The Maple Leafs difficult December schedule yielded yet another defeat, as the St. Louis Blues jumped on a weary and lackadaisical Toronto club early and coasted to a 6-3 victory at Scotttrade Center on Thursday.
David Backes scored twice, Jaden Schwartz, Derek Roy, Chris Stewart and Alex Steen scored for the Blues, who improve to 13-2-2 at home this season. Nazem Kadri, Nikolai Kulemin and James van Riemsdyk scored for Toronto, who fall to 16-14-3 and 2-4-0 this month with the loss.
The contest was essentially over after the opening 20 minutes, in which the Western Conference powerhouse bombarded Leafs goaltender James Reimer with 15 shots and scored three times before he was pulled in favor of Jonathan Bernier.
St. Louis put the Leafs into a bigger hole just 29 seconds into the middle frame, as Stewart made it 4-0. Kadri scored moments later to get Toronto on the scoreboard, but the Leafs really did not generate any consistent offensive pressure the entire game, as they managed only 22 shots on Blues goaltender Brian Elliott.
Steen, who was traded to St.Louis along with Carlo Colaiacovo for Lee Stempniak in 2008, scored his club-leading 22nd goal midway through the third before Kulemin and van Riemsdyk narrowed the lead to 5-3.
After the game, Leafs coach Randy Carlyle expressed a level of concern on his team’s inability to implement their game plan.
“Tonight, it looked like we were totally brain dead in a lot of areas.… Carlyle said. “We have systems that our (defensive)coverage has to be in place and if you vacate those critical areas, you are going to give up quality scoring chances.…
The Leafs effort against the Los Angeles Kings Wednesday night was thought to be an encouraging sign for the club that has not had a regulation win since November 19, as they moved the puck with efficiency, won battles along the boards and generated scoring chances, but were stonewalled by Kings rookie goaltender Martin Jones in a 3-1 loss.
Carlyle appeared to foreshadow Thursday’s disappointing effort in St. Louis when describing the player’s discouragement after not being able to cash in on numerous offensive chances in the Kings loss.
“That’s what happens is you get frustrated and in sports it seems like the mountain seems to get a little bigger, versus where it should be getting smaller.…
The young club’s inability to take the positive aspects of a good effort and apply them towards their next game has to be a concern for Leafs GM Dave Nonis, as his club’s placement in the Eastern Conference standings continues to decline.
“Our concern has been very high for awhile here.… Carlyle said. “We thought with our performance last night it was something that we could build on, but we didn’t have any kind of energy to be able to put forth an effort that was needed.…
The schedule gets tougher for the Leafs as they play their third game in four nights against the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday and Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.
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The odds of the Maple Leafs organization being affected by Jay Feaster’s dismissal in Calgary went up slightly on Friday, as Sportsnet reported that former Dallas GM Joe Nieuwendyk is not interested in the Flames job currently being held by former boss Brian Burke.
Burke announced the firing of Feaster and assistant John Weisbrod at a press conference on Thursday morning and immediately announced that a search for their replacements had begun. With Nieuwendyk apparently out of the running, Toronto assistants Dave Poulin and Claude Loiselle are likely to be on the short list of candidates.
“This is a game of connections,… Poulin said regarding Burke, his friend of 30 years. “The natural assumption is that the people he’s worked with in the past would be people he would work with in the future, but I have not heard at this point at all.…
The Flames are likely looking to find their new GM before the New Year, as they are poised for a lengthy rebuild and have key pending unrestricted free agents like Mike Cammalleri and Matt Stajan to make decisions on before the March 5th trade deadline.
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Toronto prospect Tyler Biggs has only two goals this season, but that fact does not appear to be a concern of Leafs management, as they are grooming the physically imposing former first round pick to be a bottom six forward at the NHL level.
According to Kyle Cicerella of Canadian Press, Biggs has been playing mostly on the Marlies checking line with Jamie Devane and Andrew Crescenzi and has a prominent role as a penalty killer, but is not being placed or utilized in many offensive situations.
“It’s molding him and forecasting what he’s going to be for the Leafs, not the Marlies,… said head coach Steve Spott. “We see him as a third or fourth-line, responsible player that can score, check, fight and do all of those things.…
Biggs played well in a similar role for Team USA in their championship run at the 2013 World Juniors in Ufa, Russia and appears to be up for the challenge of being a checking forward if it hastens his path to the big leagues.
“You’re definitely the role that goes out when the game’s on the line,… Biggs said. “You’re going to shut people down, block shots and you can earn more ice time by doing it.…
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