After their most impressive road performance of the season in Edmonton on Tuesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs returned to their struggling ways in a 3-0 loss to the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.
Freddie Hamilton and former Leaf Kris Versteeg scored on the first two shots fired at Toronto goaltender Jhonas Enroth, putting the club in a 2-0 hole less than a minute into the first period. Another former Leaf, Matt Stajan made it 3-0 late in the first and that was enough of a cushion for Flames goalie Chad Johnson, who made 39 saves for the shutout.
“We came in here and obviously weren't ready. As a team, as a coaching staff, as a goaltender we weren't ready and end up giving up your full day of preparation in the first five minutes.” Head coach Mike Babcock said following the loss. “There's no excuse for that. It also shows you we're not an upper echelon team when you can't do it night-in and night-out.”
The loss was the 10th for Toronto on the road (2-6-4) and the fifth loss for the club in the second half of back-to-back games (0-4-1), which is a problem for the team with the most back-to-backs (18) in the NHL this season.
Enroth has started the second-half of the back to backs in four of the five games and although he has not played well, the 28-year-old Swede cannot be completely be faulted for the defeats.
Toronto will complete their Western Canada road swing in Vancouver on Saturday against the Canucks.
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Maple Leafs prospect Nikita Korostelev was named to the preliminary roster for Team Russia in the upcoming 2017 IIHF World Junior in Toronto and Montreal later this month.
The 19-year-old Korostelev was selected 185th overall by Toronto in the 2015 Draft and has 15 goals and 14 assists in 24 games with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting.
The Leafs did not have any players named for Team Canada’s preliminary roster earlier in the week, but 2015 top pick Mitch Marner is eligible to play for the national team since he does not turn 20 until May 2017. The chances that Marner will be released to play for Canada are slim, since he is tied for the scoring lead among NHL rookies with 19 points.
Toronto has a number of players who could be on rosters for the upcoming tournament. Defenseman Jesper Lindgren(4th round-2015) and forward Carl Grundstrom(2nd round–2016) may be selected for Team Sweden.
Martin Dzierkals (3rd round-2015) will undoubtedly play for Latvia, who qualified for the tournament last December.
Jeremy Bracco (2nd round-2015) was invited to Team USA’s training camp last summer after being passed over by the club for the tournament in Helsinki last December and will likely be a key offensive contributor this year. Bracco has 45 points (16 goals, 29 assists) for the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers and has registered a point in each of his 22 games this season.
Goaltender Joseph Woll (3rd round-2016) and defenseman JD Greenway (3rd round-2016) were among the 42 players selected for the WJC evaluation camp last August and also could be chosen by Team USA.
Roster selections for the remaining participants in the tournament should come in the next week.
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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that a decision on the Jared Cowen buyout will be made by December 7.
The 25-year-old defenseman was acquired from the Ottawa Senators along with forwards Milan Michalek, Colin Greening, Tobias Lindberg and a second round pick in the Dion Phaneuf deal last February and was immediately placed on IR for hip tightness, but later was cleared medically before being placed on waivers.
Cowen was informed by Toronto that he would not play for them and that the club would buy him out at the end of the 2015-16 season.
If it is determined that the Leafs were within their rights, the former Senators first rounder will receive one-third of his 2016-17 salary (for buyouts of players 25 and under) spread over the next two seasons ($750,000 in 16-17 & 17-18) while the Leafs clear his $3.1 Million cap hit for this season and gain a $650,000 cap credit.
If the arbitrator rules in Cowen’s favor, he cannot be bought out because of his injury status and will remain on the roster. The defenseman will then collect his full $4.5 Million salary for the final year of his contract.
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Auston Matthews vs. Jonathan Toews with some unconventional target practice
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