Update - 3:30pm - Jerred Smithson recalled from the AHL Toronto Marlies. Trevor Smith placed on injured reserve.
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The excuses are wearing thin for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the level of frustration over the flaws and inconsistency are beginning to bubble over after an unenergetic and disorganized performance in a 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers Tuesday night.
The game was the club’s fifth in the last seven days and the back end of their second back-to-back matches this week and that was apparent by their lack of energy and inability to win puck battles for most of the game, but fatigue was not being used as an excuse for their flawed performance in the locker room.
“Right now, we’re not putting together 60 minutes. We either have guys or half a team or a full team that don’t show up at parts and things go wrong.… a dejected James Reimer said after the game. “Injuries…..tired…..that’s all BS. Those are excuses and they’re useless. What it comes down to is your will, your heart, your character. We should be able to win with half of our guys out.…
Toronto was not competitive for most of the game, trailing 3-0 before Mason Raymond’s goal early in the third period revived them somewhat.
Defensive giveaways were at the center of the Leafs defeat, as Nazem Kadri’s offensive zone turnover and Dion Phaneuf’s bad positioning allowed Tomas Fleischmann’s breakaway goal 3:29 into the first period.
“We were guilty of trying to be too cute.… head coach Randy Carlyle said following his club’s fifth loss in the last six games. “Too many curls and drags versus putting our head down and driving the puck towards the net and maybe scoring an ugly goal. I classified our game as we tried to play shinny against an NHL hockey club tonight.…
Defenseman Jake Gardiner made another costly defensive gaffe early in the middle frame, as his giveaway led to Sean Bergenheim’s breakaway chance. Reimer stopped the Panthers forward, but he Leafs were unable to get the puck out of their zone and Gardiner vacated his defensive position towards the blueline. The result was Bergenheim being left wide open at the side of the net to tap in the rebound past Reimer.
Carlyle benched Gardiner for the remainder of the second and early third.
"It's pretty hard to defend" Carlyle said. "You've got to expect to have a higher level of execution than that in that situation. I thought that in the game he(Gardiner)struggled with the puck." Phaneuf was the guilty party later in the second, as Brad Boyes stole the puck away from the Leafs captain and after being stopped by Reimer, was allowed to stand at the side of the net and bury the loose puck.
There is enough blame to go around for the current state of the Leafs. The goaltending has not stolen any games recently, as Jonathan Bernier is under .500 for the season and with his loss on Tuesday, Reimer is 1-3-1 in the last five games with a save percentage under .900.
Carlyle deserves some criticism, as he continues to play his core players heavy minutes and fails to use his fourth line for more than five minutes per night. That misuse of the lineup inevitably leads to Kessel, van Riemsdyk and Phaneuf not performing at their top level.
All that being said, the main cause of the current Toronto woes are that their players are simply not doing what it takes to win consistently.
Part of the reason why GM Dave Nonis brought in veterans Dave Bolland and David Clarkson over the summer was to show by example what has to be done to play responsible two-way winning hockey, as they did with Chicago and New Jersey. Bolland’s loss to injury in early November and Clarkson multiple suspensions have deprived the club of that example and that coupled with the regression of the likes of Cody Franson, Kadri and Gardiner have Toronto plummeting in the standings and coming perilously close to falling behind the pack in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
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To make matters worse, the Leafs have lost another center to injury, as Trevor Smith left the game on Tuesday after blocking a shot in the third period. Carlyle indicated that Smith suffered a broken bone in his hand and further examination will be done Wednesday to determine whether it will need to be repaired surgically.
Smith was expected to be part of the veteran leadership core for the AHL Toronto Marlies, but injuries to Tyler Bozak and Dave Bolland pressed him into service with the parent club and the 28-year-old has accounted himself well, contributing four goals and five assists in 25 games.
The Leafs have only three healthy centers on the roster(Kadri, Holland and McClement) and unless Nonis is able to make a hole-plugging deal before the December 19th holiday trade freeze, the recall of Jerred Smithson is the most likely solution until Bozak returns.
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The Leafs announced Wednesday morning that they will not be sending rookie Morgan Rielly to the upcoming World Juniors. A decision on whether the 19-year-old would be loaned to Hockey Canada had to be made by December 19th.
The 2012 fifth overall selection has registered one goal, nine assists in 27 games with the Maple Leafs this season and is averaging close to 18 minutes ice time per game.
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