Toews extends point streak, Leafs lose
Posted March 5, 2011 10:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — The jittery Toronto Maple Leafs were given a reminder about how tough the push to the playoffs will be.
Jonathan Toews extended his points streak to nine games with a goal Saturday as the Chicago Blackhawks hammered the Maple Leafs 5-3.
The defending Stanley Cup champions imposed their will on a streaking Toronto team, particularly during a dominant first period where they took a 3-0 lead and showed no signs of rust while playing for the second time in as many nights. It was the eighth straight win for the Blackhawks.
The Maple Leafs were fresh off a victory over East-leading Philadelphia — the team Chicago beat in last year’s final — and had earned at least a point in nine straight games. However, they were never able to overcome the shaky start and remain four points back of eighth-place Carolina.
Marian Hossa, Michael Frolik, Viktor Stalberg and Bryan Bickell also had goals for Chicago (37-23-6).
Joffrey Lupul, Joey Crabb and Luke Schenn replied for the Maple Leafs (29-28-9), who fell to 10-3-4 since the all-star break.
With Toronto chasing its first playoff berth since 2004, the fans were amped up at Air Canada Centre — at least for the opening minute. Shortly after, Leafs defenceman Carl Gunnarsson turned the puck over to Marian Hossa, who beat James Reimer for his 18th of the season at 1:10.
The Blackhawks didn’t let up either, extending their lead to 3-0 when Frolik finished off a 2-on-1 at 4:13 and Toews converted a beautiful Patrick Kane pass at 15:37. The Blackhawks captain has eight goals and 15 points during his nine-game run and has started to generate some MVP talk around the league.
It was a stunning opening period for a Leafs team that had played nine straight one-goal games.
Lupul briefly restored some hope for the home fans by intercepting a pass at his own blue-line and beating Corey Crawford high at 7:28, but Stalberg and Bickell scored before the intermission to bring an early end to Reimer’s night.
He was replaced by J.S. Giguere to start the third period after allowing five goals on 19 shots. Reimer was tagged with his first regulation loss since Feb. 5.
The Leafs pushed hard to get back in the game in the final 20 minutes.
After Crabb scored at 4:26 on a play where the puck took a couple strange bounces, Mikhail Grabovski was hauled down on a breakaway. He made a nice deke that was denied by Crawford, who followed that up with a nice breakaway save on Mike Brown.
Schenn scored in the final minute to make it 5-3.
As much as anything, the game provided a pretty good of example why Chicago’s chances of repeating their championship this spring can’t be discounted. The team appears to be hitting its stride after enduring some early struggles.
Notes: Stalberg began his NHL career in Toronto before getting traded last summer … It was Reimer’s 12th appearance in the last 13 games … Maple Leafs forward Jay Rosehill was a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game … The Blackhawks donated one of their 2010 Stanley Cup rings to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Saturday afternoon … Announced attendance was 19,646.
