Update - Leafs place forward Matt Frattin on waivers to send down to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. Leafs GM Dave Nonis will address the media later today.
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Anthem singer Michelle Madiera could not belt out most of the “Star Spangled Banner… and all of “O Canada… prior to the Toronto Maple Leafs – Nashville Predators game on Tuesday because the arena microphone failed to work.
What no one knew beforehand was that the microphone malfunction would be a metaphor for the home club’s performance, as Nashville delivered a 9-2 pummeling of the Maple Leafs at Air Canada Center and threw what was already a roller coaster season for the Blue and White into chaos.
Once again, Toronto was slow out of the gate and allowed the opposition to score in the first five minutes of the first period, as Taylor Beck(who prior to Tuesday’s contest had four goals in 36 career NHL games) scored 1:52 into the contest maneuvering by defenseman Jake Gardiner and firing a wrist shot inside the far post past Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier.
Derek Roy and Beck would add goals later in the period to give the Preds a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes and chase Bernier in favor of James Reimer.
The goalie change did not have the desired effect of inspiring the Leafs, as they continued to show little signs of life, allowing Eric Nystrom’s goal late in the middle frame and five more goals in the third, including a four-goal barrage in the first 5:14 of the final period that gave Nashville an 8-0 lead.
Mike Santorelli and Nazem Kadri scored for Toronto to spoil Pekka Rinne’s shutout bid, but that was small consolation for the embittered crowd at the ACC. Reimer was given the Bronx cheer after making a save(the same treatment he received from a pro-Leafs crowd in Buffalo on Saturday), another Leafs jersey was thrown on the ice in disgust and the club was lustily booed at the end of the game.
In case you missed it - Toronto Sun Sports cheeky cover after #Leafs 9-2 blowout loss to Preds. pic.twitter.com/GstiibR7HE
— Rob Longley (@longleysunsport) November 19, 2014The perfect storm of putridity against Nashville was reflective of a Leafs club that has questionable leadership and an incredibly fragile psyche. All it takes is a bad defensive play by Gardiner or a shot that Bernier should have stopped and the team goes into a quiet panic mode that manifests itself in more errors on the ice.
“This was an awful performance, simple as that. How can you sugarcoat what happened with our group tonight.… Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said following the game. “First two periods, we had 35 turnovers; 17 in the second and 18 in the first. You can’t win in any league or any level of hockey playing that loose with the puck.…
What is most illuminating about the performance on Tuesday is that it comes on the heels of the club’s most embarrassing effort of the season; a 6-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. In spite of the Predators being one of the best teams in the Western Conference one-quarter into the season, it was expected that the Leafs would bounce back after that horrendous outing, but what happened was an even more embarrassing performance that now calls into question the need for a roster shakeup or perhaps the dismissal of the head coach.
“When you get in this business, you better understand when things don’t go well, there’s gonna be a huge amount of scrutiny and attention paid to your position.… Carlyle said.
A number of players balked at the insinuation following the game that the club was consciously or subconsciously trying to get their coach, which seems fairly short sighted when you consider that the Leafs were 6-1-1 in the eight games prior to their current three game losing streak.
@simmonssteve just asked Cody Franson if this team is playing to get its coach fired. Franson replied, "F*#k no"
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 19, 2014It is highly unlikely that Leafs Team President Brendan Shanahan will consider replacing Carlyle in the short term unless he receives pressure from the MLSE board. The approach to this season has been more towards evaluation of the entire organization; management, coaching and players. While the head coach’s future is murky at best past this season, many observers believe that the current inconsistencies are more player-based and that a trade of significance will occur before firing Carlyle is even considered.
The (US) Thanksgiving holiday is usually the mark where teams start to make changes to their roster and with the GM meetings in Toronto this week and the Leafs home for most of the next month, GM Dave Nonis may have to pull the trigger on some move to shake up the roster.
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