Brophy on Leafs: Big game for Reimer, Kessel
Posted February 5, 2012 11:24 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs began this season with the expectation of making the playoffs, one thing was certain: This team wasn’t going anywhere unless James Reimer, Dion Phaneuf and Phil Kessel played major roles.
It was hard to imagine this team going anywhere without all three of them making considerable contributions.
So on a night when the Leafs were trying to keep themselves in the thick of the playoff hunt and simultaneously pull back their provincial rivals, the Ottawa Senators, it was huge that all three came through. Toronto’s 5-0 victory put the Leafs back in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the seventh-place Sens. The Leafs also have three games in hand which is hugely significant.
Kessel notched his 27th goal of the season and drew two assists while Phaneuf contributed to the physical side of the victory and added his eighth goal of the year. Reimer made it back-to-back shutouts as he attempts to re-establish himself as the team’s top stopper. Reimer made 49 saves which is a single-game high in his young career.
It is also noteworthy that left winger Joffrey Lupul’s two assists gives him 54 points, representing a new career high. In fact Lupul was arguably Toronto’s best player against the Sens, which should surprise no one considering he has been his team’s best player this season.
For Reimer, the win and the shutout were huge in terms of building his confidence. It has been a tough year for the kid who lost the starter’s job to Jonas Gustavsson after suffering a concussion early in the year. Being a team player, Reimer cheers on his partner, but that doesn’t change the fact he wants to play. He played just once in the month of January and watched as Gustavsson presented himself as a viable alternative.
“It makes you work hard; that’s for sure,” Reimer said. “I support him and want him to do well, but at the same time I want to play, too. We both want to play. When he was playing so well it drives me to work harder in practice and bring more intensity and do whatever I can to be better than him. He set the bar real high…he played phenomenally in January and all I could do is watch.”
The Leafs were determined to make Reimer the No. 1 goalie this year, arguably as much of a reflection of their lack of confidence in Gustavsson as anything else, so coach Ron Wilson appeared relieved that Reimer is finding his game.
“He played very well and he was very focused,” Wilson said. “That was the challenge for him; for him – for his confidence – and for us to be confident playing in front of him.”
The Senators played Friday night against the New York Islanders and then had to host the Leafs who had the previous night off. In order for the Maple Leafs to take advantage of the situation, they needed to come out flying in the first period and get the home side on the ropes. That is exactly what Toronto did.
Led by Kessel, who snapped a three-game pointless streak with three points of his own, the Leafs showed a little bit more of a killer instinct than they have earlier in the season.
Kessel had just one point – a goal against the New York Islanders Jan. 23 – in his last five games and had ventured dangerously close to entering one of those extended slumps that have plagued him throughout his career. The fact of the matter is he simply wasn’t working as hard as he did through most of the season. Its one thing to take a half-hearted shot on goal and quite another to actually try to score.
Kessel takes a lot of long shots that goalies can stop in their sleep, but most of his goals come from in tight. Saturday against the Sens he took a rather lame shot that Ottawa defenceman Matt Carkner blocked, but Kessel slapped at the rebound and it popped over goalie Craig Anderson.
After the game Kessel was typically withdrawn when asked about his big night, but didn’t feel his play leading up to the Ottawa game was all that bad.
“It’s been fine lately,” Kessel said. “I thought both Pittsburgh games were going alright; especially the first one. We had a lot of chances.”
So what was the difference then, Phil?
“Nothing…the puck went in,” he said. “The puck just found the net tonight. I’m just trying to make plays out there and make our team better.”
Wilson and Lupul both felt there was more jump in Kessel’s game.
“He had a lot of energy and he got going early in the game and that’s huge,” Wilson said. “When Phil can get something going early he gets a good feeling you can just feel it and you can see it in him.”
“You could see right from the first shift Phil really had his legs going and wanted to make a difference,” added Lupul. “Hopefully this is a building block for our line and we can start producing every night again.”
