The Toronto Maple Leafs once again started sluggishly and struggled to generate offensive chances in the first of a two-game Florida road trip prior to the NHL All-Star break, as the Atlantic Division-leading Florida Panthers scored five unanswered goals in a 5-1 victory at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL on Tuesday.
Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Jussi Jokinen, Reilly Smith and Alex Petrovic scored for the Panthers, who are winners of three straight, while Nazem Kadri tallied the lone goal for Toronto, who are 1-6-2 in their last nine games and are tied with the Edmonton Oilers and Columbus Blue Jackets for last in the NHL standings with 43 points.
As in their win over Philadelphia and home losses to Carolina and Montreal, the Leafs allowed their opposition to dominate the play to start the game. Florida registered the first seven shots on goal and Toronto did not get their first shot on Roberto Luongo until 11:43 of the first.
Kadri scored to give Toronto the lead late in the first on a nice individual effort, but the Panthers responded in the second with a breakaway power play goal from Barkov and even strength tallies from Trocheck and Jokinen to put the game out of reach.
“I thought we had things going good and our penalty kill was going good, and then Barkov walked right down the middle.… Leafs coach Mike Babcock said following the game. “We didn’t do our job or what we’re supposed to do, what we talked about it in the meeting and the next thing you know, I thought they got going. When we made mistakes and they capitalized. We had lots of chances too but we didn’t capitalize.…
Luongo faced only 23 shots in his 22nd victory of the season, which moved the veteran goalie past Tony Esposito on the all-time wins list. James Reimer made 22 saves on the night and allowed more than three goals for the first time since a 4-3 loss to Arizona on October 26.
Through 47 games, the Leafs are winless (0-6-6) against Atlantic Division rivals and try to break that streak against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Wednesday.
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The announcement of the six-year, $35.4 Million contract extension to Aleksander Barkov made by the Panthers on Tuesday has once again raised the question of what the Maple Leafs will do with defenseman Morgan Rielly when his entry-level deal expires this summer.
The 21-year-old is again one of Toronto’s few bright spots this season. Mike Babcock has been focusing more on improving the defensive side of his game, using Rielly against the opposition’s top line and in a penalty-killing role, but the 2012 fifth overall pick still leads all blueliners with five goals and 17 assists in 47 games in spite of not getting consistent ice time on the power play.
The internal debate over the summer will be whether to go the way of Barkov and give Rielly an extension of five-to-seven years, which would cover one-to-three years of unrestricted free agency or opt for a short-term bridge deal like the Leafs did with Nazem Kadri after the lockout-shortened season or what Montreal chose to do with PK Subban.
One factor will be the contracts signed by other young defensemen. Calgary signed Dougie Hamilton to a seven-year, $34.5 Million contract ($5.75 Million AAV) and Dallas locked up John Klingberg to a seven-year, $29.75 Million extension ($4.25 Million) last summer, while Edmonton extended Oscar Klefbom for seven years at an AAV of $4.16 Million.
It is probable that a long-term deal for Rielly would eclipse $6 Million per season, but the Leafs appear sold on the youngster’s potential.
What that investment might force GM Lou Lamoriello to do is move Tyler Bozak or Dion Phaneuf’s contract at the trade deadline or during the summer, open up cap space by buying out veteran Joffrey Lupul’s last two seasons or trading RFA Nazem Kadri, who will be looking for a long-term deal.
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