The Toronto Maple Leafs appear to a club with little sense of direction after another lackadaisical effort in a 5-4 loss to the New York Rangers Tuesday night.
The Leafs were outshot 31-16 and trailed 4-2 after 40 minutes but rallied to the game early in the third on goals from Morgan Rielly and Daniel Winnik. Mats Zuccarello broke the tie with 5:56 left in regulation to give the Rangers the victory and hand Toronto their 12th loss in the last 13 games.
The shoddy defensive play of Phil Kessel, Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk was central to the Leafs struggles, as the top line was on the ice for even strength goals by Dan Boyle and Kevin Hayes and former Leaf Dominic Moore’s short-handed marker midway through the middle frame before being split up in the third.
Interim coach Peter Horachek demoted Kessel(who played under 13 minutes on the night) to the fourth line with Trevor Smith and David Booth and that unit was on the ice for Zuccarello’s game winner.
Rielly’s two-goal performance and a 18-shot third period rally could not make up for the Leafs shortcomings, who made numerous defensive giveaways and seemed disinterested for most of the game, which drew the ire of Horachek, who has two wins since taking over for Randy Carlyle in early January.
"I don't know what we want to call that," a flustered Horachek said following the game."It was lethargic. It was no effort."
The repercussions of another questionable performance were showed at Leafs practice on Wednesday, as Kessel’s banishment to the fourth line continued and Richard Panik took his place with van Riemsdyk and Bozak.
The injury bug has once again struck forward Joffrey Lupul, who has already missed 23 games with two separate injuries. Lupul returned on January 29 after a month out of the lineup and re-aggravated the lower-body injury against the Rangers, which is expected to keep the veteran winger out at least one week.
Defenseman Petter Granberg was recalled from the AHL Toronto Marlies with the Leafs heading out on a two-game road trip to New York and Montreal. Team captain Dion Phaneuf continues to be on injured reserve with a hand injury and defenseman Cody Franson did not practice due to a maintenance day.
The 26-year-old pending free agent blueliner is dealing with an unspecified injury, but it is not expected to prevent him from being in the lineup against the New York Islanders on Thursday.
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TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported on Tuesday that the asking price for Leafs defenseman Cody Franson is a 1st round pick and a prospect. The Carolina Hurricanes are reportedly looking for a similar return for pending free agent blueliner Andrej Sekera, who along with Ottawa’s Marc Methot and Arizona’s Zbenyk Michalek are expected to be the most sought after players prior to March 2nd.
Insider Darren Dreger also reported that interest continues to be high for Daniel Winnik and that Toronto may hold back trading the veteran winger until just before the deadline to maximize their return.
Rumors regarding a potential Phil Kessel to the Islanders trade were squelched in Wednesday’s
NY Daily News . New York is looking to add a scoring winger to replace the injured Kyle Okposo and has room to fit the $8 Million price tag under the cap, but questions about Kessel’s streakiness and conditioning are likely to dissuade Isles GM Garth Snow from such an undertaking.
A deal for Kessel is highly unlikely to occur in season (due to the winger’s hefty salary), but his scoring consistency was sufficient to be a top 10 scorer three years in a row. That means there will be many suitors.
The Fourth Period reports that the Dallas Stars remain interested in Dion Phaneuf, but that it is unclear whether the Leafs captain’s limited no-trade clause would prevent a trade to the Lone Star State and if Toronto would have to retain a portion of Phaneuf’s $42 Million salary over the next six years to get a deal done.
The New York Rangers remain the most enthusiastic suitor for pending free agent Mike Santorelli, but ESPN’s Pierre Lebrun indicates that the Boston Bruins also have interest in the veteran winger, whose economical $1.5 Million salary makes sense for the cap strapped Beantowners.
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