A renewed sense of freedom without intrusive HBO cameras or a sense of confidence coming out of the Winter Classic was nowhere to be found from the Maple Leafs on Saturday, as the New York Rangers dominated Toronto from the opening faceoff in a 7-1 pasting at Air Canada Center.
Former Leaf Dominic Moore scored twice, Carl Hagelin, Benoit Pouliot, Chris Kreider, Brad Richards and Brian Boyle had singles for the Broadway Blueshirts, who with the victory move to within two points of playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.
Joffrey Lupul scored for the Leafs, who fall to 21-17-5 and have a precarious hold on a playoff spot, with four teams within five points in the Eastern Conference standings.
Caledonia, ON native Cam Talbot registered his ninth victory of the season for the Rangers and second win over the Leafs in less than two weeks with a 25 save effort, while Toronto goaltenders Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer collectively allowed seven goals on 50 shots but were more victims of their team not understanding the concept of defensive hockey and the importance of winning puck battles.
The Rangers jumped out to a first period lead, as Hagelin moved to the front of the net unhindered by Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner to tip in a Dan Girardi shot. Moore increased the lead to 2-0 on a weak wrist shot that got through Bernier’s pads.
Toronto was unable to get back into the game in the middle frame, as the Rangers continued to take advantage of their inability to escape the defensive zone to relieve pressure and victimized the Leafs, who were forced to mix up their forward lines and defensive pairings due to injuries to veterans David Clarkson and Carl Gunnarsson. Clarkson was injured blocking a shot in the first period and attempted in vain to play through the discomfort in the second. Gunnarsson was hobbled after being slammed into the boards awkwardly by New York’s Carl Hagelin in the first period.
New York increased their lead to 3-0 midway through the second as Marc Staal fed a wide open Pouliot in front of the net for his eighth of the season. Kreider had three breakaways during the game and finally beat Bernier on the third opportunity, as the speedy Rangers winger blew by Cody Franson to score his 11th of the year. Moore scored his second of the night after being allowed to carry the puck from his own zone and weave his way through the Toronto defense virtually untouched.
Leafs coach Randy Carlyle pulled Bernier for the first time this season in favor of James Reimer, which resulted in an uptick of effort and Lupul’s 12th of the season on a wrist shot that beat Talbot over the glove hand, but the Rangers maintained their dominance into the third, adding goals from Richards and Boyle to make the game a rout.
The Leafs players offered little excuse for their performance after the game.
“We weren’t good enough in any aspect.… Leafs winger Joffrey Lupul said after the game. “It’s embarrassing, getting booed off the ice in the first period, second period and the end of the game and we deserved it.…
There was no indication after the game on the extent of the injuries to Gunnarsson and Clarkson, so their status for the Leafs next game against the New York Islanders on Tuesday is unknown.
It is likely that recently acquired defenseman Tim Gleason will make his Leaf debut on Tuesday, either to replace the injured Gunnarsson or to replace one of the many Toronto defensemen who played poorly on Saturday.
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