Last Saturday the Toronto Maple Leafs may have
played their best game in beating the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Leafs Head Coach Randy Carlyle didn’t need many
words to describe what happened to his Leafs this Saturday in Vancouver against
the Canucks.
“Terrible game for us,” said the Head Coach. “Probably
the worst game we’ve played this year.”
“That’s probably not too far off an assessment,”
James van Riemsdyk said.
The Leafs were shutout for the first time this season
losing to the Canucks 4-0. It also snapped a three-game winning.
The Leafs were outshot 47-21 – the third straight
game they have given up more than 40 shots in a game and the 13th
time in 15 games they were outshot.
"That's a theme and we're not happy about
it," said Carlyle with frustration.
"We've got to find a way to play better for
these goalies," said David Clarkson speaking of Jonathan Bernier and James
Reimer. “These two have stood on their head for us and been unbelievable all
season."
That’s just the beginning of the bad news.
Before the game they put centre Tyler Bozak on
long-term injury meaning he isn’t eligible to return from his lower body injury
until November 21.
And during the game, centre Dave Bolland was lost
to the team with an injury similar to what Erik Karlsson suffered – a partially
sliced tendon in his foot- when Zack Kassian cut him finishing a check.
His Achilles tendon partly sliced, Karlsson would
miss ten weeks for the Senators. "I don't know the degree of severity or
which tendon, but he (Bolland) did suffer a cut to that area," said
Carlyle.
Back in Nov. 2011, the Leafs endured a similar
injury to Dion Phaneuf when he was cut by the skate of then-Senators forward
Peter Regin. Phaneuf would miss 16 games with a left leg laceration
The loss of Bolland – likely for a couple of months
– will be a difficult one for the Leafs to cope with. Add to the fact that Bozak
is out for the time being leaves the Leafs very thin at centre.
Nazem Kadri, Jay McClement and Trevor Smith are the
only centres on the roster right now.
Van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel may be asked to play
centre
"Obviously it's a blow for us," said Jay
McClement. “He’s been really good for us in all situations."
The Leafs have had their share of injuries (Leafs
players have already missed 43 games due to injury). That doesn’t include the
10-game suspension to David Clarkson.
Bolland has provided offence scoring 6 goals so
far, and defensively he has often been asked to shadow the opposition’s best
centre.
Randy Carlyle just shook his head and laughed when
asked to describe how big a loss this is for his hockey team.
No words were necessary from the coach.
Expect the Leafs to call-up 34 year-old Jerred
Smithson who has spent most of his career with the Nashville Predators but was
signed by the Leafs a few weeks ago.
The Leafs have become quite good at dealing with
adversity this season.
The Bolland injury will surely test the team going
forward. How they react will likely determine the team’s playoff hopes.
Prior to Saturday’s game the Leafs looked to be in a
good spot a month into the season.
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