Follow @james_tanner123 Maple Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier looked unbeatable for two periods last night and then imploded in the third period as the Leafs keep searching for more weird and hilarious ways to lose games.
In what must be the defining moment of their season, the Leafs' goalie let in a bouncing floater from the stick of Oliver Ekman-Larrson from a mere 140 ft.
The Leafs, who can't compete because they have approximately one NHL centre on their roster and no top line defenders, lost the contest between teams with duel seven game losing streaks. During their most recent slide, Toronto has all but forgotten how to score, posting only 15 goals in their past ten games - a slide which, despite the team's overall performance and their noticeable defensive improvements can be blamed on the kind of bad luck that goes with a team-wide shooting percentage that hovers around 3%.
If there was any doubt about how unlucky the Leafs have been lately, it should be put to bed now after such a ridiculous which you can't fairly blame on the goalie - it just bounced funny.
The Leafs have been unable to score and Last night was more of the same: They were the better team over the first two periods and then started the third on the power-play. OEL scored five seconds in, Hanzal scored a cheap one a little later and that was all she wrote.
Fact is, Mike Smith has been the worst starting goalie in hockey all year long and he looked like an Allstar last night against Toronto.
You really have to feel bad for Bernier though, on those two bad goals because he otherwise played fantastic and appeared well on his way to getting a shut-out.
Overall, this game was brutal to watch and could desperately used a bench-clearing brawl or something (anything) to spice things up. It was 1-0 through two with no physical play and neither team seemingly doing anything more than playing out the schedule. It was honestly hard to stay awake. The best thing about it was actually the OEL goal just because of how unusual and hilarious it was.
I guess when two (basically) last place teams play, this is what you get. I do however want to acknowledge Sam Gagner who I thought played an excellent game (two points) and who I think has been a fantastic player this year for the Coyotes. His 51.5% Corsi For and his 97.2 PDO suggest that he has been far greater - perhaps excessively so - than his point totals suggest.
When you account for the fact that he was pretty lost for the first ten games or so as he tried to adjust to life away from the team that drafted him and learn Tippet's systems and whatever other life adjustments are necessitated by a move from Edmonton to Arizona, his season to date must be considered a massive success. The sixth round pick it cost to acquire him looks more and more like a joke every day. Gagner might just be a player the Coyotes can build around going forward.
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