After they were eliminated from playoff contention earlier this week, the only thing the Toronto Maple Leafs had to play for was pride. There was nothing to be proud of on Thursday night however, suffering a massive 7-1 home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Maple Leafs’ loss is their eleventh in a row at the Air Canada Centre, falling to 0-8-3 during that stretch. Their last victory on home ice was Feb. 6 against the Edmonton Oilers when they were seventh in the Eastern Conference. They now sit 14th in the East and have been outscored 43-19 during their eleven-game home losing streak.
Just when you thought the Leafs’ season couldn’t get any more unpredictable, Jonas Gustavsson was hurt in warm-ups off a Clarke MacArthur shot that struck the Monster’s knee. Gustavsson left the ice and underwent x-rays and was forced to miss out on his start.
With James Reimer already out of the lineup because of an upper-body injury, that meant Jussi Rynnas would get his first career NHL start after stopping ten shots in a relief appearance for Gustavsson during Tuesday’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. In 19 games played in the American Hockey League this season with the Toronto Marlies, Rynnas went 9-8-1 with a 2.48 goals-against average and .911 save percentage.
Rynnas’ night did not get off to a good start as Brayden Schenn showed up his older brother with two first period goals to give the Flyers an early 2-0 lead. Schenn roofed his first goal over the glove of Rynnas at the 5:34 mark, with the second goal of the period coming on the power play just over five minutes later. The goals gave Schenn a total of eleven on the year, while Danny Briere was credited with an assist on both plays.
The Leafs got in on the scoring at the 14:16 mark of the first when Tim Connolly sprung Mikhail Grabovski on a breakaway, backhanding it past Sergei Bobrovsky for his 23rd goal and 50th point of the season. Grabovski’s goal was also the 200th point (85G, 115A) of his career. Connolly’s assist on the play was his 22nd of the season, while Joey Crabb drew the secondary helper for his 13th assist of the year.
Gustavsson re-joined the Leafs at the start of the second period to back-up Rynnas. The Monster tested out his knee before the middle frame began but was not used as he remained on the bench for the remainder of the game.
An early second period goal re-established Philadelphia’s two-goal lead as Wayne Simmonds was left unchallenged and was able to skate from behind the net and score with ease for his 24th goal of the year. Briere drew the lead assist for his 30th of the season and third of the night. Braydon Coburn picked up his 18th assist of the season on the play, drawing the secondary helper.
Things went from bad to worse for the hapless Leafs just past the midway point of the second when rookie Matt Read registered a shorthanded goal to give the Flyers a 4-1 lead. The goal was Read’s 23rd of the season, while Max Talbot drew his 14th assist of the season on the play and Erik Gustafsson was credited with the additional assist, his fourth.
The rout was fully on in the third period when the Flyers scored three in the final frame to secure the sizeable 7-1 win. The kid brothers continued to punish Toronto as Eric Wellwood, the younger brother of former Leaf Kyle Wellwood, scored at the 5:49 mark of the third for his fifth goal of the season. Just over two minutes later, it was Jakub Voracek burrying the puck through Rynnas’ five hole to extend Philly’s lead to five for his 15th of the year. Then just past the midway point at the 11:44 mark, Simmonds registered his second goal of the game.
Much of the crowd at the Air Canada Centre got on the Leafs through the second and third period. There were lots of boos and several ‘Let’s Go Blue Jays’ chants as the baseball season draws closer, with the fans voicing their displeasure at the epic collapse that will force the Leafs to go without a playoff appearance for a seventh-straight year.
Danny Briere drew first star of the game honours on the night, collecting four assists for his second four-point game of the season. In net, Sergei Bobrovsky was not busy, facing only 17 shots to improve his record to 13-9-1 this season. The win is Bobrovsky’s first in almost two months, last earning a victory on Feb. 9, which also came against the Leafs. Bobrovsky’s last win to come against a team other than Toronto was on Jan. 24 against the Florida Panthers.
At the other end of the ice, the conditions could not have been worse for Rynnas in his first career start. The 24-year old Finnish netminder allowed seven goals on 30 shots for a .767 save percentage.
It was revealed after the game that the Leafs had signed an unidentified MLSE employee who had goaltending experience in case anything happened to Rynnas and Gustavsson was unable to step in. When speaking to reporters, Gustavsson said he felt better but was unsure if he would have been able to play if he was needed to.
“I felt like I couldn’t move my leg,” Gustavsson said of the incident during warm-ups. “Hopefully it’s going to be better tomorrow. I feel a little better now and that’s all I can say.”
“We didn’t really make that decision,” The Monster added when asked if he could have gone into the game. “We had a third goalie if that would happen. If something would happen, we would try to make that decision at that point. But I tried to be ready if I would have to go in there. But we didn’t have to make that decision.”
During his post-game press conference, Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle told reporters that he was disappointed with his team’s effort, especially the lack of support provided to a young goaltender thrust into his first career start at the last minute.
“When you have a young guy that steps in and is going to play his first full start in the NHL, I would have expected more from our group from a protection standpoint against the hockey club that we played tonight in the Flyers.” Carlyle stated. “We knew that they’re a big, strong team and I was really anticipating more of a push back from that standpoint to make sure that Jussi had an opportunity to shine.”
Phil Kessel was without any answers when speaking about the loss. The Leafs’ first line forward was asked about the boos and the Blue Jays chants and said it was not unexpected, explaining that the team has struggled at every aspect of the game.
“We’re not playing well so what do you expect?” Kessel said. “I don’t remember the last time we won a game in this building. It’s a tough situation. It’s going to have to come from this room, how to get out of this. We have four games left and we’ve got to battle. We’ve got to win some games here.”
“I don’t know what our record is here in the last how many games. We just, we’re not playing a good game. We’re not creating chances, we’re not playing good defence, we’re not doing the little things to win hockey games. I mean, how many shots did we have tonight? When you play like that, and they have 35, 40, I mean how do you win a game? We’re just not doing anything right.”
The Leafs are back in action on Saturday when they try and snap their home losing streak against the surging Buffalo Sabres.
Flyers vs. Leafs Stats Recap
Shots
PHI: 30
TOR: 17
Shot Leaders
PHI: Sean Couturier (4)
TOR: Grabovski and MacArthur tied (3)
Power Play
PHI: 1/3
TOR: 0/2
Blocked Shots
PHI: 16
TOR: 10
Blocked Shot Leaders
PHI: Nick Grossmann (4)
TOR: Dion Phaneuf (4)
Hits
PHI: 27
TOR: 43
Hits Leaders
PHI: Max Talbot (6)
TOR: Luke Schenn (9)
Face-Offs
PHI: 21/49 (43%)
TOR: 28/49 (57%)
Face-Off Leaders (Min. 10 opportunities)
PHI: Couturier and Giroux tied (42%)
TOR: Matthew Lombardi – 10/16 (63%)
Time on Ice Leaders
PHI: Matt Carle (23:43)
TOR: Jake Gardiner (24:18)
Three Stars
1) Danny Briere – PHI (0G, 4A)
2) Brayden Schenn – PHI (2G, 0A)
3) Wayne Simmonds – PHI (2G, 1A)
For highlights of the Flyers' rout of the Leafs, check out my game recap on the brand new
Leafs Nation Network.
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