The Toronto Maple Leafs have had to scramble to find depth in goal with injuries to James Reimer and Garret Sparks. The club recalled Antoine Bibeau from the Toronto Marlies to backup starter Jonathan Bernier against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday and have added veteran Ray Emery on a professional tryout contract.
Leafs coach Mike Babcock is forced to go with Bernier against his former club with Sparks unavailable after suffering a lower body injury in the first period of a 5-4 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks and with James Reimer not fully recovered from a recurrent groin injury.
Babcock indicated that Sparks will be out at least until after Christmas and the club is hesitant to push Reimer back into the lineup after rushing him back once already.
Emery backed up Bibeau in Wilkes Barre/Scranton on Friday, where the Marlies won 4-3 in a shootout after rallying from a 3-0 deficit with a trio of third period short-handed goals and he or ECHL goalie Rob Madore will make the start in Hershey for club’s final game on Saturday before their seven-day Christmas hiatus.
The 33-year-old netminder played 31 games for the Philadelphia Flyers last season but has hopped around in search of work since September. Emery was invited to Tampa Bay Lightning training camp with Andrei Vasilevskiy out injured, but did not make the club. He then hooked on with the LA Kings AHL affiliate in Ontario, CA and played three games last month.
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the veteran of 287 NHL games had a KHL deal fall through this week due to immigration delays and was thus available for a stint with the Marlies. How long Emery remains will depend on how long it will take Sparks and Reimer to return.
Toronto will make two lineup changes for the final game of their four-game home stand. Brad Boyes will replace the injured Nick Spaling and play on the fourth line and Martin Marincin will replace Frank Corrado on the third pairing with Roman Polak.
Corrado recorded his first point as a Leaf on Thursday, assisting on Leo Komarov’s club-leading 12th goal and saw his ice time increased to 12:09 from just 8:10 in his first game against Tampa Bay, but Babcock has opted to go with Marincin, who is scoreless in 18 games.
*******
Friday’s comeback victory by the Marlies gives them the best winning percentage in the AHL and a league-leading 46 points(22-5-2), but that hot pace will be difficult to keep up with leading scorer William Nylander headed to the upcoming 2016 World Junior Championships in Helsinki and winger Kasperi Kapanen already in Finland for the upcoming tournament.
Nylander left the Marlies on Saturday and could center brother Alexander (who scored a pair of goals in an exhibition victory over Denmark) and 2015 Leafs draft pick Dmytro Timashov (who registered an assist) on Sweden's top line . Leafs 2015 first rounder Mitch Marner will be a central figure in Canada’s attempt for a second straight WJC title, as the 18-year-old is playing the right side on the top line with Arizona top pick Dylan Strome and Florida prospect Lawson Crouse.
Mitch Marner from Travis Dermott. The future! pic.twitter.com/ZkypA5k01m
— Justin Fisher (@thejustinfisher) December 19, 2015Marner scored a goal in a 7-1 romp over Belarus on Saturday. Second rounder Travis Dermott is reportedly on the bubble to being one of Canada’s seven defensemen for the tournament and may have improved his chances with a goal and an assist on Marner’s third period power play goal.
*******
Listen to myself and former Leafs assistant GM Bill Watters discussing the rumors regarding Steven Stamkos, the struggles of Jonathan Bernier and the current state of the Toronto Maple Leafs:
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******
Note : Continue to check back to my column on Hockeybuzz throughout the day for the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information click here.