president Brendan Shanahan and GM Dave Nonis are sure to recognize that the problems with the organization do not end with the coach.
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