Brophy on Leafs: An easy decision to make
Posted March 1, 2012 9:32 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Decision time again?
Not a chance.
With time running out for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season, there is no decision at all. When the Leafs line up for the opening faceoff at centre ice at the Bell Centre in Montreal Saturday night to face the Canadiens, it has to be Jonas Gustavsson starting in net.
As GM Brian Burke stated Tuesday when he failed to pull the trigger on a deal that would help his team this season at the trade deadline, it has been Gustavsson, more than any other player, that has enabled Toronto to even be in the playoff race at this point of the season.
And even though he was in goal Wednesday night when the Maple Leafs dropped a 5-4 decision to the Chicago Blackhawks, he gave them a chance to win. That’s more than you can say for James Reimer who has given up goals on the first shot he faced in his last two starts. As much as the Leafs have tried desperately to force Reimer to be their No. 1 goalie this year, it just has not worked out.
Time for Plan B.
Now, with the team having lost six games in a row and just 18 games remaining, it is high time to turn the crease over to The Monster. Gustavsson, after all, was the guy the Leafs signed three years ago to be their savior.
When Reimer went down with a concussion Oct. 22 in Montreal after opening the season with a 4-0-1 record, Gustavsson did his best to pick up the slack. But even though he finished that game with a victory and then won three of his next five starts, you never had the feeling the coaching staff had faith in him. Ben Scrivens suddenly appeared on the scene as his next competition.
Then when Reimer returned, clearly not as sharp as he was prior to the injury, it again became obvious the Leafs were going to go with Reimer no matter what. However, when Reimer hit a real dry spell late in December, the club had no choice but to see if Gustavsson could carry the ball.
And he did.
Gustavsson started 11 of 12 games, winning seven and losing four. It wasn’t enough to give him security, though. The Leafs still wanted Reimer as their starter.
Reimer started 10 of 13 games leading up to the Chicago contest. He can let in the first shot of a game and he’ll be back in to start the next game. Gustavsson makes a miscue — albeit a costly one — in overtime against the New Jersey Devils and even though he helped the Leafs secure the only point they managed in a four-game home stand, he sits.
Neither of these guys is going to win the Vezina this season and the Leafs probably won’t make the playoffs now. But, once and for all, it is time to turn the crease over to the goalie that gives the club the best chance to win. At least it will help the Leafs in their decision whether or not to re-sign Gustavsson this summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Reimer is 23 years old and probably has a decent career ahead of him in Toronto. For now, though, he needs to take a back seat.
Gustavsson was pleased with his effort against the Blackhawks, if not the final result.
“I felt good,” Gustavsson said. “I felt like I had a lot of energy before the game and I was excited to play in this building. Throughout the game I felt like I could see the shots pretty good, but because we score three it wasn’t good enough I guess.”
Hmm, how refreshing to see the onus put on the team’s inability to score rather than its on-going goaltending woes — even if he probably didn’t mean it to come out that way.
Gustavsson looked good early. Or, should we say, he looked active — which was a pleasant change. Of late, Reimer has had a habit of dropping to make saves and keeping his arms tucked into his side rendering them useless. It’s all part of goalie coach Francois Allaire’s drop-and-stop teachings. Gustavsson at least flapped his wings a bit.
The Leafs had a great start to the game, taking a 3-1 lead, but when they decided to rest on their laurels, they paid the price. So did their goalie. As much as the Hawks have been slumping of late, they are two seasons removed from winning the Stanley Cup and know a thing or two about digging themselves out of a hole.
Leading 3-2 after the first period, you would think the Maple Leafs would do everything possible to keep the puck out of their net, but in the second, laziness allowed the Hawks to score two unanswered goals. On the one that made it 3-3, Chicago’s Andrew Brunette bulled his way to the front of the Leafs’ net and set up camp. Leafs defenceman Dion Phaneuf did little to move him so when Hawks centre Patrick Kane shot, Gustavsson was impeded and unable to make the save.
On the go-ahead goal by Marian Hossa, Leafs centre Mikhail Grabovski had the Hawks winger in check as he cut to the slot in the Toronto zone, but he wasn’t able to prevent Hossa from shooting. So not only has Grabovski stopped scoring — with no goals in 14 games now — he can’t prevent the opposition from doing likewise.
Typically, the Leafs put on a third period surge, but, as is often the case now, it proved fruitless.
Gustavsson has not given up hope of making the playoffs.
“Of course no one on our team wants to be where we are at right now and if you look back a few weeks we were in pretty good shape, but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Gustavsson said. “We have to keep pushing and things will turn. We could have scored a few more goals today and got the two points, but we didn’t give up.”
Leafs skaters have stood by their struggling stoppers this season and Wednsday was no exception.
“There was not a lot he could do on the goals,” said defenceman Carl Gunnarsson. “We have to be stronger in front (of the net). I think he played great. He made a couple of huge saves in the third and kept us in the game.”
