After surrendering a two-goal lead in the final four minutes of the second period and Marian Gaborik’s go-ahead goal early in the third, the Toronto Maple Leafs appeared to have no gas left in the tank to mount a comeback against the incumbent Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.
Toronto had an excuse at the ready for a losing effort, playing in the second of back-to-back weekend games following a hard fought 4-1 victory over Detroit on Saturday, but the Leafs showed resilience and mustered the resolve to tie the game and earn a 4-3 shootout victory at Air Canada Center on Sunday night.
“We’ve proven to ourselves and hopefully that we’re gaining some confidence with this, that we know we can play and we play well for long stretches of time and not have the valleys in the game.… Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said following the game. “That will increase our chances because the road is going to get tough here as we go forward. We’re going to have to prepare for a team that plays very similar to what we saw tonight in Anaheim.…
Mike Santorelli and Cody Franson scored in the first to give Toronto an early 2-0 lead, but the club slowly yielded control of the game to Los Angeles in the middle frame and allowed goals from Justin Williams and Dwight King(with 14 seconds remaining) to tie the game.
The Leafs bounced back after Gaborik gave the Kings the lead, with 16 shots in the third period and the tying power play marker from James van Riemsdyk. After a scoreless overtime, Joffrey Lupul beat Quick high over his glove hand for Toronto’s only conversion, but that was all goalie James Reimer needed, as he stopped the three Kings shootout attempts in addition to 33 saves in the game for his second straight win and sixth victory of the season.
The Leafs their fifth win in a row and ninth in 11 games.
Positives
Cody Franson – Played close to 24 minutes on the top pairing with Dion Phaneuf, scored his fifth goal and setting up van Riemsdyk for the tying goal. The two points broke a five-game pointless streak for Franson, who leads the team in defensive scoring with 19 points.
Mike Santorelli-Nazem Kadri-Daniel Winnik – best Toronto line on the night. Santorelli scored a goal and an assist on his 29th birthday and has been the one of the hottest scorers on the club, with 13 points in the last 10 games. Kadri assisted on Franson’s goal and continues has been more physical and conscientious defensively since having a heart-to-heart talk with Team President Brendan Shanahan. Winnik added an assist, was +2 in 18:39 and continues to be an integral part of the Toronto PK(which went 2 for 2 on Sunday)
Stephane Robidas – best game as a member of the Leafs, leading the club with 12 hits, blocking four shots and PK ice time(2:23) in just over 19 minutes TOI.
Negatives
Jake Gardiner – The worst Toronto player on the ice. Gardiner and Korbinian Holzer combined for 5 giveaways and were on for two of LA’s three goals. An ill-advised swing at a high puck(which should have drawn a whistle because he was the first to touch it) led to the Williams goal and a baffling lack of positional discipline led to Gaborik’s tying goal.
Bad decisions continue to dog Gardiner and if he continues to play this way, it could lead to a second benching once Roman Polak returns this week.
Joffrey Lupul – Tough to criticize the player who provides the winning margin, but other than getting knocked on his butt by Kings defenseman Matt Greene in the third and scoring on Quick in the shootout, Lupul was invisible on Sunday.
The Top Line – The unit of Kessel-Bozak-JVR could not win a puck battle when it counted, allowing LA to maintain pressure and tie the game with 14 seconds remaining in the second and were standing around in the defensive zone on Gaborik’s goal. Bozak had a number of great scoring chances but could not beat Quick in regulation or the shootout.
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In Sunday’s Boston Globe, columnist Fluto Shinzawa indicates that Cody Franson could be next summer’s answer to Matt Niskanen, who turned a career offensive year in Pittsburgh into a seven-year contract with the Washington Capitals for $5.75 Million per season.
Shinzawa believes that Franson and ex-Bruin Johnny Boychuk could attract the most attention on the open market as right-handed free agent defensemen and suggests that Toronto should attempt to sign Franson before next July.
The biggest challenge for Dave Nonis between now and next summer may be to get Franson and other free agents(Santorelli, Winnik, Kadri, Jonathan Bernier) re-signed, especially since all are performing well, but the Leafs GM seems willing to let things play out before making decisions.
“(Negotiating new contracts)can be during the season depending on the player. I don’t have a problem waiting till the end of the year quite frankly, if that is the best thing to do for the organization and for the player and his mindset. Some guys can handle talking about contracts during the season and some can’t.… Nonis said on TSN 1050’s Bryan Hayes show. “We want to read the players and our team going forward. There’s a lot of time left in the season.…
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A few Leafs players took to the ice for an optional skate at Air Canada Center on Monday, but injured forward Leo Komarov was not one of them. Komarov has been out since November 29 with concussion symptoms and has not skated since December 4, but the winger has stepped up his off-ice workouts and is working towards making his return.
"He's ramping up, each day he's done more," Leafs assistant coach Peter Horachek said on Monday. "It's getting better and better every day." *******
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