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| Posted: 16 July 2018 at 10:19 | IP Logged
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TORONTO – Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger. St. Louis
was all that and more for most of a cold March night.
They dealt the sliding Leafs their sixth straight loss –
seven in the past eight games – and a very loud exit
from the current playoff picture. Once on firm ground
toward a second straight trip to the postseason, Toronto
now sits 10th in the East, trailing Columbus and Detroit
for the final two wild card spots with only eight games
left to play. Skidding for nearly two weeks without even
a single point they are in danger of fumbling away what
seemed like a sure thing. Fear of that reality, it seems,
is slowly infecting the group. "Well, certainly were
afraid of letting it slip away," Joffrey Lupul conceded
after a 5-3 loss to the Blues, the Leafs winless since
Mar. 13. "The whole year we thought we were a playoff
team and we still believe that now." At this moment,
however, they are not. And what once seemed unthinkable
as recently as two weeks prior when they stormed through
California has now become a very real reality. The Leafs
may not make the playoffs and they know it. And that fear
of fumbling it away is driving the nerves of a flailing
group. Head coach Randy Carlyle observed "tenseness"
during the first half of Wednesdays game, one that saw
St. Louis completely manhandle their sinking opponents,
especially so in a dominant first frame. Big, hard, fast
and strong, the best team in the West controlled
possession of the puck almost without exception,
peppering Jonathan Bernier with 23 shots while scoring
the first two of four unanswered. "Its like we were
frozen for 30 minutes of the hockey game," Carlyle said.
"We didnt pick up the puck and skate with it at all. And
thats showing signs of being nervous, tense, [lacking]
confidence, not wanting to make a mistake which led to
more offensive zone time [for the Blues]." Only when the
score tilted at 4-1 did they start to push back and in a
well-repeated theme, muster the kind of tenaciousness and
enthusiasm required for winning at this time of year.
Carl Gunnarsson and James van Riemsdyk scored to slice
the deficit to one, but like those rallies in each of the
previous five losses, the Leafs ultimately ran out of
time. Desperation was just a little too late. "Right now
it seems like when we get down then were playing with no
fear," Lupul said. "Theres something to be said about
being down and not having that fear anymore, but
realistically weve got to play like that right from the
start. Its more of a psychological thing than it is a
physical thing for sure." Whether they can overcome that
imposing mental hurdle and recover in time to make the
playoffs remains an increasingly uncertain question. With
stumbling starts, glaring defensive breakdowns,
inconsistent offence and poor goaltending, theyve found
ways to lose hockey games in rapid order and are feeling
the pressure from it. Losing six straight for the first
time since the infamous 18-wheeler collapse in 2012, the
Leafs now they sit on the outside of the playoff picture
with a daunting weekend set ahead against the Flyers and
Red Wings. Their fate could be determined in a matter of
days. "Theres reason for concern, but its not completely
time to panic," Lupul said. "Were still right there. Weve
got a game Friday, we play Detroit [on] Saturday, you win
those two games and all of a sudden things look a lot
different." Five Points: 1. Berniers Back Even Bernier –
making his first start since Mar. 13 – couldnt rescue
the Leafs from the Blues. And he tried. The 25-year-old
was spectacular early on, turning away the first 20 St.
Louis shots in a one-sided opening frame. He eventually
ceded four goals on 48 shots. It was just his third loss
in regulation when facing 40 shots or more (8-3-2).
Bernier had missed the previous five games with a groin
injury, rushing back to stabilize the Leafs wobbling
crease. "Lot of work, but felt okay," he said afterward.
Stretching constantly, in between whistles and during TV
timeouts, Bernier was seemingly shy of 100 per cent, but
surely felt the need to return with his teams chances of
reaching the postseason flailing. Asked if he rushed back
from the injury, Bernier said, "You always want to be
back as soon as possible." "It was a little sore
obviously, but I was just trying to get it loose a little
bit in between whistles and timeouts." 2/3. Ready to
Start? Scoring first didnt help the Leafs much on this
night. They scored the first goal for the first time in
eight games with Lupul tucking a Nazem Kadri pass beyond
Ryan Miller on a power-play, but it was down-hill from
there. Already owning possession for much of the period
to that point, the Blues tied the proceedings at one when
T.J. Oshie squeezed a rebound through the pads of
Bernier. They went in front for good on the first of
three from David Backes on a power-play, Dion Phaneuf
failing to clear the puck adequately. St. Louis had 23
shots for the period, the most Toronto has allowed in any
one period this season. "Thats a heck of a hockey team
over there," van Riemsdyk said. "The way they play, lines
1-4, [defence] pairings 1-3, theres not much of a
falloff. They kept coming. Thats no excuse for us. We
have to find a way to get off to a better start." Strong
and sturdy, the Blues cycled and cycled and cycled
without giving the Leafs even a taste of the puck. "We
couldnt break their cycle," Lupul said. "We couldnt get
the puck." It was the kind of grinding performance
Carlyle would like to see more from his team in Toronto.
"They did a lot of things that were trying to convince
our hockey club to do as far as hanging onto the puck a
little bit more," he said. "We understand were not as big
and strong and as physical as some of those teams that
are able to do that, but thats more of the style this
time of year – if you watch the games – thats whats
being played." The Leafs are now 8-20-4 when they trail
after the opening period. "Again we played 30 minutes of
hockey tonight and showed that we can play, but wheres
the 60 minutes?" Carlyle said. "We cannot afford to not
start the way weve been starting. We have to have more of
an effort or consistent, confident start than weve had in
these games." 4. Phaneuf Phaneuf played fewer than 21
minutes and had what may have been his worst game of the
season. The Toronto captain was on the ice and largely
responsible for three of the first four St. Louis goals,
having what Carlyle described as a "rough night". The 28-
year-old made his first error late in the first, fumbling
away an opportunity to clear the puck on a penalty kill,
the Blues regrouping to score the first of three from
Backes. Then early in the middle frame Phaneuf lost a
puck battle with Alex Steen in the offensive zone.
Lagging to get back defensively, he was beaten down the
ice by Backes, the Blues captain eluding Bernier for the
third St. Louis marker. About 10 minutes after that it
was Steen muscling Phaneuf to the ice just outside
Berniers crease, shaking free to whistle a backhand just
under the bar for a 4-1 lead. Phaneuf was unavailable to
media after the game. 5. Six-Game Skid Losing a bunch of
close games, prior to Wednesday night, Lupul believed the
Leafs had actually played better at points in their slide
than in many victories this season. "Absolutely," said
Lupul before the loss to St. Louis. "We track scoring
chances – our team does – and were out-chancing teams
every night. You can look at that and say were doing some
things right, but its the time of the year that that
doesnt really matter anymore, its all about wins. Youve
got to translate that into getting more wins." The 30-
year-old observed that the margin for winning and losing
at this time of year is "really close". "Its been a topic
of discussion in here," he said. "Were generating
chances. Were not giving up near as many as we have, but
were coming out on the wrong side of the game so that
doesnt really matter. "And on the flip side when we were
winning games and getting out-chanced we were saying the
same thing in here, like come on, what are we doing? But
now its the time of the year that it doesnt really matter
how you get the job done it just needs to get done."
Stats-Pack 1-7-0 – Leafs record in the past eight games.
23 – Shots allowed by the Leafs in the opening period
Wednesday, the most of any period this season. 8 –
Fights for David Clarkson this season. Pointless now in
23 of the past 25 games, Clarkson fought Brendan Morrow
in the second period. 7-23 – Tyler Bozak in the faceoff
circle against the Blues, hammered by the combination of
Steen and Vladimir Sobotka. 1 – Six-game losing streak
for the Leafs this season. 2 – Goals for James van
Riemsdyk in the past 12 games, van Riemsdyk notching his
28th this season in defeat. Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-
3Season: 21% (3rd) PK: 2-3Season: 78.5% (28th) Quote of
the Night "Theres reason for concern, but its not
completely time to panic." -Joffrey Lupul, following the
Leafs sixth consecutive loss. Up Next The Leafs travel to
Philadelphia on Friday to meet the Flyers before hosting
the Red Wings at home on Saturday.
Charger
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host the winless New Jersey Devils at the Scotiabank
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. The defeat leaves the 41-year-old Nestor to concentrate
on the mixed-doubles event after winning 12 straight
matches and winning Australian titles in Brisbane and
Sydney with two different partners. "This was a little
bit of a let down, but all credit to them," said Nestor.
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They didnt meet in the regular season, so Sam Houston
State might be saying it won the de facto title game
between the two Southland Conference co-champions
Saturday.EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers have signed
centre Andrew Miller to a one-year contract. Miller, 25,
spent last season with the AHLs Oklahoma City Barons,
recording eight goals and 26 assists in 52 games. The
five-foot-ten, 180-pound BBloomfield Hills,
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in 2013 as captain. Miller, who will enter his second
season in the Oilers organization, previously played for
the USHLs Chicago Steel before college.
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