The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled winger Matt Frattin from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League with the injuries to wingers Leo Komarov and David Booth in successive shutout losses in Los Angeles and Anaheim.
Komarov participated in off-ice workouts on Tuesday after suffering an upper body injury in a collision with two LA Kings in the second period on Monday. The feisty winger was replaced by Sam Carrick in the lineup against Anaheim on Wednesday.
Booth left the game in the third period at the Honda Center after being elbowed along the boards by Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen. The veteran forward struggled to get to his feet and needed assistance to get to the Toronto locker room.
The Leafs announced that Booth suffered a fractured nose, but there has been no determination how long the former 30-goal scorer will be out. Booth has a history of concussion issues stemming from a collision with Mike Richards in 2010 and may be out a short period of time, but could be out longer if any concussion issues arise from this incident.
Vatanen has been fined $3393.82 for the elbow on Booth, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The 27-year-old Frattin did not register a point in six games with the Leafs earlier in the season, but only saw fourth line duty and limited minutes. The former Hobey Baker Award finalist regained his scoring touch with the Marlies, with 10 goals and three assists in 22 games.
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Toronto followed the same pattern in their 4-0 loss to Anaheim as they did in three of the four games under interim coach Peter Horachek, limiting the opposition to less than 30 shots on goal and improving their puck possession numbers, but still allowing more scoring chances and not generating many of their own.
The Leafs were shutout for the second straight time in Southern California, as Frederik Andersen made 25 saves for his second shutout and 24th victory of the season.
The Blue and White were unable to convert on three odd man opportunities in the first period prior to Kyle Palmieri's power play goal and did not challenge Andersen with many difficult chances once they fell behind.
Corey Perry scored a pair of second period goals to extend the lead to 3-0 and added an empty netter late in regulation to give the two-time Olympic gold medalist the hat trick.
“You want to win. Everybody wants to win so (losing) becomes a frustrating thing. It’s our job to keep them focused and step back up tomorrow." Horachek said following the game. "There’s not a lot of puck luck, that’s for sure. (The Ducks) scored on a 5-on-3, an empty net goal, one off our skate and one was a breakaway that kind of bounced by our D. They do what they do very well and we’re going to have to work harder, stay focused and stay hungry against another really good team tomorrow.”
The Leafs offense has dried up since adopting a more defensive-minded approach after the departure of Randy Carlyle. The club averaged 3.22 goals per game under Carlyle(second only to Tampa Bay), but in four games under Horachek Toronto has scored just eight goals(two goals per game) and half of those came in the first period of their only win in 2015 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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Here is the latest edition of Leaf Buzz discussing the struggles of the Leafs in the Horachek era with myself and SIHR President Paul Bruno:
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