Midway through the finale of their four game road trip in Winnipeg, the Maple Leafs appeared to be putting forth the same lackluster effort they did in Dallas two nights before, but a goaltending change and tallies from unlikely sources spurred a second half comeback. Phil Kessel scored his club leading 27th goal of the season with 1:33 left in regulation to force overtime and earn a valuable point in a 5-4 overtime loss at the MTS Center on Saturday.
Dustin Byfuglien scored at 2:44 of overtime to give Jets the win, which is their fifth in six games under new coach Paul Maurice.
Toronto was quickly in a 2-0 hole to the Jets, as Manitoba-native James Reimer allowed a weak goal to Mark Schiefele and a power play marker by Blake Wheeler before the seven minute mark of the first period.
The Leafs responded with a power play goal of their own early in the second, as team captain Dion Phaneuf fired a blast from the blueline past Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec, but Winnipeg quickly countered that with two goals from Bryan Little and Zach Bogosian in the span of 37 seconds.
Coach Randy Carlyle was forced to make a goaltending change for the second straight game, pulling Reimer after allowing four goals on 19 shots in favor of Jonathan Bernier. The switch had the desired effect for Toronto, as Troy Bodie’s quick wrister just over a minute later changed the momentum and infused the Leafs with a glimmer of hope.
Tim Gleason narrowed the Winnipeg lead to 4-3 late in the middle frame, as his wrist shot deflected off rookie Jacob Trouba’s stick for his first goal as a Leaf.
Winnipeg missed out on salting the game away as Bernier made an excellent poke check on Schiefele to prevent an insurance goal and Cody Franson thwarted the Jets rookie with another poke check with two minutes remaining. The Leafs counterattacked and kept the puck in the Jets zone, which allowed James van Riemsdyk to feed a backhand pass to Kessel, who quick snapped a shot through Pavelec for the tying goal.
The Leafs earned five of a possible eight points(2-1-1) on the four game road trip and move ahead of Montreal into third place in the Atlantic Division with the single point earned on Saturday.
The Leafs have to be concerned with Reimer’s performance, whose goals against has ballooned to 3.25 after allowing eight goals in his last two appearances. Carlyle indicated in his post game remarks that he considered pulling his starter after allowing the two quick goals in the first, but wanted to see if he could bounce back.
“I contemplated whether to do something at that point, but I felt ‘get him through the period and give him an opportunity to fight and battle himself back’ and then he did that. Carlyle said after the game. “He(Reimer) made some big stops, he made a stop on a breakaway and he battled hard for our hockey club.…
Carlyle blamed the Little and Bogosian goals on subpar play from the Leafs penalty killers and on a seeing eye shot that went off the post and considered pulling Reimer more as a momentum changer than anything else.
“We found ways to leave people uncovered in that critical area. The one tonight that Little tipped, we should have coverage on that.… Carlyle said. “We vacated that area and we should have our stick in that lane. That (Tobias) Enstrom shot or shot/pass to the slot should have covered off.…
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Thumbs Up
Phil Kessel – scored the tying goal and added an assist. The speedy winger has seven goals and nine assists in the last nine games, putting the Leafs leading scorer on a point per game pace(54 points in 54 games) for the season.
Tim Gleason – played nearly 18 minutes against Winnipeg, scored his first goal in 117 games and was provided the tough veteran presence that the Leafs were looking for when they acquired him from Carolina for John-Michael Liles on New Year’s Day.
Morgan Rielly – Swift, smart and slippery, the 19-year-old rookie continues to show the skills that made him a lottery pick. Rielly assisted on Bodie’s goal and was +2 on the night.
Thumbs Down
James Reimer – bad performance in Winnipeg will not inspire confidence from Carlyle after playing well against Colorado earlier in the week. Bernier is the de facto #1 goalie now, if there was any doubt before.
Joffrey Lupul – one goal in his last nine games and practically invisible on Saturday, Lupul has not provided much secondary offense since Nazem Kadri replaced Peter Holland on the second line.
Leafs PK Unit – Ranked 29th overall after allowing two goals on both Winnipeg power play opportunities. On the road, the Leafs PK is middle of the pack(81.1% - 18th in the NHL). At home, they are worst in the league, with a 70.9% success rate.
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