UPDATE: 12:45pm per Sportsnet FAN 590's David Alter:
Grade 2 groin strain for Lupul. Will not travel with the Leafs.
— David Alter (@DavidAlter590) November 26, 2013The Grade 2 groin strain is the same diagnosis that was made on LA goaltender Jonathan Quick last week and the Kings stated he would be out a month, so this does not sound like a short term injury for Lupul.
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Adjectives like ugly, hideous, atrocious and discouraging could accurately be used to describe the Maple Leafs 6-0 defeat to the shorthanded Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, but the lopsided loss is just the latest example of a club that has had trouble scoring goals for nearly a month and struggled with defensive consistency, but has kept their head above water almost solely on the strength of their goaltending.
Toronto yielded two first period goals to Cam Atkinson and RJ Umberger within 20 seconds of each other and never showed any semblance of an effort to climb back into the game.
“The most disappointing part to me was that we didn’t have energy, off a day off yesterday.… Leafs coach Randy Carlyle commented following the game. “It just seemed that we lacked the necessary pace that was required to compete in the game and that is mindboggling.…
James Reimer was not as sharp in the follow up to his standout 49 save performance against Washington on Saturday, allowing six goals on 21 shots before being pulled in favor of Jonathan Bernier, but the main culprit for the loss was a combination of defensive miscues and lack of offensive pressure, as Toronto only managed 18 shots on Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky.
Defensemen Jake Gardiner had a particularly rough night, as he was caught out of position on two Columbus goals, took a penalty that led to another goal and made a number of baffling mental and positional mistakes throughout the game. Mark Fraser also struggled, as he failed to impede Umberger on the second Blue Jackets goal and fanned on a point shot that allowed an odd man break that led to Jack Skille’s backbreaking goal early in the middle frame.
While the inconsistent efforts and defensive woes have been an ongoing concern for Carlyle, the Leafs lack of goal scoring is the main cause of their under .500 record in November(4-5-1). Toronto was near the top of the league with 48 goals in 14 games in October, but in the wake of the losses of both Tyler Bozak and Dave Bolland, they have registered just 16 goals in the 10 games.
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Winger Joffrey Lupul left the game late in the second period with what was later described by Carlyle as a groin injury. Lupul is not participating in practice Tuesday morning and his status for the Leafs next game in Pittsburgh on Wednesday is undetermined.
Peter Holland, who was scratched for the first time since being acquired from Anaheim on November 16, was centering a line with Jay McClement and Nikolai Kulemin, while Mason Raymond was moved to the second line to play with Nazem Kadri and David Clarkson. Carlyle also mixed up his defensive pairings, as Fraser was re-teamed with old partner Cody Franson and Gardiner was matched with rookie Morgan Rielly.
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