The Leafs 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings late last night marks the club’s fourth consecutive road victory and has them tied for 11th in the Eastern Conference standings with the Florida Panthers and the fading Ottawa Senators, whose owner has reportedly given the go-ahead to GM Bryan Murray to shop UFA’s like Chris Phillips and Alexei Kovalev.
Toronto scored two goals within 34 seconds early in the second period to take the lead after Wayne Simmonds’ 9th goal of the season gave L.A. a 1-0 lead after twenty minutes.
Darryl Boyce tied the game with his second goal in his short stint with the big club on a wrist shot between the legs of the defender and over the shoulder of Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. Phil Kessel gave the Leafs the lead after a nice cross-ice pass from Joey Crabb left him at the side of the net with a gaping 4 x 6 to shoot at.
Michal Handzus tied the game late in the middle frame after a deflected shot managed to trickle through Leafs goalie James Reimer’s pads and over the goal line.
Toronto took the lead for good at nearing the five minute mark of the third period, when a scrum in front of Quick resulted in a loose puck which Nikolai Kulemin quickly spun around and snapped into the net for 16th of the season.
If the members of Leaf Nation were having difficulty keeping the eyes open as the game progressed into the wee hours of the morning on the East Coast, the Leafs did their best to keep them awake by giving the Kings a power play in the final minutes of regulation.
Dion Phaneuf was assessed a minor slashing penalty, which allowed Los Angeles to pull their goalie, giving them a two man advantage for 1:42, but they were unable to get the puck past Reimer, who made 30 saves on the night and earned his third NHL victory.
The speculation continues that Reimer will be sent down when Jean-Sebastien Giguere returns to the lineup, which is tentatively scheduled for Thursday night in Phoenix.
It was expected that Jonas Gustavsson would play the second half of back to back games tonight in San Jose, but in lieu of the team playing so well in front of the rookie goalie, Coach Ron Wilson has reconsidered that decision and will go with Reimer for the third consecutive game
*****
In an interview in yesterday’s National Post, Hockeybuzz’s Howard Berger interviewed Giguere and asked about the possibility of him waiving his no movement clause before the February 28th trade deadline.
The lucrative contract he signed with Brian Burke when the two were part of the Anaheim Ducks — Giguère’s salary this season is $7-million —expires on July 1 and the goalie is not expected to be with the Leafs next year. That isn’t his desire, mind you. Giguère and his family have quickly grown to enjoy life in hockey-crazed Toronto, but all signs point to the Leafs promoting James Reimer to play with Jonas Gustavsson next year.
It is possible Giguère could be gone before them. Though he still has the no-movement clause Burke gave him in Anaheim — chiefly as a result of his son requiring specialized medical care in southern California — he said he would strongly consider waiving the contract privilege if Burke asked him to.
“Right now, I’m not in that type of situation, but if I can get back to playing at a good level before the deadline, it could be different,” Giguère, 33, said prior to last night’s Leafs-Kings game at the Staples Center. “If another team wanted me for the last part of the season and the playoffs, I would discuss the issue with my family and make a decision. But I’d be open to it.”
Such a mind-set is based, almost solely, on the friendship and respect between Giguère and Burke.
“I truly believe that Burkie helped me last year by bringing me to Toronto,” Giguère said. “With my salary and another year left on my contract, that probably wasn’t an easy trade for him to make. It was certainly a bit of a risk. So if it came down to a deal he wanted to make at the deadline this year, I think I would have to respect his wish and, at least, talk with my family.
The possibility of the Leafs getting anything tangible in return for Giguere is remote, not because of his pedigree but because of his injury problems and the ability of an interested team to be able to fit his hefty price tag under their salary cap. The Leafs will likely have to give him significant playing time to allay the fears of interested GM’s that he is healthy, which would necessitate Reimer being demoted or keeping three goalies on the roster. If Giguere’s groin injury returns, it would likely mean him being shut down for the remainder of the season and being put on the long-term injury list, which would open up $6 Million is cap space.
It is pretty refreshing that a player who negotiated clauses in his contract would waive them for the purposes of furthering his career and paying back an organization that paid him millions of dollars in salary. In the wake of the debacle of being unable to benefit from the exodus of Mats Sundin and déjà vu likely occurring with Tomas Kaberle, Leaf fans should can be thankful for Giguere being open to doing the right thing for himself and the Leafs.
Follow me on Twitter : http://twitter.com/MikeinBuffalo
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»