A 6-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 14, 2011 has all but left the Leafs out of the Stanley Cup playoff picture. With 12 games to go they've got six points to make up on the 7th and 8th place teams and other work to be done to catch other teams they would need to pass. They now sit in 11th.
It was a disappointing game for the Leaf Nation as Toronto faded by the half-way point of the second period and did not threaten in the third. After an emotional comeback on Saturday, also at home, over the Buffalo Sabres, it seemed they had little or nothing left. They have been on a bit of a run but, as in seasons past, it looks like it's a case of 'too little, too late.'
Maple Leafs Fade in Second Period Against Tampa Bay
Toronto came out of the first period down only 1-0 on a Nate Thomson goal halfway through the frame. When captain Dion Phaneuf tied it up at 5:12 of the second it seemed Toronto's recent penchant for winning games, and coming back to do it, was continuing. But Mattias Rittola scored just his 3rd and 4th of the season in quick succession and Toronto was never again even; Rittola accomlished the feat on his 24th birthday.
Nikolai Kulemin and Vincent Lecavalier traded goals later in the period and when the second ended it was 4-2 Tampa Bay. Both goals in the third were from the Lightning, former Leaf Dominic Moore got his 13th and Mike Lundin his first of the season. Steven Stamkos assisted on each of those to get two points closer to league point scoring leader, Vancouver Canuck Daniel Sedin.
Goalie Phenom James Reimer: Too Much of a Good Thing?
Toronto's young, hot goalie, James Reimer, made his 12th straight start and showed it. There were at least two he would like to have back and, though his defence might have done a better job of clearing the net, he was not the goalie he has been at times in many of those starts.
After the game Leaf coach Ron Wilson said he felt his goalie looked "tired," an observation that may have some wondering why Wilson hasn't picked spots for veteran J.S. Giguere, who mopped up tonight, to start. Reimer has had shaky moments in games of late and the question will now be who Wilson starts against Carolina Wednesday.
Meanwhile Lighting coach Guy Boucher said they spotted things about Reimer's game in video they've been looking at and acted on those observations. He declined to share them. Reimer, who picked the Leafs up for a time and had them within three points of the playoffs, was asked if he needed to make any adjustments after his toughest NHL game yet.
"I don’t know. I feel like I’m doing what I did a couple games ago and pucks just aren’t hitting me," he told reporters. “I’ll look over the game tape and see if I see anything, and if I do, I’ll work on it.”
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